Chain-Gang All-Stars

She felt their eyes, all those executioners…

Enter a world where, watched by millions, prisoners fight like gladiators for the ultimate prize: their freedom.

‘You cannot applaud [this] novel without getting blood on your hands…’ NEW YORK TIMES

‘A dystopian vision so…illuminating that it should permanently shift our understanding of who we are and what we’re capable of doing’ WASHINGTON POST

‘Electrifying’ GEORGE SAUNDERS

Welcome to Chain-Gang All-Stars, the popular and highly controversial programme inside America’s private prison system. In packed arenas, live-streamed by millions, prisoners compete as gladiators for the ultimate prize: their freedom.

Fan favourites Loretta Thurwar and Hamara ‘Hurricane Staxxx’ Stacker are teammates and lovers. Thurwar is nearing the end of her time on the circuit, free in just a few matches, a fact she carries as heavily as her lethal hammer. As she prepares for her final encounters, as protestors gather at the gates, and as the programme’s corporate owners stack the odds against her – will the price be simply too high?

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‘Beautiful and brutal, with a really furious social commentary underpinning it.’ INDEPENDENT

‘A sort of The Hunger Games meets Gladiator meets WWE meets the modern private prison system.’ ELLE

‘The new maestro of dystopian lit has arrived.’ WIRED

‘Adjei-Brenyah writes sharply about the economy of spectacle and the fickle alchemy between futility and hope.’ RAVEN LEILANI, author of Luster

‘A brutal, heart-wrenching story that feels so close to reality…’ COSMOPOLITAN

‘Adjei-Brenyah may have the buzziest book of the year…’ GOODREADS Most Anticipated Books of 2023

‘An awe-inspiring novel that will be read for generations’ JESSAMINE CHAN, author of The School for Good Mothers

‘A revelation!’ TOMMY ORANGE, author of There There