by Djamel White
First published 2026
Tony Ward steps off the plane in Dublin with his chest puffed out and revenge on his mind. Five years of keeping clean in the UK are behind him. Now he wants back into the west Dublin underworld that cast him out. The landscape has shifted in his absence. His old mentor lies dead. His best friend Kenny Boyle has abandoned crime for respectability. Tony refuses to accept this new order. When Darren "Flute" Walsh offers him work as an enforcer for crime boss Aengus Lavelle, Tony seizes the chance. Flute bears little resemblance to the quiet schoolboy Tony once knew. The partnership promises protection from Tony's past crimes and entry into the violent hierarchy he craves. But Lavelle makes the terms clear: any old trouble belongs to Tony alone. Tony feels a dangerous attraction to Flute, one that threatens his carefully constructed independence. As he abandons the few stable relationships remaining in his life, Tony discovers that buried secrets surface without warning in this world, and vengeance follows close behind.
Genres: fiction, mystery, crime, thriller
Vibes: dark, fast-paced, suspenseful
Tropes: enemies-to-lovers, redemption
Setting: Dublin, UK, West Dublin
Period: Five Years Ago
256 pages · Hardcover · Riverhead Books
Content warnings: violence