The Ugly Spirit

Some people are haunted by ghosts. Steve is haunted by himself.When Dan's relationship collapses, Steve opens his Newcastle flat to his devastated friend-and the pair plunge into a chaotic cycle of alcohol, drugs, industrial-metal gigs and increasingly reckless nights out.But Steve's own life is already coming apart. Unemployed, trapped in a poisonous relationship and unable to control the violence simmering beneath his skin, he watches as Dan's heartbreak turns into obsession while his own destructive impulses consume everything around him.What begins as a darkly comic tale of friendship and excess becomes a raw descent through addiction, sexual desperation, shame and urban isolation. Beneath the bravado, bitter humour and outrageous behaviour lies an unsettling question: how much of the damage we suffer is inflicted by the ugly spirit within?Set against the pubs, clubs, damp flats and rain-darkened streets of Newcastle, The Ugly Spirit is an unflinching, profane and brutally funny novel about male friendship, self-sabotage and the terrifying struggle to become someone better.