The Monsters of Gramercy Park

Danny Leigh

Author living in Hove

Wilson Velez and Lizbeth Greene would seem to have little in common, yet in Danny Leigh's dark and compelling novel their lives touch and the result is a complex and fascinating relationship of attraction and rejection. Velez is a gang lord in solitary confinement, slowly losing his mind; Lizbeth is a celebrated crime novelist running out of ideas and inspiration. When Lizbeth decides that writing a book about Velez could revive her career she begins to visit him in prison and gradually becomes drawn into his dark world.

Theirs is a mutual need - Lizbeth needs Velez save her writing carer while Velez needs Lizbeth to get out of solitary confinement. Laced through the narrative is a children's book, The Monsters of Gramercy Park, which mirrors the increasingly intimate and dangerous relationship between Lizbeth and Velez.

Danny Leigh was born in Edinburgh in 1972 but came to live in Brighton as a small child. Educated in Brighton he was later a student at Queen Mary Westfield (London) where he got a degree in politics. He stayed in London and after a short spell as a musician worked for several years as a journalist for various papers and magazines, including The Guardian. His first book, The Greatest Gift, was published in 2004. In 2003 he was awarded the inaugural Dazed and Confused Writer's Bursary and in the same year returned to Brighton. He now lives in Hove with his wife and young son.

His second book, The Monsters of Gramercy Park, was published in 2005 and he is currently working on his third novel. His favourite author is Don DeLillo.