In the 1980s Robert Wardner, eccentric frontman of post-punk band ‘The National Grid’ became famous overnight after committing an act on Top Of The Pops that shocked a nation. But a year later he had vanished, leaving a ‘masterpiece’ record abandoned in his wake. More darkly, rumours grew that his disappearance was due to him having brutally murdered an obsessed young fan. Twenty-five years later word has spread that the singer is alive and scheming to re-emerge. Sam, a journalist who helped first bring his band to the public eye, is commissioned to track Wardner down so he will at last tell his story for a book. Finding Wardner is the only way for Sam to save his collapsed career and relationship. But it gradually becomes apparent that by cornering his quarry Sam may in fact be planning his own murder.

‘Anyone who remembers Melody Maker, or who attended indie nights in clubs strewn with Snakebite, will fall in love with this book immediately. Mankowski captures brilliantly the psychology of ‘fan obsession’. Those of us who marvelled at ‘The Secret History’ or ‘A Passage To India’ are sure to find it equally enthralling.’ The Huffington Post.

‘This book is the epitome of cool. A cross between Twenty Four Hour Party people and Tom Perrotta’s The Leftovers, written by Julian Barnes. It contains a narrative as spiky as a punk set, a whole symphony of ideas composed by Mankowski within a few subtle bars of text. A brilliantly written literary treat.’ New York Journal Of Books.

‘A taut and psychological look at the life and times of a man thrust into the limelight, whether he enjoys the fame or not.’ Narc Magazine.

‘Already recognised as a major rising talent, Mankowski here establishes himself as a significant voice in British fiction with a novel that will raise knowing smiles from the rock cognoscenti, plaudits from literary critics, and will captivate readers everywhere. This is clearly a writer of great talent.’ Andrew Crumey, author of Pfitz and Sputnik Caledonia, longlisted for The Man Booker Prize.

‘The National Grid’s rise via Robert Wardner’s own inner narrative, beginning with their champing-at-the-bit Top of the Pops appearance in 1981 (which includes some hilarious Julio Iglesias baiting) through to disaffection and disappearance… and beyond. If there’s a third key character, it’s the band as a collective entity; Mankowski’s descriptions of gigs and recording sessions hint at the way a group becomes an organism with its own needs and desires – urges that spring from, but exist independently of, the individual musicians. The band is the means of expression of a sound, and once that sound takes on a life of its own, the band members must run with it or fall by the wayside. We also experience the shock of the city. It’s thrilling: hectic and surging; I found I was reading the novel through a phantom cloud of Insette hair spray, hearing the music through remembered arcs of darkly gothic feedback. Via these means, I was able to bring the magic of memory to bear on The National Grid’s journey through the eighties, creating some vivid mental gig-scapes of my own.’ Louder Than War