'A poet of misfits, outsiders and the forsaken, his empathy for their suffering ever poignant.'
– Adam Nevill, author of The Ritual

Neil is a student at Birmingham University, living a typical life of gigs, clubs, politics, sex. 

One night, after a row with his lover, Neil follows a stranger onto a canal towpath. The stranger turns on him and attacks, viciously carving up Neil’s face and leaving him mutilated beyond recognition. 

Neil’s recovery is a journey through surgical reconstruction and sexual alienation. His attempt to track down his attacker becoming a search for his own hidden, destructive self; a search that leads him to question values he had always taken for granted. 

First published in 2003 and long out-of-print, The Blue Mask is a hardcore emotional trip exploring the trauma of change and the nature of violence and of love. 

WITH A NEW INTRODUCTION BY JOSEPH O’NEILL