When The Hammer Falls

Christopher J Carey's powerful novel takes place in an England on the verge of bloody revolution. The deprived and the subjugated, suppressed by state control and strangled by bureaucratic red tape, are ready to explode. All it needs is one wrong move, just one word too many. The spark is provided by one man's racist tirade, overheard and misinterpreted. Once set alight, the uncontainable violence spreads throughout the land. Almost all citizens are affected and we see fundamentally decent men like Brian Kinnahan, struggling to protect his wife and children, engulfed by a maelstrom of destruction. When The Hammer Falls can be read as a cautionary tale; a warning of events to come if the signs of unrest are unheeded. But it is also a story of hope as bonds of brotherhood are forged in the face of terrible adversity and the common humanity of the people prevails.