Shaft, by Ernest Tidyman, (Bloomsbury, £6.99 in UK)

First published in 1971, Shaft was the progenitor of all the classic, cult, blaxploitation movies of the Seventies. The motto was: Shaft has no prejudices - he'll kill anyone, black or white. As portrayed by Richard Roundtree on the big screen, Shaft, leather-jacketed and with pistol in hand, fought his way across the bleak landscapes of New York to the funky rhythms of Issac Hayes. In spite of its age, this reissued novel still packs a punch.