Joe Thomas – författare

This title was first published in 2000: An ethnographic inquiry into the socio-cultural dynamics of the Vietnamese asylum seeker detention centres in Hong Kong during the period of 1988-1995. It deals essentially with the British asylum policy towards Vietnamese refugees and its outcome in Hong Kong. Based on the author's first hand experience of working in refugee camps, this book argues that the administrators managed to solve the crisis by perpetuating horrendous human rights violations and subsequent ethnocide of the asylum seekers trapped in the detention centres.

This title was first published in 2000: An ethnographic inquiry into the socio-cultural dynamics of the Vietnamese asylum seeker detention centres in Hong Kong during the period of 1988-1995. It deals essentially with the British asylum policy towards Vietnamese refugees and its outcome in Hong Kong. Based on the author's first hand experience of working in refugee camps, this book argues that the administrators managed to solve the crisis by perpetuating horrendous human rights violations and subsequent ethnocide of the asylum seekers trapped in the detention centres.

'Joe Thomas brilliantly recaptures an ugly episode in our recent past. Lest we forget . . .' Val McDermid'A timely, powerful and gorgeously readable novel that represents everything that is good and important about the crime fiction genre' Irish Times1978: The National Front is gaining ground in Hackney. To counter their influence, anti-fascist groups launch the Carnival Against Racism in Victoria Park. Observing the event is Detective Constable Patrick Noble, charged with investigating racist attacks in the area and running Spycops in both far-right and left wing groups. As Noble's superiors are drawn further into political meddling, he's inveigled into a plot against the embattled Labour government as the Winter of Discontent begins to bite.1983: Under a disciplinary cloud after a Spycops op ended in tragedy, Noble is offered a reprieve by an old mentor. He is dispatched in the early hours to Stoke Newington police station, where a young black man has died in suspicious circumstances. This is Thatcher's Britain now, a new world that Noble unwittingly helped to usher in, where racial tensions are weaponised by those in power. His investigation will expose the dark heart of a nation at war with itself.'Gripping' The Times'Enthralling' Sunday Times'A propulsive crime novel' Guardian'One of our very best contemporary crime writers' David Peace

**An Irish Times best book of 2024 so far**"A very early candidate for the crime novel of the year" IRISH TIMESLive Aid, July 1985. The great and the good of the music scene converge to save the world. But the TV glitz cannot disguise ugly truths about Thatcher's Britain.Jon Davies and Suzi Scialfa have moved on since the inquest into the death of Colin Roach, but they're about to be drawn back into the struggle ­­­- Jon by his restless curiosity and Suzi by the reappearance of DC Patrick Noble.Noble's other asset, the salaried spycop Parker, is a pawn in a game he only dimly comprehends. First, he's ordered to infiltrate the Broadwater Farm Estate in Tottenham; next will come Wapping, ground zero of a plot to smash the print unions. But who is Noble working for, and how far can he be trusted?The Iron Lady is reforging the nation, and London with it. Right to Buy may secure her votes, but who really stands to benefit? Corruption is endemic and the gap between rich and poor grows wider by the day. Insurrection seems imminent - all that's needed is a spark.REVIEWS FOR WHITE RIOT, A SUNDAY TIMES BOOK OF THE YEAR'Rpresents everything that is good and important about the crime fiction genre' Irish Times'Enthralling' Sunday Times 'Gripping' The Times 'Propulsive' Guardian

"A very early candidate for the crime novel of the year" IRISH TIMESLive Aid, July 1985. The great and the good of the music scene converge to save the world. But the TV glitz cannot disguise ugly truths about Thatcher's Britain.Jon Davies and Suzi Scialfa have moved on since the inquest into the death of Colin Roach, but they're about to be drawn back into the struggle ­­­- Jon by his restless curiosity and Suzi by the reappearance of DC Patrick Noble.Noble's other asset, the salaried spycop Parker, is a pawn in a game he only dimly comprehends. First, he's ordered to infiltrate the Broadwater Farm Estate in Tottenham; next will come Wapping, ground zero of a plot to smash the print unions. But who is Noble working for, and how far can he be trusted?The Iron Lady is reforging the nation, and London with it. Right to Buy may secure her votes, but who really stands to benefit? Corruption is endemic and the gap between rich and poor grows wider by the day. Insurrection seems imminent - all that's needed is a spark.REVIEWS FOR WHITE RIOT, A SUNDAY TIMES BOOK OF THE YEAR'Rpresents everything that is good and important about the crime fiction genre' Irish Times'Enthralling' Sunday Times 'Gripping' The Times 'Propulsive' Guardian

