'The Knives' is nigh

Five or so years in the making, my third novel is finally out next Thursday. I'm due to have a piece in tomorrow's Guardian Review about politics and fiction, and after that we will see what kind of coverage may come.... 

 

In the meantime this pre-publication response to the novel from Alastair Campbell is one I wear with pride:

 

'A gripping read from start to finish. A rich, multi-layered account of the complexities of modern government where personal, political and cultural realities mean simple choices are hard to come by.'

For sure I will be at the Edinburgh Book Festival on August 17 for an event with Mark Lawson chaired by none other than Val McDermid, and I will be on BBC Radio 4's Open Book to discuss some of the issues around The Knives on August 21. A podcast I'm doing with the estimable Prospect magazine will also be available from the 21st. Next week there will be an extract from the book and a prize giveaway on the Mr. Hyde website, plus a blog post by me on Foyles' site. 

 

All this and more once The Knives are out, as they say...

RTK Newcastle article in new Prospect (May 2008)

"London to Newcastle isn't rated among the world's great train journeys, but for any returning native of the northeast there are sights along the line that will elevate the spirits..."
The new issue of the excellent Prospect magazine is now on the stands and includes an essay by myself in the 'Witness' strand which somebody has wittily entitled In Search of Lost Tyne. Yes, it's a series of snap-shots of the current state of Newcastle upon Tyne - socially, economically, politically, and culturally. In a sense, because the plot of Crusaders concludes in 1997, this piece of reportage brings the novel's story up to date, and with rather more of a debt to the actualite.
Needless to say there's a great deal more to enjoy in the magazine, including an essay by the South Shields-born historian Robert Colls on the neglected novels of Melvyn Bragg; quite a bit about the 40-year anniversary of May '68; and a long interview with Christopher Hitchens by Alex Linklater, in which it is casually noted that Hitchens enjoys friendly relations with the 'independent-minded' Sean Penn. Any sane/civilised person would want to be the proverbial fly on the wall when those two meet for cocktails.