Businessman Fenton Conville has it all sewn up, coasting through life with his mates and his money in a sleepy Northern Irish village. Until, that is, he wakes on his fiftieth birthday to an unexpected solicitor’s letter and a shocking allegation that could blow his world apart. In this sharp-eyed comedy of memories, middle age and long-buried mistakes, a privileged entrepreneur feels the chill winds of post-Brexit change in a society struggling to account for its past.

Ultimately, Injury Time is a poignant, acerbic look at a man out of sync with the world around him. Kevin Smith’s prose is by turns hilarious and incisive, blending satire with a genuine exploration of aging, masculinity, and the slow erosion of certainty. This is a story about dodging bullets, literal and metaphorical, and the painful comedy of life’s second half. In the end, Fenton’s true struggle is less about money or status than finding relevance and peace as the clock runs down.

'A marvellous cast of characters ... It’s hard to know what more could be asked of this winning piece of work.' - Pat Carty, Irish Independent

'Engrossing and supremely witty ... Smith has given us a poignant study of masculinity - and a penetrating portrait of a world under tremendous strain.'

‘An undoubtedly gifted stylist. His prose is full of fresh, sophisticated yet unpretentious passages … A funny book, side-splittingly so at times.’

'A marvellous cast of characters ... It’s hard to know what more could be asked of this winning piece of work.'

'A work of supreme elegance … bejewelled with acerbic observations and bawl-out-loud fun.’

Kevin Smith is from County Down in Northern Ireland. A former journalist, he has worked for newspapers, radio, and international news wires, and was a foreign correspondent in Eastern Europe for several years before settling in Dublin. Injury Time, his third novel, is a follow-up to his critically-acclaimed 2012 debut Jammy Dodger.