Mikey Hough has a dream: to become a Clavadista, one of the heroic brotherhood of Mexican cliff-divers. First he must practise, and to this end he rigs a platform in the garden of his parents' suburban home. But while Mikey's technique may be perfect, his aim is not. Coming to in hospital, he befriends an ex-RAF pilot named Roger, whose Distinguished Flying Cross has been stolen in a violent burglary. And Mikey soon learns that his own disastrous attempt at flight has resulted in a rare - and permanent - condition: he has destroyed his ability to sleep.One night a despondent Mikey stumbles across Livia, his troubled teenaged neighbour. Together they hatch a plan to track down Roger's stolen medal. What follows is a riveting journey into the dark heart of suburban England, during which the fearless pair must confront a sprawling cast of pensioners, media celebrities, policemen and drug-dealers - including the profoundly sinister 'Fat Controller'.The Sleepwalker's Introduction to Flight is a heart-rending and riotous comic novel, a brilliantly subversive tale about what happens when dark and light collide.

The Sleepwalker's Introduction to Flight (Macmillan New Writing)

Humor & Entertainment

Scott-Wilson, Siôn

Humor

Pan/Macmillan

Dreaming of joining the brotherhood of Acapulcan cliff divers, young Mikey Hough rigs a diving platform in the garden of his suburban home. His first attempt goes rather awry, however, and two years later, he finally awakes from his coma. Mikey soon befriends Roger, an elderly ex-pilot hospitalized when his precious Distinguished Flying Cross medal was violently stolen from him. Mikey soon learns that his own disastrous attempt at flight has damaged his Suprachiasmatic Nucleus, destroying his ability to sleep. The medical profession can do nothing for him, and he is sent home from the hospital to die. One night, a despondent Mikey stumbles across Livia, the cynical local teenager. Together they decide to track down Roger's stolen medal, and so begins a remarkable, picaresque journey into the dark heart of suburbia during which the fearless Mikey and Livia confront a sprawling cast of pensioners, policemen, and criminals. As they hurtle toward daybreak, they persuade Roger to undertake one last, gut-wrenching sortie into the night skies.

Literature & Fiction

Literary

What We Leave Behind (Sammy and Facey)

Genre Fiction

Deixis Press

Some Rise By Sin (Sammy and Facey)

"I felt I was eavesdropping on genuine 19th-century grave robbers . . . the author's skilled prose . . . convinced me. I felt I was there in the rough and tumble streets of 1830s London. Grotesque, pathetic, yet with poignant moments of calm and welcome humour." - Tracy Chevalier1829 is a tough year to be a body snatcher. Burke and Hare have just been convicted of killing people to sell their bodies, to widespread outrage-but despite the bad press, doctors still need fresh corpses for medical research.Sammy and Facey are a couple of so-called 'resurrection men', making a living among society's fringe-dwellers by hoisting the newly departed from the churchyards of London whilst masquerading as late-night bakers. Operating on tip-offs and rumours in the capital's drinking dens and fighting pits, the pair find themselves in receipt of some valuable intelligence: an unusual cadaver has popped up on the market, that of a hermaphrodite.For any medic worth his salt it's a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity-a medical curiosity and rara avis-and famous anatomist Joshua Brookes commissions the two men to obtain the body, at any cost. But some corpses hold secrets, and before long the enterprise becomes a deadlier and more complex undertaking than either man could ever have imagined.Some Rise by Sin is a rich, authentic and absorbing historical narrative with a darker edge, a story of surviving on the outskirts of respectability. With echoes of Michel Faber's The Crimson Petal and the White, it is meticulously researched and suffused with the dark and grimy atmosphere of Regency London, and explores what ambition can mean for poor people in a society that conspires to grind them down at every turn.

Some Rise By Sin

"I felt I was eavesdropping on genuine 19th-century grave robbers . . . the author's skilled prose . . . convinced me. I felt I was there in the rough and tumble streets of 1830s London. Grotesque, pathetic, yet with poignant moments of calm and welcome humour." - Tracy Chevalier\n1829 is a tough year to be a body snatcher. Burke and Hare have just been convicted of killing people to sell their bodies, to widespread outrage—but despite the bad press, doctors still need fresh corpses for medical research.\nSammy and Facey are a couple of so-called ‘resurrection men’, making a living among society's fringe-dwellers by hoisting the newly departed from the churchyards of London whilst masquerading as late-night bakers. Operating on tip-offs and rumours in the capital’s drinking dens and fighting pits, the pair find themselves in receipt of some valuable intelligence: an unusual cadaver has popped up on the market, that of a hermaphrodite.\nFor any medic worth his salt it’s a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity—a medical curiosity and rara avis—and famous anatomist Joshua Brookes commissions the two men to obtain the body, at any cost. But some corpses hold secrets, and before long the enterprise becomes a deadlier and more complex undertaking than either man could ever have imagined.\nSome Rise by Sin is a rich, authentic and absorbing historical narrative with a darker edge, a story of surviving on the outskirts of respectability. With echoes of Michel Faber’s The Crimson Petal and the White, it is meticulously researched and suffused with the dark and grimy atmosphere of Regency London, and explores what ambition can mean for poor people in a society that conspires to grind them down at every turn.

See the best price to sell, buy, or rent books by Scott-Wilson, Siôn. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.

Books by Scott-Wilson, Siôn

See the best price to sell, buy, or rent books by Scott-Wilson, Siôn. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.

The Sleepwalker's Introduction to Flight (Macmillan New Writing)

The Sleepwalker's Introduction to Flight (Macmillan New Writing)

What We Leave Behind (Sammy and Facey)

Some Rise By Sin

Some Rise By Sin (Sammy and Facey)