"The final part of Joe Thomas's epic United Kingdom trilogy . . . A savage - and occasionally hilarious - indictment of Thatcherism" The Times"A fitting end to a fine, ambitious series" Mail on Sunday"This scathing and compelling historical thriller is like a mash up of crime kings David Peace and James Ellroy - with a top soundtrack" The SunNew Year's Eve 1988. An illegal rave in Hackney. Acid House has arrived in the UK. But the Second Summer of Love is no golden era for Britain.A decade of Thatcher is starting to bite and her planned "Community Charge" will only rub salt in the wounds. Privatisation has lined shareholders pockets, but at what cost? A nation stripped of its assets, going for broke.DC Patrick Noble is assigned to a task force working out of Stoke Newington, gathering evidence of police corruption to use against his new colleagues. But this is a dangerous game. And his underlings - spycop Parker and reluctant civilian Suzie Scialfa - are getting restive. Turns out blackmail and intimidation can only get you so far. Meanwhile, council solicitor Jon Davies is once again lifting stones that shouldn't be lifted - this time plumbing the depths of the deal to privatise water.As the country hurtles towards disorder, in the form of riots that even the Iron Lady can't withstand, Noble walks an inexorable path towards his own inescapable fate. Things can only get better. But first they have to hit rock bottom.REVIEWS FOR WHITE RIOT, A SUNDAY TIMES BOOK OF THE YEAR'Rpresents everything that is good and important about the crime fiction genre' Irish Times'Enthralling' Sunday Times'Gripping' The Times'Propulsive' Guardian

MAIL ON SUNDAY THRILLER OF THE MONTH São Paulo, 20 March 2016 A campaign for the impeachment of President Dilma Rousseff is in full swing, yet 100,000 people take to Avenida Paulista in Sao Paulo in her support.On the same day, a young man from a wealthy family is murdered. Detective Mario Leme discovers the body. Two Military Policemen confront him.They strongarm him into the back of an SUV. Set against the backdrop of the biggest political corruption scandal in Brazilian history, Playboy is the story of Leme's attempt to clear his name, and find the young man's killer. Leme's investigation runs right through Sao Paulo society, from the bottom, to the very top and has implications far beyond. And the fight to prove his innocence might just cost Leme his life. A stylish, taut, and atmospheric novel in the hardboiled tradition of American noir, Playboy is a thrilling examination of the seething, violent street life of Sao Paulo and the political convulsions of contemporary Brazil. PRAISE FOR JOE THOMAS 'Brilliant' The Times 'Feverish energy' Guardian 'Wonderfully vivid' Mail on Sunday'Sophisticated, dizzying' GQ'Vivid and visceral' The Times'Superbly realised vivid and atmospheric' Guardian'Original' Mail on Sunday'A stylish, atmospheric treat an inspired blend of David Peace and early Pinter' Irish Times 'Sparse, energetic, fragmented prose' The Spectator 'Vibrant, colourful, and complex' Irish Independent 'Stylish, sharp-witted, taut. A must for modern noir fans' NB Magazine 'Definitive confident and energetic' Crime Time 'Brilliant manic energy' Jake Arnott 'Wildly stylish and hugely entertaining' Lucy Caldwell 'Vivid, stylish, funny' Mick Herron 'Gripping, fast-paced, darkly atmospheric' Susanna Jones 'Snappy, thoughtful, moving' John King 'Exciting, fresh, incredibly assured' Stav Sherez 'Happy days!' Mark Timlin 'Utterly brilliant' Cathi Unsworth 'Had James Ellroy and David Peace collaborated on a novel they'd have written something like this' Paul Willets

