THE TENSE NEW THRILLER FROM THE 'MASTER OF SINISTER' (ANGELA CLARKE), FOR FANS OF CHRIS CARTER.Tom Killgannon, ex-undercover police officer and now in witness protection, is recalled to active service by a local police task force, headed by DS Sheridan. His mission is to befriend notorious child killer Noel Cunningham and find out where he buried the bodies of his final two victims. The catch? Tom has to obtain that information from within Blackmoor prison itself.Undercover and with no back-up, Tom soon runs into danger. In the prison is convicted gangster Dean Foley. He used to run Manchester's biggest gang, until Tom's testimony put him away for life. He recognises Tom, and so begins a cat-and-mouse game as Tom fights for survival before Foley can get his revenge. But why can't Tom reach DS Sheridan and what is the real reason he has been sent to Blackmoor prison?'Waites is one of the best crime writers we have' MARK...

When his song is over, so are youUnder a starless winter night in rural Cornwall, four killers dressed in bizarre folkloric garb brutally invade the home of the wealthy West family. They destroy the posh house and kill the terrified family.All but one: traumatized seventeen-year-old Simon manages to escape, fleeing through snowy woods. Later, fears that he's an active target of madmen or criminals lead the police to once more come knocking on Tom Killgannon's door: Will he watch over Simon until a more secure place is found for the boy?An ex–undercover cop now living in witness protection, Tom's turned his back on his violent past. Living in seclusion in his coastal cottage alongside his adoptive daughter, Lila, he also has a romance blossoming with local tavern owner, Pearl Ellacott.Tom's reluctant to shelter Simon, but the boy comes to stay, and villains are soon circling the cottage like vultures. When there's a break-in late one night, Tom must protect his...

Sober and disillusioned with London, tabloid journalist Stephen Larkin reluctantly accepts an assignment to cover a gangland funeral back home in Newcastle. Several years earlier he had left sick and disgusted, vowing never to return, but the pull of the city, and the promise of a juicy story, finally persuades him to return. While there, Larkin's old flame Charlotte asks him to check out the alleged suicide of her friend Mary - a course of action that will leave Larkin bruised, battered and with some painful memories of the city he was trying to forget. Dark, compelling and relentless, Mary's Prayer is a razor-edged crime debut from a powerful new voice in crime fiction.

When the savagely beaten body of a Muslim student is discovered in a rundown area of Newcastle, blame falls on the far right National Unity Party - but for once they appear to be innocent. In fact, with elections looming, they are poised to make significant gains. Not the best time for Trevor Whitman, ex-70s radical, to return to his native north-east. Haunted by his violent past, he's receiving death threats over the murder of a policeman years ago. Joe Donovan is called in to investigate. After the death of a supposed would-be suicide bomber, the investigation takes a more dangerous turn as Donovan and his team find themselves the targets of a ruthless killer unlike any they have faced before. A killer who will do anything to ensure an explosive 30-year-old secret remains buried. Anything - no matter who stands in his way. Anything - even orchestrating a brutal race war that will tear the city apart.  

In the fourth novel of this acclaimed crime series, Joe Donovan must help a woman discover if her recent visions are related to the death of a young boy   Anne Marie (Mae) is back in the hometown she hasn't seen for forty years, trying to live a normal life with her teenage son. But that's impossible. Because forty years ago, when she was eleven, she killed a little boy.   She is trying to make peace with her past by telling her story to journalist Joe Donovan. But it's not that simple. Suffering from horrifying visions, she sometimes does bad things. Things she has no memory of afterwards. Desperate, she turns to Donovan for help. But Donovan may have personal reasons for helping her. Reasons that have to do with the disappearance of his own son . . .

"Martyn Waites stands out in the crowded field of young British noir writers . . . with his bruised characters, raw-edged dialogue, and extraordinary night vision."-The New York Times Book Review"London's dark heart has seldom been exposed with such surgical precision. Brutal, mesmerizing stuff."-Ian Rankin"A huge talent."-TimeOut London"One of the brightest stars in the British crime writing firmament."-John ConnollyA research scientist has gone missing. An ace newspaper reporter has disappeared; so has a minidisc, along with its incriminating evidence. And a teenage hustler is on the run. In his pursuer, the Hammer, a skin-headed professional killer with a blue sapphire tooth and a taste for death metal, "the principle of evil" has indeed been "made flesh."From its staggering opening to an electrifying finish, its prose pumping adrenaline all the way, Martyn Waites' new novel wrests former investigative journalist Joe Donovan out of his reclusion in Newcastle. His heart broken by the disappearance of his six-year-old son two years earlier-a case that remains unsolved-he now finds his destiny entwined with that of the streetwise but vulnerable and frightened teenager Jamal. For on the minidisc, lifted by an unwitting Jamal, lies a crucial, increasingly perilous link to Donovan's past.Unsettling and unpredictable, this taut, compelling page-turner of a novel delivers point-blank every unexpected narrative hit, twist, and turn as it leads Donovan finally to the terror of the mercy seat.Martyn Waites is emerging as one of the leading writers of British noir fiction. The Mercy Seat is his first Americanrelease. He lives in Newcastle.

The chilling sequel to the international bestselling novel The Woman in Black It's Autumn of 1940, and German bombs are destroying the cities of Britain as WWII takes its toll on Europe. In London, children are being removed from their families and taken to the country for safety. Teacher Eve Parkins is in charge of one such group, and her destination is an empty and desolate house that appears to be sinking into the tidal marshes that surround it. Its name is Eel Marsh House. Far from home and with no alternative, Eve and the children move in. But it soon becomes apparent that there is someone else in the house; someone who is far deadlier than anything that would face the children in the city. She's called "The Woman in Black," and she won't rest until she has her revenge ...

Stephen Larkin is back in his native Newcastle and working as an agency journalist. To stop himself getting bored, he's fighting greed and corruption in his inimitable way by blackmailing the powers that be into keeping their campaign promises. It doesn't help fill the empty spaces in his life, though. He needs a purpose - which is why he jumps at the chance to track down a child abuser with friends in high places. A cynic like Larkin is automatically suspicious of people like Alan Swanson. A charismatic local chancer and self-styled Minister for Youth, Swanson is the man behind the "Rebirth of the Region" project. But is his interest in kids a chance for a photo-opportunity or something more sinister? Larkin thinks that, as a reporter, he knows all there is to know about the evil that men do. But nothing has prepared him for this...

"Waites stands out in the field of young British noir writers . . . with his bruised characters, raw-edged dialogue, and extraordinary night vision."-Marilyn Stasio, The New York Times Book ReviewThe body is discovered in an abandoned burial ground: a young woman, blond, ritualistically mutilated, apparently. Her eyes and mouth have been crudely sewn shut.The police come up with a suspect quick enough: the victim's boyfriend, Michael Nell, who has a notoriously uncontrollable temper as well as an incriminating record of violence against women. His lawyer, however, is not convinced that Nell is a killer.All Joe Donovan has to do is prove the truth of Michael Nell's alibi. The job proves not to be routine, as Donovan's inquiries lead him and his crack team of operatives deep into Newcastle's murky underworld of child-trafficking and prostitution. When the second body shows up, the former investigative journalist knows he's up against more than local gangsters.Still bearing the scars of his own crushing history since the disappearance of his six-year-old son three years before, Donovan now finds himself enmeshed in the dark biography of an elusive, deranged serial killer whom he can profile but cannot identify. The killer meanwhile obliges the authorities with maddeningly cryptic clues to his twisted, deadly intents, but all the while time for the next young, unsuspecting victim is fast running out.**