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Former City College student gives Brighton 'pulp' treatment

27 April 2010

Charlie McQuaker, a former Media student at City College Brighton and Hove, has written a 'pulp' thriller influenced by Brighton's cinematic past, not to mention its affinity with the evergreen 'Mod' youth cult. 'Die Hard Mod' is the latest release from Pulp Press ? a new Brighton-based publishing house which aims to give the pulp fiction genre a 21st century makeover.

Set in the troubled back streets of Belfast and the thrill-seeking underworld of Brighton, Die Hard Mod a fast-paced tale of lust, love, friendship and righteous retribution. The book has already got the seal of approval from the notoriously fastidious and discerning Mod community with celebrated Mod scribe Paolo Hewitt commenting: 'It is not often you get to put the phrases mod and pulp fiction into one sentence but thanks to Die Hard Mod, that feat can now be gracefully achieved ... the book will take a day to read and along the way you will enjoy every twist and turn.' Meanwhile, Modculture, the bible of all things Mod in cyberspace describes it as 'an incredibly readable book ... packing plenty of action and knowing references along the way ... solid entertainment.'

Charlie McQuaker says:

'When I was at City College, I did a project on cinematic representations of Brighton and became intrigued by how movies like Brighton Rock and Under Suspicion looked at the dark side of life in the city. When it came to writing Die Hard Mod, this provided me with a lot of good background material. Steve, the main protagonist, is a big fan of Quadrophenia and his obsession with the movie is a big part of the story too.'

Charlie was discovered by Pulp Press's founder Danny Bowman at Short Fuse, a monthly literary night in Brighton which showcases up-and-coming local writers. Die Hard Mod is his debut novel. Danny, a former journalism student at City College, says:

'I was really impressed with the energy and vitality of Charlie's writing. It put me in mind of American beat writers and 'dirty realists' which fits in perfectly with Pulp Press's house style. For my money he's one of the best writers on the Brighton scene. I immediately approached Charlie to see if he'd be interested in writing a pulp novel for us and I was delighted when he agreed.'

For City College media enquiries, please call Brian Bell, Marketing Communications Officer, on 01273 667788 Ext. 488 or email bb1@ccb.ac.uk website www.ccb.ac.uk

For Pulp Press media enquiries, call 01273 261434 or email danny@penpress.co.uk website www.pulppress.co.uk

About City College Brighton and Hove: Situated in the heart of Brighton, City College Brighton and Hove has become an international centre of vocational excellence. Every year 2,000 full-time, 10,000 part time, over 500 Higher Education and 250 14-16 year old students as well as many international and European students choose City College as their place of further and higher education training. In addition, the College provides training to over 2,000 businesses via its 'City Business Skills' department which focuses on employer training needs. Offering over 700 courses from basic level right through to business and postgraduate training, City College is working with its partners to develop the workforce of the future.