Search results for ""Author Simon Beckett""

'Somebody!' I half-sob and then, more quietly, 'Please.' The words seem absorbed by the afternoon heat, lost amongst the trees. In their aftermath, the silence descends again. I know then that I’m not going anywhere...Sean is on the run. We don't know why and we don't know from whom, but we do know he's abandoned his battered, blood-stained car in the middle of an isolated part of rural France at the height of a sweltering summer. Desperate to avoid the police, he takes to the parched fields and country lanes but his leg is caught in a vicious animal trap. Near unconscious from pain and loss of blood, he is freed and taken in by two women - daughters of the owner of a rundown local farm with its ramshackle barn, blighted vineyard and the brooding lake. And it's then that Sean's problems really start... This nail-shredder of a thriller - like the fiction of Nicci French or Gillian Flynn - holds you from the beginning, tightening its grip as the story unfurls and shocks you with its final twist.

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Some moments burn in the mind for ever. The landing is dark. Light comes from a window at the far end, enough to run by. Breath comes hard. From the stairs sound heavy footfalls in pursuit. The landing ends in a last doorway. There is no more running, only the need to hide...Imagine not knowing the father of your child. Not knowing his name. What he looks like. Or what sort of person he is. Although she is desperate for a baby, that is something that Kate Powell cannot accept. Single, independent, she likes to be in control of her own life - even if it has, somehow, become strangely shallow and meaningless. Then Kate meets a man who seems to be the answer to all her problems. But we all know appearances can be dangerously deceptive. And Kate should too. Soon her life is out her hands. And out of control...

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* Don't miss 'THE CHEMISTRY OF DEATH' TV SERIES - now streaming on Paramount+ * Adapted from The Chemistry of Death and Written in Bone - starring Harry Treadaway as Dr David Hunter'A classy debut' The Times'Best thriller I've read all year' Tess GerritsenDr David Hunter hoped he might at last have put the past behind him. But then they found what was left of Sally Palmer . . .It isn't just that she was a friend that disturbs him. Once he'd been a high-profile forensic anthropologist and all too familiar with the many faces of death, before tragedy made him abandon this previous life.Now the police want his help.But to become involved will stir up memories he's long tried to forget. Then a second woman disappears, plunging the close-knit community into a maelstrom of fear and paranoia.And no one, not even Hunter, is exempt from suspicion.Gruesome and gripping, this startling new British crime thriller has an unnerving and original twist.

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One day, your son disappears from the playground. Ten years later, will you finally get the truth? The disappearance of firearms police officer Jonah Colley's young son almost destroyed him. A phone call from an old friend leads Jonah to the warehouse Slaughter Quay, and the discovery of four bodies, with a link to his son's case. Attacked and left for dead in the dark, Jonah is the only survivor. Under suspicion himself for what happened at Slaughter Quay, Jonah uncovers a network of secrets and lies about the people closest to him - forcing him to question what really happened to his son all those years ago... 'A terrific thriller from one of our finest crime writers at the top of his game.' Peter James 'A roaring, full-throated thriller.' Daily Mail 'First in a new series, this is a tense and twisty tale.' The Sun

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* Don't miss 'THE CHEMISTRY OF DEATH' TV SERIES - now streaming on Paramount+ * Adapted from The Chemistry of Death and Written in Bone - starring Harry Treadaway as Dr David Hunter'A superbly strong read' The Times What began as a straightforward case is about to become a twisted nightmare . . . Once a busy hospital, St Jude's now stands derelict, awaiting demolition.When a partially mummified corpse is found in the building's cavernous loft, forensics expert Dr David Hunter is called in to take a look. He can't say how long the body's been there, but he is certain it's that of a young woman. And that she was pregnant.Then part of the attic floor collapses, revealing another of the hospital's secrets: a bricked-up chamber with beds inside. And some of them are still occupied.And it soon becomes clear that St Jude's hasn't claimed its last victim . . .Chilling, visceral and masterfully paced, Simon Beckett's new crime thriller will leave you gasping.

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* Don't miss 'THE CHEMISTRY OF DEATH' TV SERIES - now streaming on Paramount+ * Adapted from The Chemistry of Death and Written in Bone - starring Harry Treadaway as Dr David Hunter'Menacing, beautifully paced' Daily MailA serial killer is at work, and the death toll is rising . . . The victim has been bound and tortured, the body decomposed beyond recognition.Then a second body is found. A nightmare is about to begin.Once a brutal abduction takes place, it becomes a terrifying race against time for forensic expert David Hunter . . .

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* Don't miss 'THE CHEMISTRY OF DEATH' TV SERIES - now streaming on Paramount+ * Adapted from The Chemistry of Death and Written in Bone - starring Harry Treadaway as Dr David HunterA killer on the loose. A murder disguised as an accident . . . As a favour to a colleague, Dr David Hunter is on the remote Hebridean island of Runa to inspect a grisly discovery. He's familiar with death in all its guises but is shocked by what he finds: a body, incinerated but for the feet and a single hand.It appears to be a textbook case of spontaneous human combustion.The local police are certain it's an accidental death but to Hunter the scorched remains suggest otherwise,And as the isolated community considers the enormity of Hunter's findings, a catastrophic storm hits the island. The power goes down, communication with the outside world ceases . . .And the killing begins in earnest.

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* Don't miss 'THE CHEMISTRY OF DEATH' TV SERIES - now streaming on Paramount+ * Adapted from The Chemistry of Death and Written in Bone - starring Harry Treadaway as Dr David Hunter'Atmospheric . . . a tense, gripping read' Sunday Times It's not the dead we need to fear. . . Top forensics expert Dr David Hunter is facing an uncertain future - his career hangs in the balance and his personal life has taken a turn for the worse. So when he gets a call from Essex police, it comes at the perfect time.A badly decomposed body has been found in the mudflats and salt marshes of the Backwaters. Could it be linked to two unsolved missing-person cases?But as these desolate wetlands begin to give up their grisly secrets, more remains are discovered.With its eerie, claustrophobic sense of place, authentic forensics and explosive, heart-in-mouth moments, The Restless Dead is a masterclass in crime fiction.

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* Don't miss 'THE CHEMISTRY OF DEATH' TV SERIES - now streaming on Paramount+ * Adapted from The Chemistry of Death and Written in Bone - starring Harry Treadaway as Dr David Hunter'As bone-chillingly bleak as its subject . . . this doesn't disappoint' Financial TimesA serial killer is on the loose and David Hunter suddenly finds that the past is far from dead and buried. The escape of a psychotic rapist and multiple murderer brings DI Terry Connor to David Hunter's doorstep, years after their bitter rift.This unwelcome reminder of the past forces Hunter to confront the situation at hand: eight years earlier Hunter and an ill-fated Body Recovery team, has tried to find the graves of Monk's teenage victims on the bleak expanse of Dartmoor.Only one of the missing girls' bodies was ever found. Suddenly Hunter receives an appeal from Sophie Keller, a young woman who also worked on the operation, and nothing is quite as it seems. Hunter is forced to question who he can really trust.Especially when his own life depends on it.

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