WINNER OF A BETTY TRASK AWARD, THE AUTHORS' CLUB BEST FIRST NOVEL AWARD AND THE WAVERTON GOOD READ
	An exuberant debut that reaches the parts of Britain mainstream fiction usually leaves alone. Monaghan reports in a thrillingly fresh, vital style on the hope and joy that survive in a land of Asbos and addiction. INDEPENDENT Direct and deceptively simple. In spite of the suffering there are surprising touches of humour and tenderness that bloom like flowers on asphalt THE TIMES Thought-provoking and compelling, right to the last page THE GUARDIAN Utterly compelling reading about a "dead stormy" coming of age BOOKLIST (starred) The Killing Jar is a brew of hyperbolic nastiness, which Monaghan has her heroine relate in a flat-vowelled dialect 'pilled-up' with literary flourishes… The rhythm of her language yields its own momentum. OBSERVER The stark material and unsentimental prose make for a wrenching look at devotion, crime and violence. PUBLISHER'S WEEKLY (starred)