Tariq Ashkanani

* THE NEW NOVEL FROM THE PRIZE-WINNING AUTHOR OF THE MIDNIGHT KING *'A brilliantly unsettling piece of purest American Gothic' - JAMES OSWALD'The master of the small-town thriller at the top of his game' - JANICE HALLETT'An atmospheric thriller. I loved this book' - SARAH PINBOROUGHTwo children lost. The wrong one found. The town of Aurora is waiting to die. A few miles away a deep seam of coal burns underground, the fire creeping closer ever year. Businesses close. Families leave. Hope dwindles. And then one day, nine-year-old Danny Yates comes back from the dead. He walks into town half-starved and silent, ten months after he and his best friend Will Keefe were presumed drowned. But when Danny does finally speak, he swears that he's not Danny anymore. He's Will. Danny's mother is convinced that her boy has come back wrong, and that the town itself is now at risk from whatever dark force returned her son. Chief of Police John Deacon is more interested in how the sinister disappearance of two boys could have been written off as a tragic accident, and who was responsible. What happened to Danny to make him take on his friend's name, his personality? And does Danny's return mean there's a chance that Will is still alive?

* LONGLISTED FOR THE MCILVANNEY PRIZE FOR SCOTTISH CRIME BOOK OF THE YEAR *''A tour de force with superb dramamtic twists'' - DAILY MAIL''If you''re a fan of Thomas Harris you must read this'' - PRIMA''The best book I''ve read all year'' - SARAH PINBOROUGH''This is a work of fiction. This is not a confession.''Lucas Cole is a bestselling writer. He is also a father, a widower, and a beloved celebrity in his small town. He is an unassuming man ­- tall, thin and quietly friendly. Lucas Cole is also a serial killer.Nathan Cole has known the truth about his father since he was ten years old. Too terrified to go to the police, he ran away from home as soon as he was able. But when Lucas is found dead in a dingy motel room, Nathan returns to his childhood home for the first time in seventeen years. It''s there he finds The Midnight King, his father''s final unpublished manuscript, a fictionalised account of his hideous crimes, hidden in a box of trinkets taken from his victims. Trinkets that include a ribbon belonging to a missing eight-year-old girl who disappeared only days before his father''s death.Now, Nathan must deal with the consequences of keeping his father''s secret. But it may not be as simple as finding a lost child. For The Midnight King holds Nathan''s secrets as well as Lucas''s, and he is not the only one searching for the truth...Full of unexpected twists and heartrending turns, The Midnight King is a gripping thriller perfect for fans of Chris Whitaker, S.A. Cosby and Ian Rankin.''Reminiscent of Mo Hayder at her darkest'' - OBSERVER''Lean, taut, gripping and bloody'' - CHRIS BROOKMYRE''The best book I''ve read about a serial killer since Red Dragon'' - GARETH BROWN

In this tense thriller from the winner of the Bloody Scotland Debut Prize, PI Callie Munro is hunting a serial killer on the streets of Edinburgh. But he’s already found her…As private investigators go, Callie Munro is tougher than most. She’s had to be. Abandoned as a baby and raised by a succession of strangers, she knows a thing or two about surviving……but she never expected to find herself hunting a serial killer. After uncovering a string of missing women—women no one seems to care about—Callie refuses to look away. With police ignoring the evidence, her only ally is an organised crime boss with his own agenda. The deeper Callie digs, the more dangerous the hunt becomes. Every clue exposes another lie. Every step brings the killer closer. She’s fighting for the forgotten. But if she’s not careful, she’ll be next. Fast-paced and gripping from cover to cover, this first book in Tariq Ashkanani’s thrilling new series is perfect for fans of Ian Rankin, Val McDermid and Robert Galbraith.