If you could save someone's life, would you? Anyone's? Ali's older brother has a swastika tattooed on his knuckles, a prison ID number for nearly beating an immigrant to death, and spent his teenage years ruthlessly persecuting Ali for being gay. Blood may be thicker than water, but Ali has spent most of his life desperate to prove he is nothing like Tony. A committed vegetarian, charity-supporter, and blood donor, Ali would do anything for anyone. Ali may share parentage with Tony, but he’s determined not to share anything else if he can help it. So when Tony contracts leukaemia, and Ali is the only match for the urgently-needed bone marrow transplant, Ali is caught between two equally awful choices: to refuse and condemn a man to death, or to donate. And in donating, save the life of the man who nearly murdered Ali's Iraqi boyfriend?

Thicker Than Bone

“It’s the same thing,” he continued. “His family leaves a bit to be desired, but Ali’s different.”


“Kinda like you and your lot, then?” Tracy drawled.


“Guess so, unless Khalid’s making a hell of a good show about being straight.”


The pub door banged and the topic was rapidly dropped in favour of customers—a couple of businessmen from the bank roaming for their lunchtime pint—and Yazid forgot about the texts. Who gave a shit anyway? They were just empty threats by phone, and they’d been regular for a couple of weeks now. Bark, bite, all that jazz.


What was Tony going to do, beat him up?7thFebruary 2015


There was something taped to the door when Ali got home from work, and for a brief moment a cold panic seized his heart in an icy fist before he stepped through the gate, and saw Yazid’s thick, looping handwriting. An envelope.


Chapter 36