Author:Robert Ferrigno
'Strange the things our fates pivoted on: a kid selling gum and candy, a hard charger in a hurry, and a beached spook with a bad attitude.'
The beached spook is Frank Thorpe, in limbo having recently left an off-the-books American Intelligence unit after an operation went down river. The 'hard charger' was a stranger whom Frank saw mow down a young kid selling sweets at the airport and keep going without so much as a backward glance.
Almost on a whim Frank decides to use all his skills and resources to give that stranger what they call in his trade ' a wake-up'. Not that Thorpe intends any permanent damage, just a little tap to get the hard charger's attention, to show him how quickly the storm clouds could roll in on his little world.
Unfortunately, the little 'wake-up' sets up a chain reaction which ends in far more serious ramifications than Frank could ever have anticipated. And as Thorpe tries to mend things he himself finds someone from his own past is out to give him a rather bigger 'wake-up'.
'Rapid, lurid and smartly put together'
—— Evening Standard'Exciting ... Unusually enthralling'
—— Chicago Sun-Times'Sharp, fast and slick. Ferrigno can read like Raymond Chandler on speed'
—— Kirkus ReviewsSemiautomatic is the real thing; Rob Reuland is a real writer
—— James Patterson'The wittiest of detective writers'
—— Daily MailDeath in the Stocks is that rare and refreshing thing - a clever problem stated, developed and finally solved in terms of character
—— The TimesMiss Heyer's characters act and speak with an ease that is as refreshing as it is rare in the ordinary mystery novel
—— Times Literary SupplementFirst-rate thriller, with the imperturbable Reacher meting out his brand of justice to the villains
—— Sunday TelegraphAn unflinching suspense thriller . . . Blindsighted is a promising debut, and Karin Slaughter is a novelist to watch
—— George P. PelecanosTerrifying...rarely have the mechanics of suspense been so efficiently utilised outside a Hitchcock movie
—— DAILY EXPRESSOriginal, moving and entertaining for adults as well as for older children
—— Julia Donaldson , Daily ExpressA deservedly acclaimed read.
—— Time Out London'Haddon's book is a peculiar thing - a kind of James Joyce for kids - but a genre-busting gem, nevertheless'
—— The Observer'Engaging, warm, humorous and poignant at the same time'
—— The Scotsman'This book is amazing . . . A must read'
—— Martina Evans , Irish Post