Noir doesn't get much blacker

Breath-taking . . . Jack Taylor is a mix of penitent and avenging angel

Addictive... Packed with wild action and revealing tradecraft

McNab is the best suspense thriller writer to put pen to paper since Alistair MacLean

He will remain an enduring, endearing presence in comic literature

In Paula Daly's strong debut, the lost-child horrorshow Just What Kind of Mother Are You?, the child is, in a neat, needling twist, that of Lisa's posh best friend rather than her own. Lisa is exhausted trying to balance motherhood and work, so forgets that Lucinda is coming to stay on the night she goes missing... The result is fiendishly addictive as well as perceptive about guilt and social class

Just What Kind of Mother Are You? is the very definition of a page-turner – the sort of book that causes you to lose half a day without even noticing. Savour every page, because this will probably be your book of the year. With characters so real they can’t possibly be made up, it’s a brilliant, thrilling story of friendship, families and the sort of terrifying betrayal that can only happen to those closest to us

One of the most hypnotically gripping books I've read in a long, long time. Masterfully written and utterly unputdownable, this thriller will surprise and astound you with every ingenious twist and turn

Riveting! Daly plunges straight into the heart of every parent's worst nightmare with page turning results. You know this family. You may even be one of these moms. And you will fly through this novel, as their pain, bewilderment, and ultimately determination becomes your own

I really enjoyed this book. Lisa sparkles off the page with a crisp, engaging voice, enviable self-awareness and a genuine sense of warmth. In her debut novel, Paula Daly has hit upon a theme that will resonate instantly with working mothers the length and breadth of the land. But for the grace of God, we could all walk in Lisa's shoes

Paula Daly's finely-wrought debut thriller deals with overburdened working women who are doing their best but are in danger of being swamped by the conflicting demands being placed upon them. Daly's characters are well-drawn, complex individuals who oftentimes are not what they seem to be, and her small-town settings seethe with twisted dynamics lurking just below the bucolic surfaces

I read the book in just a few hours, gripped by the believable characters and switchbacks of the plot. Everyone will recognise the dilemmas in this book and hold their breath for the finale.

An assured and nail-biting debut which gives an authentic portrayal of modern family life and the pressures of being a working mother. Daly writes eloquently about an ordinary family plunged into a nightmare and sets her story in the wintry landscape of the English Lakes. A tense and satisfying read.

It's unputdownable: exactly the kind of book I love – a slow burning psychological suspense with lots of twists. As well as being full of suspense, it is rich in domestic detail and brilliantly examines the pressures that working parents – specifically working mothers – are under to be perfect in every way: how we blame ourselves when we can't keep every single ball up in the air, how we compare ourselves to others who seem to be doing it all so perfectly and how, for some people, appearances have to be kept up at all costs. Particularly satisfyingly I didn't see the end coming until the moment it appeared

A pacy, psychological thriller that perfectly captures the voice of a stressed-out working mum.

William Heming is cut from the same cloth as Barbara Covett in Zoë Heller’s Notes On A Scandal, another unreliable narrator with whom we really should not be siding, but who proves so engaging that we can’t help but go along for the ride... in this gripping, thrilling novel.

There is a delicious feeling of complicity in his misdemeanours: Heming gets inside your head as easily as he gets into his neighbours' houses... a superbly plotted and genuinely creepy novel. It deserves to be a bestseller.

A creepy and unexpected tale that will remain with the reader long after the book is finished.

Compelling, unsettling and macabre social satire.

A gripping psychological thriller that pegs out the creep-o-meter with its chilling, original plot ... Readers won’t soon forget this first-rate, white-knuckle suspense novel.

Channeling the socially detached and unnerving personality of Nabokov’s Humbert Humbert, Phil Hogan creates a character that will inspire intrigue as well as ire ... This perfect­ly paced psychological suspense story is a roller-coaster ride through paranoia and manipulation.

Our mystery and thriller preview is filled with unhinged killers, criminal masterminds, and relentless stalkers, but no one gives us the heebee jeebees like William Heming ... this tale will have you wanting to change your locks by the time you’ve turned the final page.

It is in Hogan’s handling of Heming’s slowly pointed self-revelation through his own voice that the brilliance of the novel is achieved … Hogan manages to create a voice both unreliable, amoral and almost charming ... A Pleasure and a Calling is an enthralling psychological thriller ... William Heming, a man no one takes notice of, is a man readers will remember

The word ‘creepy’ (attached to descriptive adverbs like ‘insanely’ and ‘diabolically’ or even ‘deliciously’) immediately comes to mind.

The first-person portrayal of a truly cold-blooded protagonist is a hard thing to pull off, especially one whose outward appearance is so benign but Phil Hogan has created an antihero horrifically ruthless and disquieting.

Hogan's fourth novel visits some dark places, and its enigmatic narrator and Middle England setting are brilliantly realised. This is a compelling read that leaves a prickle on the neck and doubts in the mind.

Strongly reminiscent of the disturbing thrillers of Patricia Highsmith, notably in the ways in which the truly malign can lurk beneath the most ordinary of people and circumstances.

The first-person portrayal of a truly cold-blooded protagonist is a hard thing to pull off but Phil Hogan has created an antihero horrifically ruthless and disquieting.

Raw and real start to a new series

What could be standard police procedural stands out for its excellent character work and the timely way it deals with hot-button political topics dominating the headlines

The plot is tight, the anger righteous but not worthy, and the action thrilling. Happily she has a new novel out next year

Gripping…Excellent book.

A fine, literary thriller; cold, at times almost nauseatingly disturbing

A fascinating, subtle, really original modern Gothic thriller