Box Nine

A new dangerously seductive drug grips a small depressed town. What appears to be a lucrative product ripples through the community, until murderous rages and babbling insanity take over…

With a new introduction by Otto Penzler

A stunningly original nightmare novel about the impact of a new synthetic drug - Lingo - on the depressed New England factory town of Quinsigamond, where it was secretly developed. Besides offering a potent high, Lingo also delivers a shot to the brain cells governing linguistic comprehension and verbal skill.

Until murderous rages and babbling insanity take over, this mind-expanding feature makes the drug dangerously seductive to the unusually literate cops, scientists and dope dealers competing to find its distribution source.

Written in the cranked up style of Lingo, Box Nine shows a noir vision of a city that has become a virtual war zone between warring multi-ethnic drug cartels. The narrative shifts from one head case to another but never loses sight of Det. Lenore Thomas, an undercover officer addicted to speed, rough sex, heavy metal and the feel of her .357 Magnum.

A dark, disturbing book that speaks with a fine fury about the yearning for forbidden knowledge and the language to articulate the mysteries it unlocks...



Jack O'Connell is the author of five critically acclaimed novels, which have earned him something of a cult status. He won the Mysterious Press Discovery Contest for the Best First Crime Novel for Box Nine, which launched his career. This and his other novels Wireless, The Skin Palace, Word Made Flesh and The Resurrectionist are all published by No Exit Press.



'Enter the world of Lingo, a new synthetic drug that messes with language and messes with your head, just like this book does'



'Seldom have plot and atmosphere been such awkward bedfellows and provided such a memorable sense of dread'



'The most electrifying debut crime novel you are likely to read all year' GQ



'A high-octane page-turner' Laura Wilson, Guardian



'A surrealistic noir epic that's part David Lynch and part Brett Easton Ellis'