A North Tyneside author's debut novel was named among the best new crime fiction to read in May by The Times ahead of its release on Thursday.
Cullercoats writer Daniel James' debut novel The Unauthorised Biography of Ezra Maas was named alongside 1970s Glasgow gangster novel May God Forgive by Alan Parks and The Times' crime book of the month Dear Little Corpses by Nicola Upson. Described as a biography crossed with a novel, the novel is centred around journalist's search for the truth about the famously reclusive missing British artist Ezra Maas.
Originally debuting in 2018 and nominated for the Guardian's Not The Booker prize, it has been republished with new content including original artworks, photographs, newspaper clippings, letter, handwritten notes and illustrations with the aim of putting the reader in the role of detective. The disappearance of the enigmatic artist at the heart of the story, who was a contemporary of Andy Warhol, is still regarded as one of the art world's biggest mysteries.
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Author Daniel James described it as a special feeling to be included and said: "It's unexpected to get that kind of recognition for my debut novel. I'm at the beginning of my career as a novelist and it's fantastic to get that kind of recognition in the national press, as it's very hard to get that coverage, especially as a writer from Newcastle working with a small independent publisher."
Daniel has based some of the book, which has an updated appendix and epilogue alongside the 60 pages of new material, in Newcastle. And he hopes to set more novels in the city in the future.
He continued: "I'd always wanted to include Newcastle as a city in whatever book I'd go on to write because it's a fabulous city and I love the atmosphere and the architecture. I feel it's worthy of literature and being in a novel, so I tried to bring my perspective of the city to life, and it's great to see not just the book but the city getting that kind of coverage outside the region.
"Hopefully it draws people to the book and then makes people aware of Newcastle as a city if they weren't aware of it before."
Mark Sanderson wrote: "When hotshot journo Daniel James receives a late-night phone call proposing that he write the life of reclusive artist Ezra Maas it is an offer he cannot refuse. Maas, who has turned down the Turner and Nobel prizes, is variously described as a tortured genius, shaman, iconoclast, cult leader and b******. His followers don’t want the book to be written and are prepared to do anything to stop James..
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"The narrative — edited by “Anonymous” — is made up of transcripts, case notes, emails, newspaper clippings and photographs, some of which are bloodstained. Footnotes festoon the pages. The astonishing result is a maze of allusion and illusion that concludes: "If you are searching for the truth, then you are looking for something that cannot be found.
"Shaggy dog story or the ultimate postmodern noir novel (with femmes fatales and body in a Hollywood pool)? It’s left to the reader to decide. Certainly the 'writer-detective' is a fan of Thomas Pynchon; Oedipa Maas is the protagonist of Pynchon’s The Crying of Lot 49 . It is, alas, a sign of the times that such an ambitious, challenging and beautifully designed book has been published only thanks to the efforts of an independent outfit in Scarborough. Let’s call it Maas entertainment."
Daniel James will be appearing at Newcastle City Library in conversation with writer Graeme Macrae Burnet on May 22 and on BBC Radio 4's Open Book programme on Sunday May 15. To read the full recommendations of the Times' best new fiction of the month, click here.
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