by Josh Silver
Crooked Lane Books
8/4/2026, paperback
SKU: 9798892426374
Go gay. Go sad. Go dark.
A washed-up author will stop at nothing to claw her way back to relevancy--even if it means appropriating a young gay man's tragic story.
Mallory Maddox is buried under seven years of writer's block. With her status as a literary sensation fizzling, she'll do anything she can to resurrect her career. Inspiration needs to strike--and fast.
Enter Leo. He's a struggling addict sleeping under bridges and trading sex for survival. He's vulnerable. He's enigmatic. He's exactly what Mallory has been looking for.
Mallory needs Leo if she wants another bestseller. The world needs Leo's story right now, and Mallory believes she deserves to tell it. Really, it's her story--she's the one who wrote it, after all.
But as secrets threaten to unravel more than just her career, Mallory must decide how far she will go to pen the perfect story.
A razor-sharp satirical thriller, Fruit Fly will appeal to fans of R. F. Kuang's Yellowface and Yomi Adegoke's The List.
Reviews:
"It's remarkable how much sympathy Silver engenders for his badly behaved leads, and how deeply felt his high-concept plot turns out to be. By turns suspenseful, provocative, and touching, this bold thriller burrows under the skin." -- Publishers Weekly, starred review
"Josh has a fantastic, distinctive voice. The writing is as fearless as the characters are fearful. Bold, raw, uncomfortable, and very, very funny." -- Jonathan Harvey, BAFTA and Olivier Award-nominated actor, screenwriter, and author
"Dark, haunting, gripping, psychologically messy, heartbreaking but also darkly funny. An absolute masterpiece." -- Kate Weston, author of You May Now Kill the Bride
About the Author:
Josh Silver is the New York Times bestselling author of Fruit Fly. Previously, he trained as an actor at the prestigious Royal Academy of Dramatic Art in London and went on to perform in the West End and on Broadway. He subsequently became a mental health nurse, where he worked with teenagers. His other writing includes the young adult novels Happy Head, Dead Happy, and Erase Me.