Chain–Gang All–Stars

FIGHT FOR FREEDOM. FIGHT FOR LOVE. WELCOME TO THE KILLING GROUND.

Enter a world where, livestreamed to millions, prisoners fight like gladiators for the ultimate prize: their freedom.

Fan-favourite female stars Loretta Thurwar and Hamara ‘Hurricane Staxxx’ Stacker are teammates and lovers. Thurwar is nearing the end of her time on the circuit, free in just a few matches, a fact she carries as heavily as her lethal hammer. But as protestors clash with the baying crowds and the programme’s corporate owners stack the odds against her – will the price be simply too high?

Review

Criminally entertaining. ― Guardian

Adjei-Brenyah's acerbic vision lands like a lightning bolt of truth. ― Esquire

Grimly funny, epically violent and - at times - surprisingly tender. Quite the ride. ― Marie Claire

Magnificent. A radical interrogation of incarceration, racism, entertainment, the whole fabric of American injustice, as well as a pure fire page turner. -- Max Porter, author of SHY

A sort of The Hunger Games meets Gladiator meets WWE meets the modern private prison system. ― Elle

Like Orwell's 1984 and Atwood's The Handmaid's Tale, Adjei-Brenyah's book presents a dystopian vision so upsetting and illuminating that it should permanently shift our understanding of who we are and what we're capable of doing... Shockingly intimate and moving. ― Washington Post

Compelling... The range of different narrators provides a smart 360-degree perspective of the too-familiar society that demands murder for entertainment. ― SFX

A brutal, heart-wrenching story that feels so close to reality. ― Cosmopolitan

A hugely imaginative read - the world-building is masterful... Unmissable. ― Independent

One of the most exciting young writers in America. -- George Saunders, author of LINCOLN IN THE BARDO

We simply couldn't put it down... enthralling and engaging. -- Leanne Fridd ― The Times

You cannot applaud Nana Kwame Adjei-Brenyah's debut novel without getting blood on your hands... ― New York Times Book Review

Deservedly acclaimed, Adjei-Brenyah is as commanding a storyteller as he is a world-builder. ― Daily Mail

About the Author

Nana Kwame Adjei-Brenyah was raised in Spring Valley, New York, and now lives in the Bronx. His debut collection, Friday Black, was a New York Times bestseller, won the PEN/Jean Stein Book Award and the William Saroyan International Prize for Writing, and was a ?nalist for the National Book Critics Circle’s John Leonard Award and the Dylan Thomas Prize. His first novel Chain-Gang All-Stars was a finalist for the National Book Award for Fiction, shortlisted for the Waterstones Debut Fiction Prize and the Books Are My Bag Awards, and selected as a New York Times Top Ten Books of the Year. Adjei-Brenyah is a National Book Foundation’s ‘5 Under 35’ honoree.