To Hell in a Handcart

To Hell in a Handcart (2001) is a controversial dystopian novel by English journalist Richard Littlejohn.

He and his family have a bad day out at a theme park and a social worker threatens his son with jail, helped by a bent lawyer.

After using self-defence against a man who had broken into his home, Mickey French finds himself arrested and faced with national notoriety, as Roberta Peel (the cop) and her lawyer friend seek to fit him up for murder.

Reviewing the novel for The Guardian, Andrew Anthony noted that the storyline bore striking similarities to The Face by Gary Bushell which was released the same year: "Both are set in contemporary London; both outline the moral collapse of the country; both take a lively interest in traffic jams, KY Jelly and police truncheons; neither is keen on asylum-seekers or the Guardian, and both feature a character called Michael French.

"[1] Similarities between the two texts were also noted in The Independent, where reviewer David Aaronovitch remarked" Littlejohn may not be racist, but his book is.