Shark

In this incendiary debut, young writer Wes Brown writes of the neglected working class man and his place in British society. Ex-soldier and violent deadbeat John Usher returns to his boyhood home of Leeds to find things have changed. His community has been unravelled by gang culture, ethnic tensions and hopelessness. Unable to sleep, his only consolation is drinking late into the night and playing pool by himself. That is, until an encounter with a hard right activist leads him into a twisted relationship of deceit, cuckoldry and hatred.

About the Author :
Wes Brown is a twenty-something young writer from Leeds but based in London. He is the author of Shark, a novel about class, masculinity and culture in 21st century Britain. He is the editor of a number of books including LS13: A New Generation of Leeds Writers, Cadaverine Anthology and Myths of the Near Future. He is currently working on a novella called When Lights Are Bright about the EDL and the Shannon Matthew's kidnap and a book of stories about wrestling, storytelling and masculinity called Breaking Kayfabe.

Review :
"In Shark, Wes Brown writes with a kind of rhythmic Northern realism, catching the way we think, the way we talk, the way we act round here; he manages to make the North a marvellous place, a place where art can happen, where epic can feel comfortable - " Ian McMillan, poet and broadcaster. "Brown's writing is an alloy of hard Yorkshire vernacular and genuine creativity that propels the narrative forward, exposing the state of the nation. Often bleak and forceful, Shark successfully remains grounded in its characters, affirming our shared humanity in our base similarities. An exciting contemporary novel, important in both its exploration of now and of the human condition." Jordan Phillips, Litro. "Brown is a new generation Updike with the ability to capture the essence of a time and place comparable to Cartwright's Heartland. Never has hard-fought alienation been rendered so tensely familiar and jaw-achingly hard to swallow." Jo Brandon, The Cadaverine "Here we have that rare artifact. A contemporary, regional, working class novel written with the ideas-based, language currency of the great transatlantic stylists: Updike, Bellow, DeLillo and Martin Amis. Wes Brown's art is to match literary intensity to the northern pubs and pool halls, finding the story in a young man's struggle to accommodate himself to the life he has been dealt, after service in Iraq, in a community divided and adfrift." Danny Broderick, The Workroom.