A Shadow of Myself - Hardcover

Phillips, Mike

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0002326671 ISBN 13: 9780002326674

Publisher: Collins Crime, 2000

Synopsis

The new, hugely ambitious novel from one of our leading black crime writers, A Shadow of Myself is both thriller and love story, set against the backdrop of a changing Europe.

Attending a film festival in Prague, black documentary film maker Joseph Coker is approached by a complete stranger claiming to be his brother. George Coker, who has been brought up in East Germany by his Russian mother, tells Joseph that they share the same father: Kofi Coker, a Ghanaian now living in London.

Joseph’s reluctant acceptance of the relationship propels him into a nightmare world of intrigue and murder, where warnings are delivered by way of a severed head, where sex – like love – is sudden and treacherous. George is trapped in a web of violence and corruption woven by his associates in the criminal gangs of the former Soviet Union, and it’s as if he has become Joseph’s dark shadow, threatening his very identity. Behind them both is the enigmatic figure of Kofi, an idealistic African whose time in Kruschev’s Moscow led to betrayal and planted the seeds of tragedy in the next generation.

A Shadow of Myself is the new, hugely ambitious novel from one of our leading black writers. Both thriller and love story, it is set against the backdrop of post-Cold War Europe and the impact of the Third World on its future. Gripping and moving, it traces the lives of its characters from the fifties to the present day, as they move between the clashing ideologies of East and West.

About this title

Review:

‘This book is brutal, deep, cunning and unbearably beautiful’
Yasmin Alibhai-Brown, Independent (of The Dancing Face)

‘Phillips’s writing is charming, cosmopolitan and full of wit... The pace is fast, and the action thrilling. But what makes The Dancing Face stand out is its array of compelling characters and the subtle interplay between them’
TLS

‘This is Mike Phillips’
best novel, brutal and caring, totally authentic’
Marcel Berlins, The Times (of An Image to Die For)

From the Back Cover:

Attending a film festival in Prague, black documentary filmmaker Joseph Coker is approached by a complete stranger claiming to be his brother. George Coker, who has been brought up in East Germany by his Russian mother, tells Joseph that they share the same father, Kofi Coker, a Ghanaian now living in London.

Joseph's reluctant acceptance of the relationship propels him into a nightmare world of intrigue and murder and murder, where warnings are delivered by way of a severed head, where sex – like love – is sudden and treacherous. George is trapped in a web of violence and corruption woven by his associates in the criminal gangs of the former Soviet Union and it's as if he has become Joseph's dark shadow, threatening his very identity. Behind them both is the enigmatic figure of Kofi, an idealistic African whose time in Kruschev's Moscow led to betrayal and planted the seeds of tragedy in the next generation.

'A Shadow of Myself' is the new, hugely ambitious novel from one of our leading black writers. Both thriller and love story, it is set against the backdrop of post-Cold War Europe and explores the impact of the Third World on its future. Griping and moving, it traces the lives of its characters, from the fifties to the present day, as they move between the clashing ideologies of east and West.

Mike Phillips is a Londoner and author of several books and screenplays. He is the author of the highly praised thriller 'The Dancing Face,' and of the Sam Dean series of novels, published to universal acclaim. The first, 'Blood Rights,' was serialised for BBC TV; the second, 'The Late Candidate, ' won the Crime Writers' Association's Silver Dagger Award.

Mike Phillips also wrote 'Windrush: The Irresistible Rise of Multi-Racial Britain, ' the book which accompanied the BBC TV series 'Windrush,' chronicling the controversial story of how West Indian immigration has altered the face of British life in the twentieth century.

Praise for Mike Phillips

'The Dancing Face'

"This book is brutal, deep, cunning and unbearably beautiful"
YASMIN ALIHBAI-BROWN, 'Independent'

"A stunning tale encompassing racial and sexual politics, ethics and loyalty . . . Quite an accomplishment"
MAXIM JAKUBOWSKI, ' Time Out'

"Phillips's writing is charming, cosmopolitan and full of wit. The pace is fast and the action thrilling"
JUSTIN WARSHAW, 'TLS'

"Phillips writes movingly about love, loyalty and courage, and what it takes to hold them together"
PHILIP OAKES, 'Literary Review'

'An Image to Die For'

"This book is Mike Phillips's best novel, brutal, caring, totally authentic"
MARCEL BERLINS, 'The Times'

"A cracker . . . At times thoughtful and sad, but always gripping"
MIKE RIPLEY, 'Daily Telegraph'

"There's so much here to suggest that Phillips could be one of our bravest, most incisive social commentators"
JOHN WILLIAMS, ' Mail On Sunday'

About this edition

• Publisher: Collins Crime
• Publication date: 2000
• ISBN 10: 0002326671
• ISBN 13: 9780002326674
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 336