This impressive debut novel from ex-editor of The Voice and writer/director Kolton Lee also features boxing and cards, this time in contemporary London. H, the protagonist, was a young boxer who had the world at his dancing feet until he lost a crucial fight and with it, his confidence. Seven years on, and a gambling addict - Lee's terse but vivid descriptions of the lure of the shebeen gaming table imbue the playing cards with just as much deadly magic as a voodoo priestess's tarot pack - H finds himself in debt, losing his wife and child, and dragged into the backstreet world of gangsters and extortion. Eschewing sentimentality, Lee serves up spot-on dialogue, excels in explorations of how violence can escalate in the blink of an eye, and gives the tried and tested tale of a beleaguered man facing his demons a thrilling new twist in an unusual setting.

Peter Gutteridge writing in The Observer:

Kolton Lee, award-winning writer-director, is the new kid on the block. His debut, The Last Card (Maia £8.99, pp272), is a simmering noir novel set in the sleazy end of the London boxing circuit and illegal gambling dens. He is a boxer past his prime, full of regrets and in debt to a vicious psychopath. He is dragged into a multiracial underworld of violence and extortion. Can he find a way out? The Last Card is sweaty, brutal and powerful.

Mark Kebble in 'Angel' magazine:

Kolton Lee displays his inspiring breadth of ability in this gritty crime debut... This fast-paced thriller will draw you into its vivid portrayals of human strength and desperation, exposing the lengths to which a man will go to fight for survival.