'As vibrant, colourful and complex as South America's largest city'São Paulo, 2013: a city at an extraordinary moment in its history. Mario Leme, a detective in the civil police, has developed a friendship with a young English investigative journalist, Ellie. When she goes to meet a contact in central São Paulo, Mario observes from the street as she walks into a building and doesn't come out. Inside, he discovers the dead body of a young man he doesn't recognise, and Ellie's phone lying on the floor. Told partly from Leme's point of view, partly from Ellie's, Gringa takes us through five days during the redevelopment of the centre of Sao Paulo in the run-up to the 2014 World Cup. Ellie's disappearance links characters at every level of the social hierarchy, from the drug dealers and civil and military police to the political class she witnesses the feral brutality of urban breakdown. Gringa, with shades of Don Winslow and James Ellroy, is a portrait of São Pauloin all its harshness and dysfunction, its corruption and social divisions, its kaleidoscopic dynamism, its undercurrent of derangement, and its febrile, sensual instability, executed with a deep knowledge of the city's aPRAISE FOR JOE THOMAS 'Brilliant' The Times 'Feverish energy' Guardian 'Wonderfully vivid' Mail on Sunday'Sophisticated, dizzying' GQ'Vivid and visceral' The Times'Superbly realised vivid and atmospheric' Guardian'Original' Mail on Sunday'A stylish, atmospheric treat an inspired blend of David Peace and early Pinter' Irish Times 'Sparse, energetic, fragmented prose' The Spectator 'Vibrant, colourful, and complex' Irish Independent 'Stylish, sharp-witted, taut. A must for modern noir fans' NB Magazine 'Definitive confident and energetic' Crime Time 'Brilliant manic energy' Jake Arnott 'Wildly stylish and hugely entertaining' Lucy Caldwell 'Vivid, stylish, funny' Mick Herron 'Gripping, fast-paced, darkly atmospheric' Susanna Jones 'Snappy, thoughtful, moving' John King 'Exciting, fresh, incredibly assured' Stav Sherez 'Happy days!' Mark Timlin 'Utterly brilliant' Cathi Unsworth 'Had James Ellroy and David Peace collaborated on a novel they'd have written something like this' Paul Willets

'Brilliant' The TimesMario Leme is a low-ranking detective in the Sao Paulo civil police. Every day on the way to work he sets off early and drives through the favela known as Paraisopolis - Paradise City. It's a pilgrimage: his wife Renata was gunned down at an intersection here a year ago, the victim of a stray bullet in a conflict between drug dealers. One morning, parked near the place where Renata died, he sees an SUV careen out of control and flip over. The driver Leo is killed, but before his body is removed, Leme is sure he sees bullet wounds. Leo's death wasn't an accident, he was murdered. Soon, his girlfriend turns up dead too. And if they were killed deliberately, perhaps Renata was too . . .Leme finds himself immersed further and further in the dark underbelly of Brazilian society, as corruption seeps from the highest to the lowest echelons, and the devastating truth about Renata begins to emerge.PRAISE FOR JOE THOMAS'Brilliant' The Times 'Feverish energy' Guardian 'Wonderfully vivid' Mail on Sunday'Sophisticated, dizzying' GQ'Vivid and visceral' The Times'Superbly realised vivid and atmospheric' Guardian'Original' Mail on Sunday'A stylish, atmospheric treat an inspired blend of David Peace and early Pinter' Irish Times 'Sparse, energetic, fragmented prose' The Spectator 'Vibrant, colourful, and complex' Irish Independent 'Stylish, sharp-witted, taut. A must for modern noir fans' NB Magazine 'Definitive confident and energetic' Crime Time 'Brilliant manic energy' Jake Arnott 'Wildly stylish and hugely entertaining' Lucy Caldwell 'Vivid, stylish, funny' Mick Herron 'Gripping, fast-paced, darkly atmospheric' Susanna Jones 'Snappy, thoughtful, moving' John King 'Exciting, fresh, incredibly assured' Stav Sherez 'Happy days!' Mark Timlin 'Utterly brilliant' Cathi Unsworth 'Had James Ellroy and David Peace collaborated on a novel they'd have written something like this' Paul Willets

