Bleugh. So awful. Cockney geezers. I could just imagine Ray Winstone acting awfully along to it.This book is gripping from start to finish.It's not your typical Cockney gangster book with a picture of a meat head on the cover and it's not exagerated like the Kray Myths seem to be.It's a story of a well known Liverpool family who are into everything and it progresses into an unbelievable climax.The supergrass turns against the new breed of Liverpool gangsters because he lost his son to Heroin and decides to work with customs officers to put them all behind bars because they all started to sell Drugs.The twist comes when he finds out his other son is now into drug dealing with the very people he's trying to put behind bars which leaves him with the dilemma,does he shop his own son and risk him never speaking to him again or back off?If it wasn't true you may think it is far fetched,it would make a great film and is a must read,you wont want to put it down.The best book I've read in ages.Paul Grimes was an out and out gangster. He was born into a criminal family, run by Liverpudlian gang boss, Billy Grimwood and surrounded by criminality and illegal activity from the time he was a child, shoplifting with his mother, aunts and grandmother.As he gets older Grimes moves up the criminal ladder to commit hijacking, safe cracking, robbery, theft, ram raiding and joyriding eventually offering protection to clubs and pubs. Grimes was a villain through and through but what made him turn from a genuine old school outlaw into an informer? Drugs.Liverpool becomes saturated with various deadly narcotics, brought in by the infamous drugs baron 'Cocky' Curtis Warren and the lesser known, but nevertheless just as dangerous, John Haase, who are also both acquaintances of Grimes. But after seeing his first born son die of a heroin overdose, he decides to act by turning informer and making sure that these Liverpool drug lords are put in prison for a very long time.An excellent book, Graham Johnson tells Grimes' story very well mixing together his own commentary with Grimes' testament with parts in the middle of the book explaining both Warren's and Haase's criminal backgrounds and weaving this into Grimes' story very skilfully.Grimes himself comes across as a straightforward character that doesn't care for criminal reputations and bluster. He's been around criminals all his life so he does not have to fake any of it or try to put it on. He's not a dapper don or a smooth talking hood, he's an 'old school grafter', someone who lives to make money by criminality but also someone who will not to cross a certain line for his greed, as he sees first hand what it means to be involved in the drugs trade (and something he calls 'criminal karma').This is the second book of Johnson's that I've read, the first being 'The Devil' and although I enjoyed that book more, this is still an interesting and exciting read, giving a flavour of Liverpool's underworld over the last 50 years.Johnson seems to have cornered the market in Liverpool true crime stories and it is a testament to him that he has managed to produce 2 excellent biographies relating to Liverpool gangsters.This book could and maybe should be made into a film as the story has pretty much everything you'd expect from a book of this genre including high level political corruption. All in all, highly recommended to anyone who is interested in true crime and another great book from Graham Johnson. I look forward to reading another of his books soon.I found the book very readable but in some passages a bit unbelievable. So many robberies on warehouses all the time. What were the police doing The tail end of the book was an eye opener and the behaviour of the police/customs and judiciary including the MP was like something out of a Hollywood drama. Those people should be ashamed.This is one good book to read. The downside there were no photographs. Had to Google.This book should be read in conjuction with the two other books written by the author Harry Fergueson, K17 and Lima 3. This at a time when the present Government has launched an enquiry into undercover officers. The public don't realise what a dangerous job this type of work is and for MP's to critisise police and customs officers who put their lives at risk is a down right insult. Powder Wars is a fantastic read and I can say this from my own experience in my limited undercover work in the Met. Informants are a necessary evil in the fight against crime and this particular informant who the book is about deserves the highest credit in the fight against drugs.He was a very, very brave man.Bought on a whim. Wow. This guy went against the heavy hitters of the underworld, wasn't intimidated, had to have solid nerves. Even in the end. Still defiant.Scary when you think what happened in the 90s when heroine, coke, etc started coming into the UK in large quantities.Book was not too long which is a pity.Can't help feel sorry for Grimes, stuck in his old ways and didn't like change, certainly was a handful and could handle himself, very anti drug and firm on his beliefs, which is possibly why he ended up broke.Tells a great story and makes you laugh all the way through, saw his YouTube interview with Macintyre after reading this, he is a guy you could have a few pints with and have a laugh with some great stories.I loved it.