Blood Rights (Sam Dean Thriller, Book 1)

(Paperback)

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Description

A gripping new thriller from the master of crime
Its a winner, involving bent MPs, snatched heiresses, sex, drugs, and double dealing Time Out

In the 1980s, London is a melting pot of cultures, but race and class create sharp divisions.

Black British journalist Sam Dean looks for stories, not missing persons.

But when an old friend asks for help tracking down a White Conservative MPs daughter, he feels he cant say no.

Especially as Virginias disappearance is tangled with the fate of Roy, a young mixed-race boy who reminds Sam of his own son.

A trail of secrets leads Sam into the backstreets of Black British culture, to the crossroads of race and class where youll find seedy walk-up flats, betting parlours and smoky nightclubs.

Londons answer to S.A. Cosby, Blood Rights is a riveting time capsule of Londons multi-cultural history wrapped up in a tense thriller.

Reviews

In this top-notch first novel The plot is hard-boiled, the mystery unfolding gradually rather than presenting itself full blown for solution. Phillips's dialogue and his protagonist's voice-over ruminations on everything from racial disharmony to foolishness on TV are spot-on, adding to the pleasure a fresh, transatlantic sensibility and inflection. Publishers Weekly

Praise for Mike Phillips
Could have come from the pen of the master, Raymond Chandler Today

Mr Phillips delivers quality The Times

Engaging pacy thriller Phillips prose in concise, witty and fluid TLS

Phillips gives a mean streetwise documentary edge to his heros hunt for a witness Sunday Express

Theres much here to suggest that Phillips could be one of our bravest, most incisive social commentators Mail on Sunday

Phillips depictions of urban London share more with Harlem and Los Angeles than the English drawing rooms of P.D. James and Ruth Rendell Financial Times

American readers willing to wonder a bit about unfamiliar London landmarks and neighbourhoods will be rewarded by Phillips's subtle psychological complexities and deadpan ironies Publishers Weekly

Author Bio

Mike Phillips was born in Guyana, came to Britain as a child and grew up in London. A journalist, broadcaster and university lecturer before becoming a full time writer, his series of crime fiction novels began with Blood Rights (1989), adapted for BBC television, and his reputation as a historian was established with Windrush: The Irresistible Rise of Multi-Racial Britain (1998). Mike writes for the Guardian, and works as Cross Cultural curator at Tate Britain.