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Slow Motion Ghosts
Slow Motion Ghosts
Oct 5, 2024 7:17 AM

Author:Jeff Noon

Slow Motion Ghosts

'Noon's storytelling is assured and compelling ... it's a belter' Guardian

‘Constantly surprising’ Spectator

A viciously occult murder.

A curious clue left on the body.

The soundtrack to the murder still playing...

It is 1981 and Detective Inspector Henry Hobbes is still reeling in the aftermath of the fire and fury of the Brixton riots. The battle lines of society - and the police force - are being redrawn on a daily basis.

With the certainties of his life already sorely tested, a brutal murder will shake his beliefs to their very core once more. The manner of the death and its staged circumstances pose many questions to which there are no obvious answers.

To track the murderer, Hobbes must cross boundaries into a subculture hidden beneath the everyday world he thought he knew. His investigation takes him into a twisted reality, which is both seductive and devastating, and asks him the one question he has been dreading: How far will he go in pursuit of the truth?

Jeff Noon is the author of six acclaimed novels, Vurt, Pollen, Automated Alice, Nymphomation, Needle in the Groove and Falling Out of Cars, as well as two collections of short fictions, and is also the crime fiction reviewer for The Spectator. He lives in Brighton.

Reviews

The obsessive world of pop culture becomes a dangerous, dark, bewitching place in Noon’s utterly brilliant crime fiction debut.

—— William Shaw

Constantly surprising, the novel takes the form of the police procedural and pushes it in a variety of unexpected directions

—— Spectator

Noon's storytelling is assured and compelling ... it's a belter

—— Guardian

Slow Motion Ghosts is a triumph … an ingeniously-plotted and multi-layered tale

—— Independent

The enjoyably convoluted plot encompasses a heartfelt and moving examination of the other-worldly appeal of glam rock for nerds and outsiders. If you weren't poleaxed by Bowie's death, this very absorbing novel will help to explain why others were.

—— The Telegraph

Full of suspense, a gripping 'whodunnit' laced with psychological tension. Douglas-Home is an author who can pull the wool over the reader's eyes until the very end

—— Scottish Field

An über-thriller in which things turn out just right...it provides a satisfying climax and leaves you breathless, glad to be alive in a wicked world.

—— Evening Standard

Drifter hero Jack Reacher on trigger-happy form in an action adventure which ramps up the violence and body count.

—— Sunday Mirror

Reacher is nigh-invincible here (and certainly smarter than his thuggish opponents), and the body count is even more prodigious than in earlier books, which is saying something. Still, it is dispatched with the author’s customary panache.

—— Barry Forshaw , i

The most spellbinding book I've read this year!

—— Ingrid Alexander, author of The New Girl

The plot is superb. Even if you've read Rebecca . . . you're still going to be glued to the pages . . . a cracking good read

—— The Bookbag

A compelling twisty, feminist tale

—— Patricia Nicol , Sunday Times

This evocative thriller really draws you in

—— Marie Warren , Heat

It’s as beautifully written as it is (re)plotted and the updating of characters is superb

—— Wendy Holden , Daily Mail

A brace of cutting-edge themes are threaded into the abrasive narrative . . . It is a combustible mix, but as in the earlier Blue Light Yokohama, the author has the full measure of his difficult material. With his vividly evoked Mexican and LA settings [he] delivers a pacey, page-turning thriller, but the underlying seriousness gives real texture. Iwata is a richly drawn, conflicted hero, and this is another savage journey into the dark heart of America

—— Barry Forshaw, Financial Times

Obregón keeps the unpredictable plot of Sins As Scarlet churning with myriad surprises that are grounded in believability

—— Mail Online

Ostensibly a suspense novel involving the abduction and murder of children, The Whisper Man is also a study of fatherhood. Alex North's writing is impeccable as he spins out his plot . . . At once painful and moving, this story feels both real and important

—— Literary Review

Alex North weaves a stunningly captivating narrative that's a nuanced and grounded exploration of father-son relationships. He strikes such a delicate balance that consistently elevates itself, he ultimately provides a master class in genre exploration. An incredible read

—— Joe and Anthony Russo, directors of the Avengers franchise

The Whisper Man is the most unsettling thriller I have read since Jo Nesbo's The Snowman. Much more than the sum of its parts, it is nightmarish and disturbing and, at the same time, a moving and life-affirming novel about fathers and sons, and grief, loss, and recovery

—— Alex Michaelides, author of the Sunday Times bestselling The Silent Patient

A novel about the dark places that are recognisably our own, The Whisper Man plays on our emotions as much as on our fears. A tremendous calling card for the brilliant Alex North.