Guardian Best Book of 2020 Irish Times Best Crime Fiction of 2020 Times Book of the Month Mail on Sunday Thriller of the Month The Spectator Crime Fiction of the Month Crime Time Book of the Year 2020 'Vivid, stylish, funny' Mick Heron The first time I met Harold Challenor, he frisked me for weapons - I was ten years old. Bent is the explosive story of the rise and fall of SAS commando, and notorious Detective Sergeant, Harold 'Tanky' Challenor. During the Second World War, Challenor was parachuted behind enemy lines into Italy and France, performing remarkable feats of bravery. In the grimy underbelly of 1960s Soho, he was a ferocious and controversial presence, mediating between factions of club owners and racketeers, and cultivating informers. But just how far will he go to break the protection gang that has a grip on his manor?It can be a fine line that divides hero and villain. PRAISE FOR JOE THOMAS 'Brilliant' The Times 'Feverish energy' Guardian 'Wonderfully vivid' Mail on Sunday'Sophisticated, dizzying' GQ'Vivid and visceral' The Times'Superbly realised vivid and atmospheric' Guardian'Original' Mail on Sunday'A stylish, atmospheric treat an inspired blend of David Peace and early Pinter' Irish Times 'Sparse, energetic, fragmented prose' The Spectator 'Vibrant, colourful, and complex' Irish Independent 'Stylish, sharp-witted, taut. A must for modern noir fans' NB Magazine 'Definitive confident and energetic' Crime Time 'Brilliant manic energy' Jake Arnott 'Wildly stylish and hugely entertaining' Lucy Caldwell 'Vivid, stylish, funny' Mick Herron 'Gripping, fast-paced, darkly atmospheric' Susanna Jones 'Snappy, thoughtful, moving' John King 'Exciting, fresh, incredibly assured' Stav Sherez 'Happy days!' Mark Timlin 'Utterly brilliant' Cathi Unsworth 'Had James Ellroy and David Peace collaborated on a novel they'd have written something like this' Paul Willets

'BRAZILIAN PSYCHO is a riveting and explosive masterpiece of political crime fiction that deserves to share the shelf with AMERICAN TABLOID, THE POWER OF THE DOG and A BRIEF HISTORY OF SEVEN KILLINGS, and confirms Joe Thomas as one of our very best contemporary crime writers.' David Peace'Complex and compelling, and shot through with moments of horror and beauty, BRAZILIAN PSYCHO is a magnificent achievement.' The Times Crime Club'Fans of Don Winslow and James Ellroy's epic forays into the societal effects of systematic dysfunction and corruption will want to check this out' Publishers WeeklyBrazil, 1 January 2003: President Luis Inacio 'Lula' da Silva begins fifteen years of left-wing government. 1 January 2019: Jair Bolsonaro is inaugurated, a president of the populist right. How did it come to this? A blockbusting novel of our times, Brazilian Psycho introduces and completes Joe Thomas's acclaimed Sao Paulo quartet. Over sixteen years, a diverse cast of characters live through the unfolding social and political drama, setting in motion a whirlwind of plots and counterplots: the murder of a British school headmaster and the consequent cover-up; the chaos and score-settling of the PCC drug gang rebellion over the Mothers' Day weekend of 2006; a copycat serial killer; the secret international funding of nationwide anti-government protests; the bribes, kickbacks and shakedowns of the Mensalao and Lava Jato political corruption scandals, the biggest in Brazilian historyBrazilian Psycho weaves social crime fiction, historical fact, and personal experience to record the radical tale of one of the world's most fascinating, glamorous, corrupt, violent, and thrilling cities. PRAISE FOR JOE THOMAS 'Brilliant' The Times 'Feverish energy' Guardian 'Wonderfully vivid' Mail on Sunday'Sophisticated, dizzying' GQ'Vivid and visceral' The Times'Superbly realised vivid and atmospheric' Guardian'Original' Mail on Sunday'A stylish, atmospheric treat an inspired blend of David Peace and early Pinter' Irish Times 'Sparse, energetic, fragmented prose' The Spectator 'Vibrant, colourful, and complex' Irish Independent 'Stylish, sharp-witted, taut. A must for modern noir fans' NB Magazine 'Definitive confident and energetic' Crime Time 'Brilliant manic energy' Jake Arnott 'Wildly stylish and hugely entertaining' Lucy Caldwell 'Vivid, stylish, funny' Mick Herron 'Gripping, fast-paced, darkly atmospheric' Susanna Jones 'Snappy, thoughtful, moving' John King 'Exciting, fresh, incredibly assured' Stav Sherez 'Happy days!' Mark Timlin 'Utterly brilliant' Cathi Unsworth 'Had James Ellroy and David Peace collaborated on a novel they'd have written something like this' Paul Willets