Book Review – LS92 by Billy Morris
What can you say about a book that you read cover to cover in one session? There’s almost no higher praise than that.
LS92 the sequel to Bournemouth 90 is simply gripping from start to finish.
This follow-up from Billy Morris picks up two-years after events down on the south coast when Leeds United clinched promotion from the old Second Division. Readers are reacquainted with many of the central characters from the first book as the fall-out from events at Bournemouth resurface.
As with the first instalment from Morris, LS92 has both fictional and non-fictional elements in a compressed timeline which contributes to the books urgency and immediacy. In terms of the fictional storyline this centres on the Leeds underworld and the gangland warfare whilst the non-fictional follows Leeds United attempts to clinch the League Championship. And as the two worlds collide there are cameo appearances from Eric Cantona and another real-life person who readers of a certain age will be able to identify.
Morris uses the same (and successful) formula of Bournemouth 90 with the wonderful depiction of Leeds city centre venues and landmarks that have been lost in recent years, brought to life with his dark, grim and gritty language.
As history tell us, Leeds United would eventually clinch the title in a highly dramatic run-in, completing the journey from the old Second Division on that Bank Holiday day in Bournemouth back in 1990. Is there a similar conclusion for central character Neil Yardsley? That is for readers to discover in this fast-paced must read, “from a time when it was still grim up north.”
(Publisher: Independently published. January 2022. Paperback: 176 pages)