Dancing Face

A sensational, original thriller that examines the powerful link between identity, sacrifice and possession, and questions our compulsive need to chase after ambitions that leave devastation in their wakeUniversity lecturer Gus knows that stealing the priceless Benin mask, The Dancing Face, from a museum at the heart of the British establishment will gain an avalanche of attention.Which is exactly what he wants.But such a risky theft will also inevitably capture the attention of characters with more money, more power, and fewer morals.Naively entangling his loved ones in his increasingly dangerous pursuit of righteous reparation, is Gus prepared for what it will cost him?'This book is brutal, deep, cunning and unbearably beautiful' Independent Selected by Booker Prize-winning author Bernardine Evaristo, this series rediscovers and celebrates pioneering books depicting black Britain that remap the nation.

The Dancing Face has the page-turning quality of all good crime novels . . . The characters in The Dancing Face, as well as the relationships that link them, are extremely well fleshed-out . . . The ability to expose the many different aspects of political issues in a digestible way is one of the beauties of fiction, and Phillips makes use of it masterfully in The Dancing Face, Mike Phillips could be placed between David Caute and Jeffrey Archer as a skilled creator of street-level relationships that revolve around crime

Mike Phillips was born in Guyana, but grew up in London. He worked for the BBC as a journalist and broadcaster on television programmes including The Late Show and Omnibus, before becoming a lecturer in media studies at the University of Westminster. He has written many critically-acclaimed crime novels, including Blood Rights, which was adapted for BBC television, The Late Candidate, winner of the Crime Writers' Association Macallan Silver Dagger for Fiction, Point of Darkness, An Image to Die For, A Shadow of Myself and Kind of Union. He co-wrote Windrush: The Irresistible Rise of Multi-Racial Britain to accompany the BBC television series, and an essay collection, London Crossings: A Biography of Black Britain (2001). Appointed the first Cross Cultural Curator for the Tate Galleries in 2005, Mike also wrote for the Guardian, and his public service includes trusteeships of the National Heritage Memorial Fund, and the Heritage Lottery Fund. Most recently, he served as an independent adviser to Inspector of Constabulary Wendy Williams' Windrush; Lessons Learned Review for the Home Office.