Jake Arnott

Jake Arnott is a British author of literary crime fiction who is best known for his debut novel The Long Firm, which became a cult classic and was adapted into a BBC television series. The Devil's Paintbrush is a literary thriller set in early twentieth-century colonial Africa, exploring themes of empire, masculinity, violence and the dark legacy of colonialism through the story of a decorated British military officer. Arnott's writing is characterised by its literary ambition, its interest in power and its willingness to explore morally complex territory. His novels span genres and periods, from the gangland London of The Long Firm to the colonial settings of his later work, united by a fascination with the exercise and abuse of power. His audiobooks and books offer readers intelligent, genre-crossing fiction.