After the Lights Go Out

The latest novel from the CWA-shortlisted author of Three-Fifths - a Sunday Times, Guardian and Financial Times Book of the Year.

'Thrums with authenticity' - The Times

'Powerful, bruising and beautiful' - Chris Whitaker

'A bleak, brilliant slice of American noir' - Daily Mail

'John Vercher could well be the next great American novelist' - Kia Abdullah

'Shrewd and explosive' - New York Times

'Vercher writes with the intensity of championship round' - Kevin Powers, author of The Yellow Birds

'A stunning, stone-cold knockout' - P. J. Vernon, author of Bath Haus

'Think Warrior by way of Fat City' - William Boyle, author of Shoot the Moonlight Out

'John Vercher writes like a fighter, a dancer, an athlete' - Wiley Cash, author of A Land More Kind than Home

IT'S NOT A COMEBACK. IT'S A FIGHT FOR HIS LIFE.

Xavier "Scarecrow" Wallace is a biracial Black MMA fighter on the wrong side of thirty, who's been given a last-ditch chance to break into the big leagues. He is also losing his battle with pugilistic dementia, a struggle he is desperate to hide. In the nursing home of his father, a white man suffering from Alzheimer's, Xavier witnesses shocking episodes that expose ugly truths about his family and his past. As the big fight draws near, Xavier is faced with a dangerous dilemma: throw his match or suffer the deadly consequences.

After the Lights Go Out is a gripping tale that delves into themes of identity, legacy, and survival in the face of overwhelming odds.