The Doll Princess

Tom Benn, Stockport born and bred, is that rare thing. A startlingly new, ridiculously stylish, home-grown voice. Despite more than a casual nod to a rain-sodden Hulme dialect, Benn’s debut is so full of energy and sharp one-liners, it will travel far and wide – Henry Sutton * Daily Mirror *I’ve never wanted to listen to the soundtrack to a book so much. Another element that stands out in the madly bloody but sometimes brilliant book is how the characters speak. Accents are notoriously tricky on the page, but Benn captures the south Manchester patter impressively – Rebecca Armstrong * Independent *Tom Benn is set to be one of the distinctive crime writers of his generation. In Henry Bane he has created a sharp, sarcastic anti-hero with his own warped sense of honour and a narrative voice that is truly distinctive – Adam Colclough * Shots *A new name in the crime fiction section, is about to give us another hero of the genre – Sarah Walters * Manchester Evening News *A grisly thriller catches the feel and fear of Manchester on the slide – Christopher Bray * World Magazine *The book is driven by dialogue which is staccato and as sharp as a stiletto. For a debut novel it is breathtaking that this writer writes such incredible dialogue that drives the plot with the force of a fist connecting with Henry Bane’s face. […]He is Manchester’s answer to Irvine Welsh – Fresh Blood Q&A & Review * Crime Squad *The Doll Princess is a very assured and well written debut, fitting neatly into the urban noir category, with an appropriately ambiguous hero/anti-hero in Bane – Laura Root * Eurocrime *The Doll Princess is a crime novel unlike any other; the voices of real people can be heard throughout its pages. * We Love This Book *The Doll Princess carries the unmistakably pungent air…of deftly invoked squalor and menace, and is an impressive genre effort – Lee Monks * Chimp Magazine *Tom Benn’s debut novel is a long overdue good thing in many senses… and there is much to recommend, not least Benn’s sturdy grip on vernacular… What’s more , he’s a good writter of action - a scene in the top room of a nightclub on Deansgate early in the novel is particularly good * Bookmunch *

Tom Benn was born in 1987, and grew up in Stockport. He is a graduate of the UEA Creative Writing MA and was the recipient of the 2009 Malcolm Bradbury bursary.

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