Debut novel going fastest off bookshelves in author's city

Scream If You Want To Go Faster by Russ Litten is outselling all other titles at Waterstone's in Jameson Street, which staff said was a notable achievement for a first book.

More than 200 copies of the book have been sold over the last fortnight.

Store manager Leigh Newman said: "It's number one on our chart, outselling all the titles in the store. It's unusual for a first novel of that genre.

"It's based in East Yorkshire and it's got really good reviews in the local and national press. It appeals to the local population.

"It covers two of the biggest events in the city's recent history – the floods that hit the city (in 2007) and Hull Fair, and it connects the two together to create a really compelling story."

The sales were boosted by a reading and book-signing session Mr Litten held in the store last week.

Mr Newman said: "We sold another 30-odd copies on the night and 80 or 90 in the run-up to the day itself."

The book's official launch party in Hull was listed as one of the Sunday Times's top four literary events of the week, and the novel has already received favourable reviews in The Word, The Scotsman, and The Times Literary Supplement.

Mr Litten will be hoping to boost sales further afield when he gives another reading at Boogaloo in Highgate, London, on Thursday.

He is already working on his second novel, which is about a

70-year-old trawlerman from Hull.