Provocative and compelling, it is a spectacular debut' - Daily Mail ____________ Is murder ever morally right?
And is a murderer necessarily bad?
These two questions waltz through the maddening mind of Michael, the brilliant, terrifying, fiendishly smart creation at the centre of this winking dark gem of a literary thriller. Michael lost his wife in a terrorist attack on a London train. Since then, he has been seeing a therapist to help him come to terms with his grief - and his anger. He can't get over the fact that the man he holds responsible has seemingly got away scot-free. He doesn't blame the bombers, who he considers only as the logical conclusion to a long chain of events. No, to Michael's mind, the ultimate cause is the politician whose cynical policies have had such deadly impact abroad. His therapist suggests that he write his feelings down to help him forgive and move on, but as a retired headteacher, Michael believes that for every crime there should be a fitting punishment - and so in the pages of his diary he begins to set out the case for, and set about committing, murder. Waltzing through the darkling journal of a brilliant mind put to serious misuse, Kill [redacted] is a powerful and provocative exploration of the contours of grief and the limits of moral justice, and a blazing condemnation of all those who hold, and abuse, power. ONE OF THE BEST DEBUT NOVELS of 2019 (the i )
"A delicate but merciless portrait of a man in the grip of a mental breakdown. His voice is a triumph: intelligent but pedantic and emotionally constipated, seething with barely suppressed rage, and unable to admit the truth about his marriage or motives. Whether this is an elaborate revenge fantasy or a factual account is up to the reader - either way, this outstanding novel is a fascinating and
Guardian
"Provocative and compelling, it is a spectacular debut"
Daily Mail
"This sharp, acerbic novel manages to be both playful and smart, vividly funny and engaged with a serious and almost Dostoevskian question about the morality of judgement and revenge. Formally inventive, written with great verve and confidence, it is a highly impressive debut."
