To Dare A Future

Franklin's darkest novel is a relentless meditation on alienation and violence which sprang from his desire to create a horror novel without any supernatural elements. ‘I'm not neurotic enough to write actual horror,' he said. ‘If I tried to write about zombies or werewolves I know the point would come where I'd no longer be able to suspend my disbelief. To Dare A Future instead attempts to capture urban horror, whether it's soccer hooligans, nightclub fights or snuffing out a child's life.' Ten years in the making, Franklin admits the intense, claustrophobic novel didn't help his state of mind. ‘There are elements of black comedy in it but it's mostly played straight. I wanted to capture immature rage, rage without purpose, the compulsive urge to smash your fist into another human face. When you've got a child killer and a leg-breaking reporter bumping around your head for that long it doesn't exactly make you want to kiss babies and frolic with spring lambs. Still, it's probably my most mature effort. I took the title from a Thom Gunn poem in which an ambivalent narrator portrays a bunch of yobbo motorcyclists tearing through the countryside. The poem suggests sedentary people have no chance of understanding the meaning of life; only those who cause a bit of havoc will get near – even if that merely results in choking on your own dust.'