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Sophisticated, dark, its pages seeping with menace, this stand-alone thriller by the bestselling author of the David Hunter series has been revised and updated for today´s readers.

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Some moments burn in the mind for ever. The landing is dark. Light comes from a window at the far end, enough to run by. Breath comes hard. From the stairs sound heavy footfalls in pursuit. The landing ends in a last doorway. There is no more running, only the need to hide...

Imagine not knowing the father of your child. Not knowing his name. What he looks like. Or what sort of person he is. Although she is desperate for a baby, that is something that Kate Powell cannot accept. Single, independent, she likes to be in control of her own life - even if it has, somehow, become strangely shallow and meaningless.

Then Kate meets a man who seems to be the answer to all her problems. But we all know appearances can be dangerously deceptive. And Kate should too. Soon her life is out her hands. And out of control...

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"Brilliant. One of the best novels I´ve read in years" MARTINA COLE

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Simon Beckett is the No.1 international bestselling author of the David Hunter series: The Chemistry of
Death, Written in Bone, Whispers of the Dead, The Calling of the Grave, The Restless Dead and The Scent of Death. His books have been translated into 29 languages, appeared in the Sunday Times top 10 bestseller lists and sold over 10 million copies worldwide. A former freelance journalist, he has written for The Times, Daily Telegraph, Independent on Sunday and Observer. The inspiration for the first David Hunter novel came after a visit to the world-renowned Body Farm in Tennessee introduced him to the work of forensic anthropologists.
Joint-winner (with Arne Dahl) of Europe´s largest crime fiction prize - the Ripper Award 2018/19 - he has also won the Raymond Chandler Society´s Marlowe Award and been short-listed for the CWA Gold Dagger, CWA Dagger in the Library and Theakston´s Crime Novel of the Year awards. He is
also the author of several stand-alone novels including Stone Bruises and Where There´s Smoke. Simon Beckett lives in Sheffield.

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