Jack Carter's Law (a.k.a. Jack Carter and the Law) by Ted Lewis

(pb; 1970: second book in the Jack Carter trilogy)

From the back cover

"London. The late 1960s. It's Christmastime and Jack Carter is the top man in a crime syndicate headed by two brothers, Gerald and Les Fletcher. He’s also a worried man. The fact that he’s sleeping with Gerald’s wife, Audrey, and that they plan on someday running away together with a lot of the brothers’ money, doesn’t have Jack concerned. Instead it’s an informant—one of his own men—that has him losing sleep. The grass has enough knowledge about the firm to not only bring down Gerald and Les but Jack as well. Jack doesn’t like his name in the mouth of that sort."

Review

Law, a prequel to Jack Carter’s Return, is just as engaging, nasty, chatty, sexual and violent as its source novel. It has many of the same characters as Return, further illuminating nuances, rough as they are, making many of these characters seem like old friends rather than page-bound creations. This is excellent work. Followed by Jack Carter and the Mafia Pigeon.