The trade paperback of Alex Preston’s debut novel, This Bleeding City was published by Faber on 4th March and has enjoyed some excellent reviews:

‘Alex Preston … is to be commended for offering us This Bleeding City, a novel that tells us a few warm emotional truths behind a cold news story, the human tale of how it can all go wrong … the angry rants to be found in recent works that deal with the financial crisis (such as the scattergun vitriol of Ben Elton’s Meltdown and the better-calibrated, angry-outsider narrative of Sebastian Faulk’s A Week in December) don’t tell the human story anywhere near as well as Preston does … [his] take is more nuanced … enjoyable and worth reading for the narrative drive. Preston’s style is both spare and rich, brutal and deft. He conjures exquisitely desolated cityscapes … may he continue to shine a light on the giant, scary engine that is modern capitalism.’ Martin Baker, FT

‘Preston’s debut novel could inaugurate a whole genre dedicated to fiscal calamity … it is a tribute to Preston that he manages to pull off the considerable feat of arousing sympathy for Charlie … [his] style often impresses. Striking metaphors and acute observations are strewn through his pages … this is a novel of admirable ambition.’ Peter Carty, Independent

‘the great unavoidable fact about this debut novel of the recent financial meltdown is that it’s written by a real insider … [this fact] gives it a rare golden ticket quality … long on heart and short on American Psycho-style satire, and has a brilliant, surprisingly horrible 1984-ish ending.’ Dazed and Confused