A stranger appears out of nowhere in a prison library and assaults a guard. Locked in solitary confinement, he relates his story to a listener over the course of one night. Kingdom, the third novel from Russ Litten, spins together magical realism and hard-boiled psychodrama into a heartbreaking urban fable of human awakening. Ghosts may not exist – but sometimes they are real. Do you believe in life before death?

Russ Litten is the author of the novels Scream If You Want To Go Faster and Swear Down, which is currently being developed for a three part TV drama. He has written for radio, film and television. A resident of Kingston Upon Hull, Litten works as a writer in residence at a prison in the north of England and is a regular tutor on Arvon Creative Writing Courses.