Part of Series
It is seven years after the first outbreak of "the Sweats" destroyed the world, almost overnight. Two refugees from the death and decay of London, Stevie Flint and Magnus McFall, have both washed up on Orkney. A rural community clinging to survival, the islands are home to a generation of youth who barely remember a time before the pandemic. One of them, Magnus' foster son, Shuggie, is fourteen years old and angry as hell: he and his young friends blame all adults for the loss of the technological and scientific wonders of the past. When the foster parents of Shug's girlfriend, Misty, are found murdered and the young couple vanishes without a trace, Magnus fears the worst. Refusing to believe they could have committed the crime, and in order to find Shuggie and Misty before something terrible happens to them, Magnus and Stevie set off on a quest into the decaying city of Glasgow - and into the heart of a post-apocalyptic landscape they tried to leave behind when they fled the chaotic streets of London.
Author
After studying history at Glasgow University, Louise Welsh established a second-hand bookshop, where she worked for many years. Her first novel, The Cutting Room, won several awards, including the 2002 Crime Writers’ Association John Creasey Memorial Dagger, and was jointly awarded the 2002 Saltire Society Scottish First Book of the Year Award. Louise was granted a Robert Louis Stevenson Memorial Award in 2003, a Scotland on Sunday/Glenfiddich Spirit of Scotland Award in 2004, and a Hawthornden Fellowship in 2005. She is a regular radio broadcaster, has published many short stories, and has contributed articles and reviews to most of the British broadsheets. She has also written for the stage. The Guardian chose her as a 'woman to watch' in 2003. Her second book, Tamburlaine Must Die, a novelette written around the final three days of the poet Christopher Marlowe's life, was published in 2004. Her third novel, The Bullet Trick (2006), is a present-day murder mystery set in Berlin. The Cutting Room 2002 Tamburlaine Must Die 2004 The Bullet Trick 2006 Naming The Bones 2010 Prizes and awards 2002 Crime Writers' Association John Creasey Memorial Dagger The Cutting Room 2002 Saltire Society Scottish First Book of the Year Award (joint winner) The Cutting Room 2003 BBC Underground Award (writer category) The Cutting Room 2003 Robert Louis Stevenson Memorial Award 2004 Corine Internationaler Buchpreis: Rolf Heyne Debutpreis (Germany) The Cutting Room 2004 Scotland on Sunday/Glenfiddich Spirit of Scotland Award 2004 Stonewall Book Award (US) (honor in literature)
