Crusaders

Newcastle-upon-Tyne, Autumn 1996: the dog days of a corrupt government, and a mood in the air that change is afoot. Reverend John Gore, a young Anglican clergyman, returns to his native North-East charged with 'planting' a new church in the deprived west of town, ignored by the city's regeneration.

Gore finds his task aided and complicated by run-ins with three impressive locals: Stevie Coulson, alarmingly muscular chief of Newcastle's top 'security consultancy'; Martin Pallister, Labour MP moderniser and advocate of the Christian Socialism dear to his party's new leader; and Lindy Clark, a tack-sharp single mother, working several jobs to stay afloat. Gore finds he needs the help of all three to bring off his mission. But gradually these same relationships draw him into a moral crisis.

Crusaders is a contemporary parable, shifting between past and present, its backdrop the thorny history of Labour and industry in the North-East, as a new shade - New Labour - steals across the landscape. The novel's multiple storylines mesh superbly into a compelling narrative, driven by sharp social observation, darkly desperate humour and an undercurrent of impending violence.