Books by Robin Newbold

Fuelled by easy drugs and even easier sex, Vacuum-Packed chronicles the lives of two teenagers struggling to survive in a world that seems to be spinning out of control. Craig, HIV positive and hoping to find a reason to live, travels to Thailand, where he becomes entrapped in a brutal but compelling game to which he doesn't know the rules. Handsome and vain Jamie gorges himself on all gay London has to offer but instead of fulfilment finds only emptiness in the endless blur of partying and casual encounters. Part darkly humorous rites of passage drama and part travelogue, Vacuum-Packed follows Craig and Jamie as they each search, through the danger, glamour and grime of the British and Thai sex industries, for their own redemption. Robin Newbold is a London-based journalist, travel writer and novelist, whose work has appeared in Time Out, the South China Morning Post, Bangkok Metro and Gay Times. REVIEWS "Follows in the tradition of Bret Easton Ellis and Michel Houellebecq. You'll be dazed, appalled, intrigued." - Bangkok Metro "Describes the emptiness of pop culture and the wreckage of lost young lives with a world-weary cynicism that can sting with its bite." - The Nation

Bloody Summer is an emotionally gripping thriller about how things can go explosively wrong when the destructive powers of desire, repressed sexuality and unrequited love meet. London - the summer of 1997 - Tony Blair has just been elected, the era of spin has begun and the future has never looked so bright. Adam and Sarah, strong willed, beautiful and impulsive, are two bright young things who are used to getting what they want. Sarah gets it when Mancunian hunk Bill joins their student house-share in Hampstead and becomes her boyfriend. Adam is left to pursue his desires wherever he can - on the heath, at the gym or in the bars and clubs where his perfectly sculpted body and never ending supply of "candy" help him score. But this is neither what Adam really wants, nor all he thinks he deserves. It's not long before the happy threesome becomes a triangle of betrayal and deceit, of repressed sexuality and unrequited love. Just how far is Adam willing to go and what is he prepared to do to prize Bill away from Sarah? As the end of term approaches, it looks like it's going to be a bloody summer. Robin Newbold is a London-based journalist and freelance travel writer, whose work has appeared in Time Out, the South China Morning Post, Bangkok Metro and Gay Times. This is his second novel. His first novel Vacuum-Packed was published in 2003.