The Romeo and Juliet story of teenage love which cuts across all social barriers is transported to modern-day Bristol.

The novel is dominated by the mesmerising and beautiful Daizee Byatt, the daughter of a drug addict who makes a living as a prostitute. At 15 Daizee Byatt has already seen too much of the bad things of life and then she meets the sweet, innocent 14 year-old Franky on his way home from school.

This is a novel about the darker side of contemporary life and modern Britain's underclass.

Xavier Leret was born and bred in Bristol.

He is the former Artistic Director of the Award Winning Ensemble Kaos Theatre. Writing and directing credits include The Fantastical Adventures of Leonardo da Vinci, Renaissance (a Millennium Award Winner), Isle of Dogs, Thirst, Alice, Caligula, Swing, Moll Flanders, Metropolis, and an adaptation of Bulgakov's The Master & Margarita (nominated for the best production on the Dublin Fringe and an Edinburgh Fringe First).

He has written and directed two feature films, Mine and Kung Fu Flid, the world's first 'cripsploitation' movie, starring thalidomide actor Mat Fraser.

He now lives quietly in a small Hamlet not far from Bishops Stortford.

The Romeo And Juliet Killers is his first novel.