Title: Tosher
Author: Adrian Winney
Publisher: AuthorHouseUK
ISBN: 978-1-6655-8897-3
Genre: Suspense/ Mystery
Pages: 273
Reviewer: Allison Walker

Read Book Review

Author Adrian Winney’s gripping novel, Tosher, plunges readers into the grimy,
labyrinthine underbelly of Victorian London, painting a vivid and unsettling portrait of life
beneath the city’s noisy and crowded streets. The story follows Tosh, a baby abandoned
to feed to the rats of London’s sewer. He is rescued none too soon by a tosher named
Jack Tanner who raises Tosh as his own son and teaches him the skills of his trade –
that is, of a sewer-man, scavenging the trash of London’s underground sewers. Despite
Tosh’s disability, he is missing half of his left leg, the boy takes to Tanner’s work with the
exuberance of youth, becoming a skillful survivalist of London’s poorest streets. When
Jack Tanner is murdered, Tosh will use everything he has learned from Tanner to
avenge his adoptive father’s untimely death.

From the first page, Tosher opens to a world as unforgiving as it is fascinating. The
sewers of Victorian London are brought to life with unflinching detail, capturing the
stench and real danger of a world most are desperate to avoid. But as Tosh learns,
opportunity also lurks in the sewers and rewards for anyone brave enough and
resourceful enough to hunt for it. Through Jack Tanner’s tutelage, Tosh learns to
navigate this perilous environment, mastering skills that prove essential not only for
survival but in his quest for vengeance. Jack’s fatherly care and the tenderness the two
feel for each other, juxtaposed with the harsh realities of Victorian London, creates an
emotional anchor for the story, making Tanner’s murder a devastating turning point in
Tosh’s journey.

Winney’s fascinating characters, darkly textured setting and fast-paced narrative work
together to make Tosher a compelling read for fans of historical fiction. As an infant
discarded by his birth parents, then forced to confront and overcome his disability on
unforgiving streets and sewers, Tosh is an underdog whose victory you never stop
cheering for. His metamorphosis from vulnerable child to resourceful adult and
determined bringer of justice is both exciting and inspiring. Winney’s choice of setting is
equally engrossing. Like the unsavory crime, Victorian London is a place of shady
characters and dark mysteries – and the perfect setting for a noir thriller.

Tosher is a meditation on resilience, revenge, and the lengths to which one will go to.
Winney crafts a tale that is as unyielding as its setting and as unforgettable as its
characters. It is a story of survival against all odds, of vengeance pursued with
relentless determination, and of humanity that persists even in the darkest corners, or
sewers, of the world. Fans of historical fiction will find much to enjoy and gawk about
this novel.