Flack's Last Shift

Flack’s Last Shift

The new novel by Alex Wade

Flack’s Last Shift is Alex Wade’s first novel. It was released by Blue Mark Books on 9 June 2016.

The book tells the story of Harry Flack, a lawyer who turns against his employer, a national newspaper known as The Record. On the last night of his working life, Flack, the paper’s most trusted night lawyer, decides to create rather than eliminate legal problems.

If a journalist asks him if a high-risk story is publishable, Flack will wave it through. He’ll say ‘Legal OK’ to everything from serious libels to copyright infringements and contempts of court. He’ll even infiltrate the paper’s software and rewrite stories to make them as damaging as possible.

Why? Because on the day of his last shift, The Record’s new editor starts. His name is Eddie Conrad, and he and Flack are enemies from long ago…

Flack’s Last Shift merges fact and fiction, with real characters from Fleet Street appearing as versions of themselves or making cameo appearances, set against a backdrop of the Leveson Enquiry and the phone hacking scandal. The novel shines a light on what happens behind the scenes on Fleet Street, and asks the reader this question: how do we know that words mean what they say?

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Praise for the Book

  • "The book is a rattling good read!"

    Phillip Taylor MBE
  • "Wickedly observant... this witty, pacey thriller is a portrait of newspapers at a time of mighty upheaval."

    The Times
  • "Has the ring of psychological truth... deals sensitively with that most scary of questions: did I take the right decisions in my life?"

    The Herald, scotland
  • "A fabulous read."

    Georgina Godwin, Monocle24
  • "The must-read legal novel of the summer... Beautifully told by Wade"

    Alex Aldridge, Founder and Editor, Legal Cheek

About the author

Alex Wade is a writer, freelance journalist and media lawyer. He has written three non-fiction sports books, been short-listed as sports feature writer of the year and written for all the UK’s broadsheets and many magazines. As a lawyer, Alex advises national newspapers such as The Times and The Guardian, as well as other publisher clients. He is also, with Caroline Davidson, the co-director of Frugal Speech.

Other books by Alex Wade

Amazing Surfing Stories

Amazing Surfing Stories

Tales of Incredible Waves and Remarkable Riders

Surf Nation

Surf Nation

In Search of the Fast Lefts and Hollow Rights of Britain and Ireland

Wrecking Machine

Wrecking Machine

A Tale of Real Fights and White Collars

Flack’s Last Shift is now available at all good bookshops