News

Arcadia Books have bought the World English rights to two new titles by Joe Thomas from Will Francis at Janklow and Nesbit.

Brazilian Psycho is the fourth, and final part, in Joe Thomas’ São Paulo Quartet, which weaves crime fiction, high literary style, historical fact, and personal experience to record the radical tale of one of the world’s most fascinating, glamorous, corrupt, violent, and thrilling cities.

Two titles, Paradise City (2017) and Gringa (2018), have already been published in the UK. The third, Playboy, will be published in June of this year, with Brazilian Psycho due for release in Spring 2020.

Piers Russell-Cobb, publisher at Arcadia, said:

“Arcadia is proud to be the springboard for such talented young writers as Joe Thomas, whose genre-bending Sao Paulo Quartet dares to expose the gritty reality that tourists to Brazil don't get to experience first-hand.”

An occult history of São Paulo from 2003-2018, told through the lens of real life crimes, Brazilian Psycho reveals the dark heart at the centre of the Brazilian social-democrat resurgence and the fragility and corruption of the B.R.I.C. economic miracle; it documents the rise and fall of the left-wing – and the rise of the populist right, prefiguring and explaining the violent political divisions in Brazil, and on the international stage, in 2019. The city of São Paulo has historically rejected the left-wing and Brazilian Psycho reveals the lengths to which the city structures will go to do so.

Author Joe Thomas said:

“As in Playboy, I will interweave their stories with accounts of other Brazilians from all strata of society; ordinary people will form the background hum of the novel’s life.

I want Brazilian Psycho to be a blockbusting story resolutely of our times. Think James Ellroy’s American Tabloid, think Wolf Hall and Bring Up The Bodies, think Don Winslow’s The Power of the Dog, think Blonde by Joyce Carol Oates, think Amores Perros and Tropa de Elite, and think a novel that both introduces and completes Paradise City, Gringa, and Playboy.”

The second title, Bent, is a new standalone crime novel set in 1960’s Soho, scheduled for publication in Spring 2021. It features Harold Challenor, a former SAS officer turned detective, who mediates between various factions of club owners and racketeers and cultivates informers.

As an SAS officer he was parachuted behind enemy lines in Italy and France, with tragic results, and the two narratives run in parallel throughout the series.

Will Francis, agent at Janklow and Nesbit, said:

“I love this book – it’s hard as nails, but wonderfully ironic and funny too. Joe is somehow able to take on David Peace and James Ellroy at their own game – his grimy 1960s copland, is just as brilliantly realised as theirs, but his characters live and breathe. He’s able to inhabit Challenor’s hardman milieu but also lets us peer around the corners at his frailties and vulnerabilities, and show us how men like Challenor and his enemies are also victims of their masculinity.”

Today marks the 20th anniversary of the first publication of Brixton Rock!

Written by the award-winning author Alex Wheatle, Brixton Rock tells the moving story of Brenton Brown, a mixed-race teenager living in a children's home during the 1960s Brixton race riots. Faced with the emotional turmoil of familial upheaval, Brenton battles to find his true identity amidst the chaos ensuing around him.

Brixton Rock was Alex's debut novel, and it was published to critical acclaim. Twenty years on, it remains as pertinent and powerful as it was upon publication.

Alex has written a number of other novels in the last twenty years, including Brenton Brown and Home Boys, which are published by Arcadia Books. He represents the charity English PEN, and in 2008 he was awarded an MBE for services to literature in the Queen's Birthday Honours list.

Congratulations to Qaisra Shahraz, Arcadia author of The Holy Woman, Revolt, and Typhoon, who hosted the UK's first ever Muslim Arts & Culture Festival earlier this year.

MACFEST was a resounding success, with nearly 3,000 attendees over its 9 days. The festival was celebrating the diversity and richness of Muslim culture and heritage in the UK, with 50 organised events involving local school, colleges and community centres.

Qaisra Shahraz said:

"Through this unique festival, we managed to break down barriers, celebrate arts and bring both Muslim and non-Muslim communities together under one roof. We are incredibly proud of what the festival has achieved in the city of Manchester and hope to continue the work we are doing."

For more information please visit: https://macfest.org.uk/

Joe Thomas, critically acclaimed author of Paradise City and Gringa, will be appearing at the Morecambe Crime Festival on Sunday 30th September. Joining the panel alongside Nick Quantrill, William Shaw and Alan Parks, Joe will be discussing his background in crime writing, and the way music influences his work.

Tickets cost £5 and can be purchased here: http://morecambecrimefest.co.uk/tickets/4593936319