The Killing of Butterfly Joe

Description

I killed Joe once, in a manner of speaking. But not twice. Not in the way you mean.' Twenty-four year-old Welshman Llew Jones is in jail. All he wanted was to see America and write about it. Then he met the extraordinary Butterfly Joe and his freakish family and got caught up in an adventure that got way, way out of control. Now his friend's gone and Llew has to give his side of the story . . . Part neo-gothic thriller, part existential road trip, part morality tale, The Killing of Butterfly Joe is a thrilling, funny and epic story of experience, desire, friendship and family. It's about leaving the life of introspection behind to participate in the Great American Dream: the one that takes you from 'rags to riches via pitches'. It's about the end of innocence and the dawn of consequence; the forces of revenge pitted against the powers of forgiveness; and, ultimately, the search for freedom and self-definition.

Rhidian Brook is an award-winning writer of fiction, television drama and film. His first novel, The Testimony of Taliesin Jones, won several prizes including the Somerset Maugham Award. His short stories have appeared in numerous publications, including the Paris Review, New Statesman and Time Out, and have been broadcast on BBC Radio 4. He is also a regular contributor to 'Thought For The Day' on the Today programme. His 2013 novel, The Aftermath, was translated into more than twenty languages and has been made into a movie, staring Keira Knightley and Alexander Skarsgard, and produced by Ridley Scott.