The Dead

There's only one way I'm ever getting out of this . . . Sooner or later I'm a dead man David Blake is back in Newcastle, running three cities, top boy. Life is sweet until his bent accountant is arrested for murder. The money man is nailed on for a life sentence until he puts five million pounds out of Blake's reach. Now Blake faces an agonising choice; fix the acquittal of a child killer or run out of the cash he needs to bankroll his empire. Meanwhile Serbian gangsters are slowly taking over his territory and a crazed Russian Oligarch wants to use Blake's drug supply line for his own ends. Back at home, the Police are closing in, determined to take David Blake off the streets of Newcastle forever, and Blake's girl Sarah is asking awkward questions about the death of her father that he really doesn't want to answer. As he fights for his life, David Blake slowly uncovers a shocking truth about his own past, turning over stones until he finally reveals a secret known only to The Dead.

Howard Linskey is the author of five novels published by No Exit Press, including the David Blake crime series, The Drop, The Damage and The Dead. Harry Potter producer, David Barron optioned a TV adaptation of The Drop, which was voted one of the Top Five Thrillers of the Year by The Times. The Damage was voted one of The Times' Top Summer Reads. He is also the author of two books set during WW2. Hunting the Hangman, is a historical thriller about the assassination of Reinhard Heydrich in Prague during WW2. His new novel Ungentlemanly Warfare features SOE agents Harry Walsh and Emma Stirling, as well as American OSS agent Sam Cooper. Howard is also the author of four books published by Penguin; including No Name Lane, Behind Dead Eyes, The Search and The Chosen Ones in a crime series set inthe north east of England, featuring DS Ian Bradshaw, with investigative journalists Tom Carney and Helen Norton. Originally from Ferryhill in County Durham, he now lives in Hertfordshire with his wife Alison and daughter Erin. howardlinskey.co.uk