The 25th Hour

Monty Brogan starts a seven-year prison sentence for dealing drugs tomorrow. Tonight is his last night of freedom. His father wants him to run. His drug-lord boss, Uncle Blue, wants to know if he squealed. His girlfriend isn't sure what she wants, and his two best friends know one thing for sure; after he goes in, he will never be the same.

Short-listed for CWA John Creasey Memorial Award 2002

“'The most impressive novel since Donna Tart's THE SECRET HISTORY . . . a masterly crafted variation on the conventional crime and punishment novel' CITY LIFE”

'Acerbically captivating first novel...Benioff creates a pungent, funny urban tableau full of shrewd operators and unfulfilled desires. He gives this slim, engaging book a colorful range...Benioff delivers as full a surprise as the situation demands. But what makes his book enjoyable beyond his mere mechanics is the character study that develops as old friends get together and begin provoking one another' - NEW YORK TIMES

Acerbically captivating first novel . . . Benioff creates a pungent, funny urban tableau full of shrewd operators and unfulfilled desires - The New York Times

As unusual as it is well wrought: it resonates with a Whitmanesque sense of the city's possibilities and unsatisfied longings - The New Yorker

'Part thriller, part hip New York novella . . . first class debut' - GQ - GQ

'A stylish, beautifully written novel with a sharply drawn backdrop of New York . . . The book is filled with marvellous vignettes. The mixture of tenderness and jealousy among the friends, their fear and resentment remain in the memory' - Susanna Yager, SUNDAY TELEGRAPH - Susanna Yager, Sunday Telegraph

David Benioff's headlong suspense novel is a deceptively simple chronicle of [Monty's] final day of freedom . . . Working in a novelistic form of "real time", Benioff shows a knack for critiquing his genre while revitalising its cliches . . . Instead of yielding mere irony, the author, in his first novel, achieves both pathos and excitement - Entertainment Weekly

Brilliantly conceived, this gripping crime drama boasts dead-on dialogue, chiaroscuro portraits of New York's social strata and an inescapable crescendo of tension. Monty's solution to his agonising dilemmas will shock even hardened suspense lovers - Publishers Weekly

original and tightly written - Liverpool Echo - Liverpool Echo

David Benioff was born and raised in New York City. An author and screenwriter, he adapted his first novel, The 25th Hour, into the screenplay for Spike Lee's popular feature film of the same name.

His historical fiction novel City of Thieves and short story collection When the Nines Rolled Over received critical acclaim. Stories from the collection have appeared in Best New American Voices and The Best Nonrequired American Reading.

He is the author of the screenplays for the films Troy, Stay, X-Men Origins: Wolverine and The Kite Runner as well as the creator of the HBO TV series Game of Thrones, based on the books from George R.R. Martin's A Song of Ice and Fire series.

David Benioff lives in Los Angeles and New York City.

Monty Brogan starts a seven-year prison sentence for dealing drugs tomorrow. Tonight is his last night of freedom. His father wants him to run. His drug-lord boss, Uncle Blue, wants to know if he squealed. His girlfriend isn't sure what she wants, and his two best friends know one thing for sure; after he goes in, he will never be the same.

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