After the Lights Go Out

After the Lights Go Out is a propulsive exploration of mixed-race identity, the price that athletes pay to entertain, and one man's battle to reconcile his past, from the CWA-shortlisted author of Three-Fifths.

How do you save yourself when you're the person you trust least of all?

Xavier "Scarecrow" Wallace is a biracial Black MMA fighter on the wrong side of thirty, who is facing the comeback fight of his life. He is also losing his battle with pugilistic dementia — a struggle he can no longer deny.

In the nursing home of his father, a white man suffering from end-stage Alzheimer's, Xavier witnesses shocking episodes that expose ugly truths about his past and his family.

And as the big fight draws near, a sparring session with a younger competitor goes horribly wrong, leaving Xavier faced with a dangerous dilemma: throw his match or suffer the deadly consequences.

'Powerful, bruising and beautiful, After The Lights Go Out is a blistering story of love and loyalty, family, class and belonging. Those who haven't discovered John Vercher yet are seriously missing out. Outstanding.' — Chris Whitaker

'John Vercher writes like a fighter, a dancer, an athlete... Here is a novelist at the height of his power.' — Wiley Cash, author of A Land More Kind than Home

ISBN: 9781782277545 | Published: 29 November 2022 | Hardback | 288 pages