Newton's swing - Chris Paling

Ad man John Wayne's world is split between those who make jokes about his name and those who don't. He's mainly interested in the latter category. John is English but he's been working in New York for a while - which is where he met and married Susan, a beautiful art dealer, with her Nico eyes and a SoHo apartment. John's boss, Angel, knows Susan by a different name. But nobody uses their own name at Angel's notorious Gramercy Park parties. That way even if girls get hurt, reputations stay safe.Fast forward a decade. It's 3 a.m. Susan's dead-she's lying on the bed under a sheet that looks like the Japanese flag. Their son, Jordan, is asleep in the next room and John Wayne doesn't know what to do. The paramedics are on their way. So are the detectives from the 1st Precinct. They'll ask him questions and he'll answer - but soon he won't know what's true any more or who to trust. Some days he can't even trust himself.Chris Paling was described in the Independent as 'among the most accomplished English novelists to emerge in recent years.' Newton's Swing is his finest novel to date.