- Published: 4 April 2019
- ISBN: 9781784162191
- Imprint: Black Swan
- Format: Paperback
- Pages: 464
- RRP: $27.99
The Smiling Man
- Published: 4 April 2019
- ISBN: 9781784162191
- Imprint: Black Swan
- Format: Paperback
- Pages: 464
- RRP: $27.99
If you liked Sirens, you will love The Smiling Man. Gritty, noir, and packing a punch from the very first page.
Jane Harper, author of The Dry
Sirens was one of the best books published last year and this intense, blackly comic follow-up is just as good. Joseph Knox has conjured up a sense of evil and corruption you can almost smell it.
Jake Kerridge, Sunday Express
Imperfect as Aidan Waits is, the Manchester DC is the shining light in a world peopled by the worst kinds of bad people. This is Knox's second Waits book in what holds the promise of a classic series.
Sunday Times Crime Club
Talents such as Knox rarely emerge more than once in a generation. A crime fiction masterpiece
Metro
Gritty as hell. I loved it! A great urban cop thriller
Ian Rankin
If you like your crime fiction dark, gritty an contemporary, then Joseph Knox’s latest novel is for you . . . dripping with dark humour, written with style, a dark and engrossing ride through the mean streets of Manchester
Clair Woodward, Daily Express
Promises to be a classic series
Guardian
Although nominally a police procedural, The Smiling Man has the sense of place and vivid atmosphere of a classic PI novel. .. Stylish, intelligent and full of heart, Joseph Knox is the best thing to have happened to English crime fiction in years.
Irish Times
You can trace Aidan Waits's lineage direct from Marlowe through Bosch and Rebus — maverick sleuth with a savagely poetic turn of phrase that packs serious observation of the human condition under the laughs — though Waits has the self-sabotage knob turned up to 11. Imperfect as he is, the Manchester DC is the shining light in a world peopled by the worst kinds of bad people. This is Knox's second Waits book in what holds the promise of a classic series.
Sunday Times Crime Club
Waits’ first fictional outing is a shadowy, disturbing narrative and once you start reading it’s hard to resist the call. Sirens is the best British crime debut of the last five years.
Crimescene Magazine
Fresh and darkly stylish, Sirens is a striking debut that marks the arrival of a major new crime writing talent.
Chris Ewan
Sirens immediately feels like a classic, not a debut . . . a book for every crime fan.
Julia Heaberlin, author of Black Eyed Susans
Sirens is a powerhouse of noir. Joseph Knox owns Manchester and paints it in all its grimy colours.
Val McDermid
A fierce, assured and utterly compelling debut . . . A Ross MacDonald for the 21st century.
Stav Sherez
Manchester throbs with lowlife in this startling debut . . . a page-turner with a beating heart. I loved it.
Sarah Hilary
Great read. A powerful piece of Manchester noir, brutal, poignant and dark as tar.
Cath Staincliffe
Razor-sharp urban noir – very special indeed.
Lee Child
An amazing thriller. Sexy, stylish suspense.
A. A. Dhand
A dark, dangerous noir, Sirens will be one of 2017’s smash hit debuts.
Nick Quantrill