* WINNER OF THE BEST FIRST NOVEL AWARD AT THE EDGARS 2018 * A gritty, propulsive debut about a father, a daughter, and the hardest lessons in life . . .

'Striking...visceral, violent and utterly compelling, it nevertheless shines with humanity' Daily Mail
'Burns bright and fast' Peter Swanson, author of Sunday Times bestseller Her Every Fear

‘If nowhere was safe for her, then the only place he could let her be was with him’

Meet Polly: eleven years old and smart beyond her years. But she’s a loner, always on the outside, until she is unexpectedly reunited with her father.
Meet Nate: fresh out of jail and driving a stolen car, Nate takes Polly from the safety of her quiet existence into a world of robbery, violence and the constant threat of death.

And he does it to save her life.

A Lesson in Violence is a gripping and emotionally wrenching novel that upends even our most long-held expectations about heroes, villains and victims. Nate takes Polly to save her life, but in the end it may very well be Polly who saves him.

‘This fast-paced and gritty page turner explores the ways in which love can both brutalize and redeem us’ Amy Engel, author of The Roanoke Girls
‘Urgent and beautiful' Lauren Beukes, author of The Shining Girls
'One of the best debuts I've ever read' Simon Toyne, author of Sunday Times bestseller Solomon Creed
'The language is searing, the action relentless, the beauty wrenched from ugliness truly astounding' Robin Wasserman, author of Girls on Fire
'An extremely impressive debut' Peter Swanson, author of Sunday Times bestseller The Kind Worth Killing
'Darkly irresistible...in Polly McClusky, the eleven-year-old girl at the heart of his , Jordan Harper gives us a hero for our times’ Megan Abbott, author of The Turnout