Death of a Clown

by Nico Walker

From Nico Walker, author of the New York Times bestseller Cherry, an extraordinary riches-to-rags novel about the circus, love, and a clown on a downward spiral

Professional clown Eugene Lovecraft is once again down on his luck. Falling in love with the boss’s girl, Jackie, at his new carnival gig has predictable results. Funds are low, and his earlier transgressions have attracted the attention of local law enforcement. As options narrow, the only bright spots are his innate sense of humor and a fated bond with Jackie. But as he reflects, love at first sight has nowhere to go but down.

With the raw energy that defines his work, Nico Walker leads us from the carnival underworld to Jackie’s snake-infested Arkansas childhood to the question of whether love can solve life. Part Southern Gothic Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas, part propulsive noir, part entry into the national conversation about the high price of modernity, Death of a Clown is Walker at his dark and irresistible best.

Genres: Fiction

320 pages, Hardcover

Expected publication April 27, 2027

About the author

Nico Walker is originally from Cleveland. He served as a medic on more than 250 missions in Iraq. Currently he has two more years of an eleven-year sentence for bank robbery. Cherry is his debut novel.