Seatbelts on

I’m very happy to share that Wrecks, my new novel, will be published by Dead Ink Books on August 6th this year. The book’s cover – like Lamb’s – was designed by the genius Luke Bird. (I’m not meant to have favourites, but it’s possibly my favourite.)

I started sketching Wrecks‘ early scenes during the torrid first weeks of Covid, initially as a kind of desperate response. Later, the draft became a not-very-subtle state-of-the-nation diatribe which changed course with every month, like everything else did. Eventually it became another part-abandoned manuscript I was compelled to return to and complete when Lamb was picked up for publication.

As always, I find it tricky to describe what the book is, so I’ll reach for what it isn’t. If Lamb was wet and mulchy, then Wrecks is sticky, oppressive. Most of its writing happened in a deeply unsettled period for me, personally and professionally, which has no doubt dictated its shape; I keep reminding myself that novels can function as diaries as well as imaginings.

The novel plays about with elements of horror, crime thriller, cyberpunk and ghost story, while making several attempts to rehabilitate the dream sequence. And, of course, it circles back to some perennial subjects of mine: vehicles, transformations, the grim promises of a half-empty industrial unit, images of the future with zero appeal to ‘making predictions’…

Read more about Wrecks over here and, if you’re keen, please consider pre-ordering a copy from Dead Ink direct, or from your local bookshop. More than ever, pre-orders are vital to writers and the independent publishers who champion our work.