Hard-hitting thriller writer Yunis Alam casts aside any rose tinted views of Bradford in his very latest piece of work.

For he pulls no punches when portraying life on some of what he calls the 'meaner streets of the city' in his new crime thriller Kilo.

The 35-year-old writer draws on his own experiences of the city to create a gritty story set in areas including Manningham and Girlington.

And when the book is launched on Thursday, May 23, as part of Bradford Literature Festival, he is hoping to find an audience troubled by the same issues of identity his main character faces.

He said: "Writing about Bradford does reduce your market because without opening the pages people assume it is about cloth caps and whippets. But this is different.

"I don't want readers to get bored for a start because it's about giving people value, a sense of satisfaction and something they can relate to."

The father-of-four, who now lives in Undercliffe, has spent the last three years creating Kilo, which is the long-awaited follow-up to his debut novel Annie Potts is Dead.

In the first person it tells the story of Khalil Khan, a young boy secure in his family until he witnesses his father being savagely beaten by hit men demanding protection money.

The character likes the strength of the men who are taking control of their own destiny and he becomes Kilo, a man who lives in the underworld of street crime.

Alam, who is a lecturer and researcher in Social Sciences at Bradford University, doesn't believe the book will provoke an angry reaction.

"People who live in Manningham have enough experience of crime.

''They have had three riots since the 1980s and they know what goes on.''

He added: "There are a lot of things wrong with Manningham but a lot of things are right with it as well and in the book goodness wins at the end."

Alam will appear at The Platform in Bradford Central Library at 7.30pm on May 23 to unveil Kilo, which has been published by Glasshoughton-based publisher Route.

Bradford Literature Festival runs from May 11 to June 6 and other guests expected to attend the prestigious event include politician and writer Mo Mowlam, broadcaster and writer Tony Parsons and Nick Hornby, author of Fever Pitch, the best selling book that was turned into a film.