—— Mick Herron

Fantastic. He writes beautifully, with a powerful understanding of the effects of loss and damage on the human psyche and a style that sweeps you into its grip and never lets go. I'm totally sold on Alex North

—— Alex Marwood, bestselling author of The Wicked Girls

A fine, chilling tale. Alex North paints a world that is so believable and at the same time utterly terrifying. The characters are beautifully rendered, and the tenderness of the central relationship between father and son deepened the sense of terror

—— James Oswald

Deliciously creepy and kept me up long after I'd turned the last page

—— Jenny Blackhurst

Utterly absorbing and intense, so deliciously creepy I think I held my breath for half the book. I couldn't walk away from this affecting story until it was done with me. Loved it!

—— Angela Clarke

Gripping, disturbing, and creepy as hell - The Whisper Man deserves to be a huge hit. Absorbing writing, characters that will live with you long after finishing, and guaranteed to show up in a nightmare or three. Heartbreaking and unsettling in equal measure, it's destined to be the book that will readers won't be able to forget

—— Luca Veste

Wonderfully dark, gently creepy and completely bloody heartbreaking. Alex North is a fantastic writer. The Whisper Man left me in pieces

—— Susi Holliday

A nerve-shredding emotional rollercoaster that'll keep you up late at night, whether you're still reading it or not. A compulsive read that's sure to give you nightmares

—— Ed James, bestselling author of The Hope That Kills

A phenomenal read. Terrifying and heartbreaking in equal measure and if it wasn't so hot I'd definitely be sleeping with the windows shut tonight! The Whisper Man will be the book everyone's talking about next summer, mark my words

—— Michelle Davies, author of Gone Astray

A riveting page turner! Dark and unsettling, this one creeps under your skin

—— J.D. Barker, author of The Fourth Monkey

One of the best crime novels I've read in ages. Alex North has crafted a book that manages to be thrilling, terrifying and genuinely moving.

—— Mason Cross, bestselling author of The Samaritan

There's a soft voice outside your window and it demands your attention. The Whisper Man is coming. In fact, he's already here. Get ready to be unnerved. This novel is thrilling

—— Brad Meltzer

The Whisper Man is a tour de force, utterly absorbing and brilliantly realised

—— Mel McGrath, bestselling author of Give Me The Child

The Whisper Man is a chilling, gripping read but also deeply moving. It's a novel that succeeds on all kinds of levels and deserves all the success that is no doubt coming it's way

—— William Ryan

No one does Dark with a Heart like Alex North and The Whisper Man delivers a sucker punch that stays with you. Beautifully crafted, chilling & emotional, this's going to be topping Books of the Year lists as soon as it's out

—— Sarah Hilary

I read The Whisper Man in one go, barely remembering to breathe. North writes brilliantly about the cruelties of life, great and small, and the terrors that afflict young children (not to mention their parents). Tender, terrifying and utterly compelling, The Whisper Man will haunt you to the final page and beyond.

—— Jane Casey

A creepy, serial killer-inflected thriller

—— i

More than just superbly creepy, this beautifully written thriller might just break your heart a little, too

—— Heat

With a tender theme about the complexity of father son relationships at its heart, this thriller is immaculately plotted, superbly written, and so good it deserves to be shouted about

—— The People

A psychological thriller that's both terrifying and heartbreaking - you won't want to miss this one

—— Woman's Weekly

[A] superb thriller... Readers will have a tough time putting down this truly unnerving tale, with its seemingly unexplainable elements and glimpses of broken and dangerous minds

—— Publishers Weekly

Extraordinarily well-written, deeply moving . . . The stories are deftly marshalled and interwoven by North with a mastery that would be astonishing were he a debut novelist

—— Irish Times

ALEX NORTH'S tightly plotted crime thriller presses all the right buttons for the genre

—— Press Association

Summer Books of 2019

—— Barry Forshaw, Financial Times

This exceptionally creepy thriller is also a touching portrait of a bereaved father and son learning to depend on each other

—— Morning Star

A debut that will disturb and intrigue in equal measure

—— Woman

A debut novel set to disturb and intrigue. Truly chilling

—— Woman's Own

As much an exploration of grief and of the father-son bond as it is a nerve-shredder, this is a good choice for Stephen King fans

—— Meath Chronicle

Hollywood has snapped up this psychological thriller - and no wonder

—— Sun

Standout thriller

—— Daily Express

Deliciously dark and twisty, this is a page-turner from start to finish

—— Connaught Telegraph

If you like a touch of Stephen King mixed with British crime, then this is for you . . . this is a spooky read, but also holds its own as a police procedural novel

—— People's Friend

This flawless thriller will touch your heart and live long in your memory

—— Daily Express

This flawless thriller lives long in the memory

—— Daily Mirror
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