Charlie Wales is a young man who wants everything. Fresh from University, he's seduced by the excitement of a new life in London and all that it promises. There's Vero, the beautiful French girl who might finally fall for him. There's the lure of art, but also the promise of fast money in the City. And his friends, who are spiralling into a world of non-stop parties and unchecked greed. But as the choices begin to tear him apart, there's also the danger that all the things he desires are on the brink of crashing around him ...

This debut novel, written by a 30-year-old trader, does not merely pick over the carcass of the financial markets in the wake of the recent crash. It is also a heartbreaking love story, a withering study of the years of excess, and a timely reminder of how good people end up doing terrible things.

Alex Preston was born in 1979 and lives in London with his wife and child. He read English at Hertford College, Oxford. He works in finance. This Bleeding City is Alex Preston's first novel.