The Cutting Room

The Cutting Room heralds the arrival of an outstanding new voice in contemporary fiction. When its charismatic protagonist, the disaffected and dissolute Rilke, comes upon a hidden collection of disturbing erotic photographs during a house clearance, he feels compelled to unearth more about the deceased owner who coveted them.

What follows is a compulsive journey of discovery, decadence and deviousness that leads him into a dark underworld of transvestite clubs, seedy bars and porn shops. In this hidden city, haunted by a host of vividly drawn characters, Rilke comes face to face with the dark drives and illicit urges that lurk behind even the most respectable facades.

In The Cutting Room, Louise Welsh has created a modern noir thriller that is both highly compelling and deliciously provocative.