'A dark and unnerving tale told in a spare, clinical tone' John Boyne, Irish Times

In a Belfast courtroom, Robert Rusting is on trial for the murder of his father, former loyalist hardman. On the jury is James Fechner, a middle-aged surgeon searching for meaning in the hushed rooms of justice, inexplicably drawn to the younger man before him.

After trial, Fechner can't quite return to life as usual. In dingy pubs and rowdy boxing halls, Fechner inserts himself into Rusting's world, drawn in by an aggressive, unapologetic way of life. So begins a close friendship, and a tacit - explosive - battle for control.

Silverback is a powerful portrayal of the complications of masculinity and of the line between fragility and violence told in an unforgettable voice.


'Visceral and unpredictable, Silverback is doing what novels do best . . . Told with real intelligence, skill and compassion' Colin Walsh

'Silverback is both a murder mystery and a knottily impressive portrait of a peculiarly Ulster form of masculinity' Sunday Telegraph

'Highly original . . . Many novels about The Troubles depict the horrors that take place on the street. This one exposes the more ambiguous horrors gnawing within' Daily Mail