The Death of Danny Daggers by Haydn Wilks
Cardiff. The last few days of summer. Danny Daggers is about to die. He just doesn’t realise it yet. A Leeds University student with a very popular YouTube channel, Danny Daggers is taking his alcohol-downing stunts on tour. He’s about to find out that not everyone’s a fan.
Ji Eun is a Korean student doing work experience at the South Wales Post. Rory Gallagher is the alcoholic veteran journo who’s mentoring her. Carnage in Cardiff might be just what they need to begin and revive their respective careers.
Tom and Joseph work at one of Cardiff’s many call centres. Tom is fed up of working boring jobs and living for the weekend. Joseph is just happy to have a job.
Then there’s the Amstell brothers. Simon’s just escaped from prison. And he happens to be the father of Joseph’s girlfriend’s son. And his brothers happen to be psychopaths.
These stories collide and intersect over a frantic few days of heavy drinking, drugs and ultraviolence, set against a backdrop of dystopian modern Britain.
What Readers Say
” Wilks has a gift for characterization, and the book is filled with colorful, rounded, complex characters, far too many to attempt to name here. Wilks’ portrayal of his characters, as living, breathing, struggling people doing their best to survive and forge meaningful lives in a post-industrial, second-rate, dehumanizing minor city of a failed or failing welfare state, is the book’s greatest strength. In fact, that’s the true theme of the book. Yes, ostensibly it’s about solving the murder of the titular character, and that end is finally achieved, but more than that, The Death of Danny Daggers is about how mind-numbingly, discouragingly difficult it is to build a worthwhile life in modern society. ” – Denny McBride, Amazon.com
“… the novel is fun, engaging, and a clusterf*** of a ride full of intertwining characters and storylines that converge into a point at its most taut and anxious.” – Rex Waide, Amazon Review.com
“This is an excellently vulgar small-scale catastrophic story that you just need to read to believe.” – Sam, Goodreads.
“If you’re into dark humor such as that of Chuck Palahniuk, Irvine Welsh, and the like, I highly, highly recommend reading The Death of Danny Daggers. I loved this book. A lot. It was truly a treat to read, and I’m quite looking forward to reading more by Haydn Wilks.” – Kelliann Gomez, Goodreads.
“Gritty and frighteningly real. I would describe this as a mirror of modern society if they weren’t already using the mirror to cut another line. The narrative is an authentic voice of wide experience and the writing is clever without being detached. This is a (very) contemporary who-done-it, a mystery for today’s world.” – Tim, Goodreads.
“Well-paced, very cleverly plotted, with many twists and turns but which all tie up satisfactorily at the end, this is a very fine piece of writing indeed. The descriptions are vivid, the dialogue – often in the vernacular – is convincing, and the characters realistic.” – Mandy, Goodreads.
“I bloody loved this novel, it held me in a way that only certain novels do. It’s dark, foreboding and chilling, it has angst, terrifying characters and real life stories told in a way that transports you to the gritty ketamine fuelled streets of Cardiff.” – Lizzy Baldwin, Goodreads.
