Nock Loose

Joy is a gifted archer, a retired Olympian and a former stuntwoman on a cult Japanese tokusatsu show. Raised by a feckless grifter, her home is Bodkins Point. For 150 years, this small town has hosted an annual ultra-violent medieval festival called ‘Agincourt’. During the festival, Bodkins Point transforms – assuming a parallel identity that plays tug-of-war with the way its townsfolk live for the rest of the year.

In the aftermath of a terrible fire, Joy’s past and the town’s dark history are set on a collision course as she takes the furious road to revenge.

In this screwball comedy revenge thriller, Game of Thrones meets Wake in Fright meets Kill Bill meets The Simpsons— Nock Loose is like nothing else in OzLit.

PRAISE FOR THE BOOK

‘Marlborough is that rarest thing: a dangerous Australian writer. Read them before it’s too late.’ Michael Winkler

‘Mad, rad and merciless: Australia’s own energy-drink-era Vonnegut.’ Sam George-Allen

‘Nock Loose runs a rake over decades of D-Grade Australian culture and draws a narrative between all that was caught between the tines. Feeling like the cinematic amalgam of a nineties daytime talk show, an op shop joke book, and a hijacked reddit thread, only Marlborough could (or would) write this book.’ Max Easton

‘Patrick Marlborough’s Nock Loose is a wryly post-modern and cynically satirical novel that hits the ground running and never lets up … audacious, macabre and deeply felt.’ Anica Boulanger-Mashberg, Books+Publishing

‘It arguably shouldn’t work – yet it works brilliantly. Its language, like good poetry, has a captivating rhythm. And what it has to say about serious matters is worthy of any thinking person’s attention … Read it for fun and take it seriously.’ Erich Mayer, ArtsHub

‘Nock Loose is a rare gem of literary fiction: riotously entertaining, funny … and layered.’ Dan Hogan, Overland

‘With considerable narrative aplomb and unmistakable Australian humour that never sacrifices the humanity of its characters for cheap laughs, Nock Loose is a quirky, entirely new and accomplished postmodern Australian novel.’ Heidi Maier, The Saturday Paper

‘Marlborough’s debut is … an impressive feat: a feral work of madcap ambition from a novelist well worth keeping an eye on.’ Joseph Steinberg, The Conversation