Deadline (30 page)

Tom Meron finds himself on the run,
pursued by enemies he never knew he had. . .

3 o'clock. It's a normal Saturday afternoon. You're with the kids in the garden when the phone rings.

It's your best friend from school, the best man at your wedding. Someone you haven't seen for a few years.

It should be a friendly call making arrangements to see each other again, catching up on old times.

But it's not. This call is different. Your friend is speaking quickly, panting with fear, his breaths coming in tortured, ragged gasps. It is clear that someone is inflicting terrible pain on him.

He cries out and then utters six words that will change your life forever...the first two lines of your address.

What do you do? Do you run or do you hide?

'The pace is breakneck, the plot twists like a hooked eel. . .The sort of book that forces you to read so fast you stumble over the words'
Evening Standard

'Simon Kernick writes with his foot pressed hard on the pedal. Hang on tight!'
Harlan Coben

One night stand.
One dead girl.
One bad day.

You wake up in a strange room on a bed covered in blood. And you have no idea how you got there.

Beside you is a dead girl. Your girlfriend.

The phone rings, and a voice tells you to press play on the room's DVD machine.

The film shows you killing your girlfriend. Then you're told to go to an address in East London where you're to deliver a briefcase and await further instructions.

There's no way out. If you're to survive the next 24 hours, you must find out who killed your girlfriend, and why.

Before they come for you too. . .

'Great plots, great characters, great action'
Lee Child

'For those who like their thrillers breathless, as well as bloody, this will be just the ticket'
The Times

Featuring DS Dennis Milne: full-time cop, part-time assassin.

It's a cold November night and DS Dennis Milne is waiting to kill three unarmed men.

Cynical and jaded, Milne earns money on the side by doing what he does best: punishing the bad guys.

But he's been set up. This time, instead of shooting drug dealers, he kills two customs officers and an accountant.

The hunter has become the hunted. With his colleagues and his enemies closing in on him, Milne must use all his skills just to stay alive.

The explosive first novel by the bestselling author of
Relentless.

'Caught me with its gut-wrenching reality. A compelling début'
Gerald Seymour

'A remarkable dé but...Pace, twists and a savage sense of place make this a guilty pleasure'
Guardian