The Singer

Back in 1976, Vincent Smith was a teenager who wanted to be part of the punk scene. At a Sex Pistols gig he first met Stevie Mullin and Lynton Powell, and his clumsy attempt to kiss Sid Vicious's guitar ended with a split nose. The three of them started Blood Simple, a band that earned some money, made plenty of racket and stirred up trouble everywhere it played.

The band's fortunes changed when Vincent ran off to marry Sylvana, the singer with the ethereal group Mood Violet. The marriage collapsed within months. Sylvana took her own life, the members of Blood Simple went their separate ways, and Vincent vanished without a trace in 1981.

Two decades later, Eddie Bracknell, a journalist, sees the Blood Simple story as his ticket to success. He has a publishing deal and useful contacts, but the accounts he gathers from different people refuse to line up, and he is no closer to learning what became of Vincent. The novel is a crime story with the feel of a contemporary parable, and it captures the loud creativity and sudden violence of punk.