Dovetail by Jeremy Hughes
ISBN: 9780956012531.
Price: £9.99
"Impressive debut novel... devised by an original mind and told in tight, well-crafted prose.... That Hughes still holds the reader's attention until the final shattering revelation is a tribute to his skill. Score 4/5." Anita Jardine, Daily Express, 24/6/11
A subtly daring format and an easy, hypnotic style, at once tense and uncommon. John Ballam, Oxford University
Attacked as a boy by bullies, Tim is left with the most serious loss he will face as a man. As a man he is out to revenge himself one by one on the gang by enacting the perfect murder with the perfect killing machine. But first of all he must become a supreme craftsman. Then he must practise. A psychological thriller, set in Spain and south-east Wales, on obsession and the far-reaching evils of perfectionism.
Jeremy Hughes was one of the first students to study for the Master's in writing at Oxford University, from which he graduated with distinction. He was awarded first prize in the Poetry Wales competition and his poetry was shortlisted for an Eric Gregory Award. He has published two pamphlets 'breathing for all my birds' (2000) and 'The Woman Opposite' (2004) and has widely published poetry, short fiction and reviews in British and American periodicals. Jeremy lives in Abergavenny.
Strange that I knew I would use it to kill. Stranger that I knew I would use it to kill them. Strangest that I knew this at the age of fifteen... But I did. I know now that people think of fifteen-year-olds as too young to experience such prescience, but I didn't think it odd that those who were making my life hell would eventually pay for their cruelty in moments of such sublime calculation, moments of considered poise.
Alcemi Talks to Jeremy Hughes
Published on 17 May 2011