Jake Arnott – författare

''A work of dazzling imagination and linguistic inventiveness'' ObserverNewgate Gaol, 1726. An anonymous writer sets down the words of Edgworth Bess as she confides the adventures and misfortunes that led her all too soon to the judgement of London:Cruelly deceived, Bess is cast out onto the streets of the wicked city - and by nightfall her ruin is already certain. What matters now is her survival of it.In that dangerous underworld known in thieves'' cant as Romeville, she will learn new tricks and trades. And all begins with her fateful meeting, that very first night, with the corrupt thief-taker general Jonathan Wild.But it is the infamous gaol-breaker, Jack Sheppard, who will lay Romeville at her feet . . . Drawing on the true story that mesmerised eighteenth-century society, the acclaimed author of The Long Firm delivers a tour de force: a riveting, artful tale of crime and rough justice, love and betrayal. Rich in the street slang of the era, it vividly conjures up a murky world of illicit dens and molly-houses; a world where life was lived on the edge, in the shadow of that fatal tree - the gallows.

''A consummate performance...virtuoso'' GuardianA fascinating, unusual and seductive historical novel by the bestselling author of The Long Firm.In a Parisian restaurant, Aleister Crowley, the notorious occultist, chances on Major-General Sir Hector Macdonald: once one of the greatest heroes of the British Empire, now facing ruin in a shocking scandal - and vulnerable to Crowley''s curious offer of help. An extraordinary night of transgression and revelation ensues . . . Probing beneath the surface of Victorian conformity, this is an enthralling tale of imperialism, sexuality and the nature of belief, which captures a world on the brink of a brutal new era.

''Hypnotic, feverish and altogether wonderful'' (Guardian) - Jake Arnott''s acclaimed successor to the bestselling LONG FIRM trilogyIt''s 1972 and as the dreams of the sixties give way to anger and political unrest, the charismatic anarchist Declan O''Connell commits suicide, leaving his boyfriend Pearson and fellow squatter Nina to try to make sense of what has happened. Enter Sweet Thing, a streetwise rent boy, who has an uncanny hold over glam rock star Johnny Chrome; and in the wings lurks Detective Sergeant Walker of the newly formed Bomb Squad, who knows more about O''Connell than anyone ever suspected. The course of all their lives is about to change forever - for better and for worse. In this taut, powerful novel, Jake Arnott portrays four people searching for a sense of identity, their emotional and sexual turmoil mirrored by the turbulence of the times. Bringing that era vividly to life, he captures the mood of Britain at a turning point in history.