Well, it was a hell of a ride.

This year’s Not The Booker (the anti-Booker put on annually by the Guardian) flirted with controversy from the get-go. During the nomination process there were accusations of unfair competitive advantage by tech savvy authors, resulting in only a tentative short list. However, the charges of ballot, er, comment stuffing were, if not retracted, then accepted as part of the nature of the beast. In the end, the original short list stood.

For a prize with little to offer but a mug, this one sure had a lot of drama. Fittingly, the drama and excitement lasted through til the end when it all came down to an unprecedented finish: a tie.

That’s right, Lee Rourke, author of The Canal, will be sharing the Not The Booker winner’s mug this year with Matthew Hooton, author of Deloume Road. In Sam Jordison‘s report on the Guardian’s website announcing the winners he called The Canal “a sincere attempt to do something new and interesting” and said of Deloume Road that it’s “a novel with real, haunting power.” A hearty congratulations to both authors for pulling this off.

Now, to the next contest: the author cage fight over the mug.