Devil Take the Hindmost is a gripping historical noir set during the amphetamine-fueled craze for velodrome racing which took London by storm in the late 1920s. Into this world stumbles Paul, a bewildered Scottish farmboy running away from home. Powefully built with a fierce passion for cycling, he is taken under the wing of Silas, a local loan shark, entering a world he is ill-equipped to survive. As the races get harder, the bets get larger, and the terrifying Mr. Morton starts to take an interest in Paul’s career. For lovers of Peaky Blinders and Brighton Rock, this is a thrilling ride through a historical London that is rarely visited.
Martin Cathcart Froden won the 2015 Dundee International Book Prize for his debut novel, Devil Take the Hindmost. His stories have been shortlisted for awards and he teaches creative writing.