PATRICK NEATE

Meet Tommy Akhtar, Ugandan Asian cricket fan, devoted son, and not very successful private investigator with offices over his brother Gundappa''s mini-cab firm in deepest West London. He''s just woken up from his hangover (combing the parting on his toungue) when his next case comes through the door. It looks like just another investigation when hooker Melody comes into his office asking him to find her co-worker, Natasha, last seen meeting new client at a bar in Shepherd''s Market. But as the search for Natasha intensifies, Tommy''s world becomes increasingly sinister. He is drawn into a murder investigation, the criminal underworld, the world of fundamentalist religion and maybe even terrorist activities. Neate brilliantly explores the oddball underbelly and wierd cultural mix of London - The City of Tiny Lights - today and questions just what it really means to be British now..

Spanning three continents and two centuries, Twelve Bar Blues is an epic tale of fate, family, friendship and jazz. At its heart is Lick Holden, a young jazz musician, who sets New Orleans on fire with his cornet at the beginning of the last century. But Licks passion is to find his lost step-sister and thats a journey that leads him to a place he can call home. Meanwhile, at the other end of the century, we find Sylvia, an English prostitute, and Jim, a young drifter. Theyre in search of Sylvias past, lost somewhere in the mists of the Louisiana bayou.Patrick Neate has written a story that straddles time and space, love and friendship, roots and pilgrimage and everything between. Poignant and hilarious, it will hook you - like a favourite tune - till the end.

In the first year of the 20th Century, a young Englishman returns home from the Boer War. Disillusioned with Empire and fearful for the soul of Albion, he sets out on a pilgrimage into the West Country, determined to identify the key elements of the English character that they may be forever preserved. In the present day, a young London entrepreneur, owner of the cultural consultancy Authenticity, defines his contemporaries through their consumer choices with bewildering accuracy, wallows in money and contemplates his growing sense of dissatisfaction. His father, meanwhile, a junior minister in a failing government, is sent to Africa to deal with the continents latest tin pot despot. He is as confident of success as he is ambitious of what that success will mean for his career. Unfailingly relevant, politically astute, moving and funny, Jerusalem is a loving portrait of Englishness as it never was, isnt now and, hopefully, never will be.

Zambawi, a banana republic in sub-Saharan Africa, is on the verge of revolution. President Adini, dictator and eunuch, clings to power whilst his soldiers switch sides so often they dont know which uniform to wear. All in all, Zambawi is not the ideal location for student teacher Jim Tulloh to indulge in a spot of character building. Yet with the help of Musa, the local witchdoctor, some flatulent weed and headmaster, PK, Jims days look set to be mellow in the extreme; until that is Jim is kidnapped from his bush school by the rebel Black Boot Gang. But it is when the Gangers invoke the spirit of Zambawis Great Chief Tuloko that Jims fate takes a really unexpected turn . . .

Master storyteller Patrick Neate has written a funny, provocative and daring tale of London high- and low-life set among the capitals twirtysomethings. Featuring performance poetry; murder; Trafalgar Squares only fried-chicken induced battle; hat selling; bank robbery for the middle classes, love (and other social ailments); as well as pigeons - lots of crazed, angry thinking pigeons - The London Pigeon Wars is both a comic fable for our times and an exciting birds eye view of life (and death) in the city.

An inspiring mission to rescue young people from drugs and violence with music At a time when interest in Brazilian culture has reached an all-time high, and the stories of one persons ability to improve the lives of others has captured so many hearts, this unique book takes readers to the frontlines of a battle raging over control of the nations poorest areas. Culture Is Our Weapon tells the story of Grupo Cultural AfroReggae, a Rio-based organization employing music and an appreciation for black culture to inspire residents of the favelas, or shantytowns, to resist the drugs that are ruining their neighborhoods. This is an inspiring look at an artistic explosion and the best and worst of Brazilian society.

***Now a film starring Riz Ahmed, James Floyd, Billie Piper, Cush Jumbo, Roshan Seth and Antonio Aakeel***Meet Tommy Akhtar, Ugandan Asian cricket fan, devoted son, and not very successful private investigator with offices over his brother Gundappas mini-cab firm in deepest West London.Hes just woken up from his hangover (combing the parting on his toungue) when his next case comes through the door. It looks like just another investigation when hooker Melody comes into his office asking him to find her co-worker, Natasha, last seen meeting new client at a bar in Shepherds Market.But as the search for Natasha intensifies, Tommys world becomes increasingly sinister. He is drawn into a murder investigation, the criminal underworld, the world of fundamentalist religion and maybe even terrorist activities. Neate brilliantly explores the oddball underbelly and wierd cultural mix of London - The City of Tiny Lights - today and questions just what it really means to be British now. . .