Jack's Return Home
Jack's Return Home is a 1970 novel by British writer Ted Lewis. It was adapted into the 1971 film "Get Carter", starring Michael Caine as Jack Carter. The novel portrays a subsection of society living on the borderline between crime and respectability. The book was a major influence on the noir school of English crime fiction. Published in 1970, the novel was republished in 1971 by Pan in paperback as a film tie-in under the title 'Carter' featuring stills from the movie "Get Carter" on the cover. The novel went out of print for  many years and slipped into obscurity, but there was a resurgence of interest in it in the 1990s after the film adaptation gradually grew in reputation. The book was republished in paperback under the title Get Carter by Allison & Busby in 1993. In 2012 the novel was adapted as a radio serial by Nick Perry and broadcast under its original title on BBC Radio 4, starring Hugo Speer as Jack Carter. In 2016 the playwright Torben Betts adapted the novel for a critically acclaimed production by Newcastle's Northern Stage. Plot summary. "Jack's Return Home" tells the story of  Jack Carter, an amoral, pitiless London mob enforcer who returns to his home town to investigate the mysterious death of his brother, with whom he had not spoken in many years. Jack's presence in the town causes unease among the local crime families, who fear that his snooping will interfere with their underworld operations. Everything from simple suggestion to brute force is employed to try to get him to leave, but he doggedly refuses, bullying his way through numerous attempts on his life to arrive at the truth, leading to a violent and ambiguous conclusion. Film adaptations. The novel  has so far been filmed three times, as "Get Carter" in 1971 and the 2000 remake, and as "Hit Man" in 1972. Further Carter novels. Jack Carter was featured in two prequel novels, both written by Lewis. Trivia. The first printing of the paperback which tied in with the film version was published under the title "Carter" (Pan Books 1971, ). All references on the cover of the book also refer to the film under this title. The character of "Jack Carter", though not fully named for copyright reasons, plays a key role in the Alan Moore and Kevin O'Neill graphic  novel . The story takes place during 1969, shortly before Jack's visit 'up north' and the events of "Jack's Return Home".