Mr. In-Between

Neil Cross, the award winning creator of Luther, is at his best in this depiction of the Tattooed Man and his lewd, murky underworld.

In the commonest sense of the term, Jon Bennet is the perfect employee: he is systematic, productive, and utterly reliable. He is also completely detached from the world around him, and seemingly feels nothing. For Jon's life is anything but common. Under the tight leash of the Tattooed Man, Jon kills and maims on order. And he's good at it.

But Jon's days of favor are about to end. After bumping into old school friends, Jon finds himself slowly re-entering the normal world, where the binds of friendship, love, and kindness are expected. And Jon slowly finds himself returning to the person he once was.

But the Tattooed Man requires total servitude, and his wrath is more fearful than Jon could ever have expected.

"Neil Cross applies a sharp satirical gaze to inarticulate male working-class culture…Cross's portrayal of male friendship, the rituals of working-class life and the shock of bereavement is superbly done." - Observer

"The precision of thought, psychological scope and massive inner crises [Jon Bennet] goes through as his friend is dragged deeper down justifies the hype around this first novel." - Esquire

"A tightly written thriller that starts out dirty-realist and violent and then modulates into something rather different and thought-provoking, philosophical…Bleak, dark, with a distinctly modern-gothic imagination, and certainly readable." - Literary Review

"Cross's first novel displays a subtle mind grappling with a thrilling tale of perverse redemption." Independent on Sunday

Neil Cross (b. 1969) is a British novelist and screenwriter best known as the creator of the multi award-winning international hit BBC crime series Luther, starring Idris Elba, and the international hit horror movie Mama. His highly acclaimed memoir Heartland was shortlisted for the PEN/Ackerley Prize in 2006. Cross has also written several thrillers, including Captured, Holloway Falls, and Always the Sun, which was longlisted for the 2004 Man Booker Prize. Cross continues to write for TV and film in the United Kingdom and the United States. He lives with his wife and two sons in Wellington, New Zealand.