Joe Cusack
AUTHOR

Joe Cusack

Tap the gear icon above to manage new release emails.
Joseph Cusack is a journalist, feature writer, television producer and author whose career has been shaped by a lifelong fascination with people, place and the emotional undercurrents that define human experience. Born in Liverpool and now based in Manchester, he emerged from the cultural and political turbulence of the late twentieth century with a determination to tell stories that matter. His professional journey began in the early 1990s, when he travelled extensively across Eastern Europe and the former Yugoslavia as a freelance photojournalist. Those years on the road—often spent in border towns, makeshift press centres and communities fractured by conflict—were formative. In Bosnia, where the war exposed both the brutality and resilience of ordinary people, Joseph found the moral and emotional compass that would guide the rest of his career. The experience cemented his belief that journalism is not simply a profession but a responsibility: a commitment to truth, nuance and the complex humanity behind every headline. After returning to the UK and completing his academic training, Joseph established himself as a respected news reporter and investigative journalist. His work appeared in several of Britain’s major national newspapers, including The Sunday Times, The Guardian, The Sunday Mirror and The Daily Mirror. In these roles he covered everything from breaking news to long‑running investigations, developing a reputation for clarity, rigour and an instinctive understanding of narrative structure. Alongside his newsroom work, he built a parallel career as a freelance feature writer for a wide range of popular magazines. This dual path—hard news on one side, expansive human‑interest storytelling on the other—naturally led him toward biography and long‑form narrative non‑fiction, where he could combine investigative discipline with emotional depth. Over the years, he has become one of the UK’s most sought‑after ghostwriters. He has written ten Amazon best‑selling memoirs, three of which reached the Sunday Times bestseller list. His ghost-writing is widely recognised for its narrative precision, emotional intelligence and ability to translate lived experience into compelling, accessible storytelling. Whether working with public figures, private individuals or those whose lives have intersected with major cultural events, Joseph brings a rare sensitivity to the task of shaping another person’s voice on the page. His books are known for their honesty, their cinematic pacing and their ability to illuminate the universal themes hidden within personal histories. His storytelling extends beyond the written word. Drawing on his investigative background and his skill as an interviewer, he has contributed to several television documentaries. His credits include the three‑part series The Murder of Charlene Downes, a complex and emotionally charged investigation that required both journalistic rigour and a deep understanding of the families and communities involved. Murdered by a Mob: The Killing of Bijan Ebrahimi tells the devastating true story of a vulnerable Iranian‑born man falsely accused by neighbours, failed by authorities and ultimately killed in a brutal act of mob violence. The film traces Bijan’s years of harassment, his repeated pleas for police protection and the catastrophic institutional failures that left him isolated and unprotected. Through testimony, expert insight and Bijan’s own recordings, the documentary exposes how prejudice, misinformation and systemic bias combined to create a preventable tragedy—and asks how a community, and a country, allowed such an injustice to unfold. The Murder of lee Irving: Disability Mate Crime for SKY Crime, investigates the shocking murder of 24‑year‑old Lee Irving, a young man with learning difficulties who was lured to his death by people he believed were friends. Lee’s body was discovered on grassland in Newcastle, bearing catastrophic injuries after being punched, kicked, and stamped to death. The documentary traces the police investigation, uncovering a house of horror, a local family implicated as suspects, a mother who tried to raise alarms, and an MP campaigning for stronger protections against disability “mate” crime. Written and produced by Joseph Cusack, the film chronicles Lee’s short life—his struggles at school, his attempts to live independently—and features harrowing testimony from family, friends, detectives, and his psychologist, exposing a despicable crime. Joseph’s ability to navigate sensitive material with care and clarity has made him a trusted collaborator in factual television. In addition to this work, he has ghostwritten two significant autobiographies connected to the phone‑hacking scandal—books that explore the personal fallout of a media crisis that led to multiple prosecutions and the closure of the News of the World. These projects demanded not only technical skill but also a nuanced grasp of trauma, justice and the long shadows cast by public scandal. Most recently, he has completed a forthcoming memoir for a prominent entrepreneur, further expanding his portfolio of high‑profile collaborations. He is also developing a multi‑voiced, first‑person retrospective examining the events surrounding the toppling of the statue of Bristol slave trader Edward Colston and the subsequent trial. This new project reflects his ongoing interest in the intersection of personal testimony, public memory and cultural reckoning. By weaving together multiple perspectives, he aims to create a textured, emotionally resonant account of a moment that continues to shape national conversations about history, identity and justice. Across all his work, Joseph Cusack blends memoir, journalism and mythic storytelling to create narratives that feel both intimate and cinematic. He is drawn to stories of resilience, transformation and the search for meaningful stories that reveal not only what happened, but why it mattered. His latest memoir, One More Time, accompanies a forthcoming terrestrial TV documentary of the same name. The project explores aging, rave culture and community through a deeply personal lens, tracing how music and collective experience can become sources of identity, healing and renewal. Through both his writing and filmmaking, Joseph continues to examine emotional truth, cultural identity and the transformative power of music, crafting work that resonates far beyond the page or screen. Joseph Cusack is represented by The Andrew Lownie Literary Agency Ltd
Read more Read less
Not an Audible member?
From £7.99/month after 30 days. Renews automatically. See here for eligibility.
Start your free 30-day trial

The Asylum

Most popular
View Details

Best Sellers

Product list
  • The Asylum cover art

    £12.99 or free with trial. Auto-renews at £8.99/month after trial. See eligibility.

    Try for £0.00
  • A Mother's Job cover art

    £12.99 or free with trial. Auto-renews at £8.99/month after trial. See eligibility.

    Try for £0.00
  • Abandoned cover art

    £12.99 or free with trial. Auto-renews at £8.99/month after trial. See eligibility.

    Try for £0.00

Are you an author?

Help us improve our Author Pages by updating your bibliography and submitting a new or current image and biography.
Visit Amazon Author Central