Author:Kit Whitfield
Lola Galley is used to doing things she doesn't want. She certainly doesn't want to be assigned the case of Richard Ellaway, the man who, under a cold full moon, mutilated a good friend of hers. But being a bareback, what she wants and what she gets are seldom the same.
For those born feet-first, life is comfortable, and one night a month they lock themselves in a secure room to fur up in peace. Barebacks, trapped in their human skin and drafted at eighteen into the Department for the Ongoing Regulation of Lycanthropic Activity, don't have it so easy. A full moon means patrolling the silent night in search of transformed citizens breaking the curfew. The rest of the month, DORLA agents mop up the after-effects of the trespasses, the fights and the maulings.
Resignedly, she takes the case - but before Ellaway can be tried, her maimed friend is murdered. Lola wants justice. She'll settle for the truth. But in a divided world, asking for the truth may bring answers that you don't want to hear.
Bareback is neither [quite] horror nor supernatural fantasy, but more a cautionary tale which echoes The Handmaid's Tale or Nineteen Eighty Four...Her story resonates with real issues of power, responsibility and blame
—— Lisa Tuttle , The TimesA gutsy debut...it's hard not to cheer on Whitfield's nerve, especially when her plot, a hard-boiled thriller... rattles along at such a pace
—— Hepzibah Anderson , ObserverGritty and original
—— GuardianExtraordinary
—— Kate AtkinsonAn intelligent book and a moving one
—— Time OutWhitfield's debut is a stunning imaginative feat that immerses the reader in a dark, dangerous and entirely believable world
—— MetroIntriguing...provocative
—— Susanna Yager , Sunday TelegraphMy quirky favourite of the year, a weird, astonishing book...This first novel, a brilliant start, sinks the teeth in and doesn't open its jaw until the last page
—— Jane Jakeman , IndependentFresh and beautiful... Take your time reading it... It puts you in that reading bubble, ever sought, not often found
—— ScifantasticLola is an outstandingly well-realized central character. We get right inside her head, feeling all her emotions vividly... splendidly entertaining
—— Emerald City