At 8am the first shots are fired.
At 1pm, the police establish the gunman has a hostage.
By 5pm, a siege is underway.
At 9pm, DI Helen Birch walks, alone and unarmed, into an abandoned Borders farmhouse to negotiate with the killer.
One day. One woman. One chance to get everyone out alive.
The outstanding new novel from the highly acclaimed author of All the Hidden Truths and What You Pay For – both shortlisted for the CWA Golden Dagger.
A beautifully written and plotted police procedural from a rising star in the genre who has delivered a game-changing fourth book: ‘Claire Askew takes us away from the obvious plot and asks us tantalising questions … an absorbing, thought-provoking entry into crime fiction’ – The Times
(P) 2022 Hodder & Stoughton Limited
At 1pm, the police establish the gunman has a hostage.
By 5pm, a siege is underway.
At 9pm, DI Helen Birch walks, alone and unarmed, into an abandoned Borders farmhouse to negotiate with the killer.
One day. One woman. One chance to get everyone out alive.
The outstanding new novel from the highly acclaimed author of All the Hidden Truths and What You Pay For – both shortlisted for the CWA Golden Dagger.
A beautifully written and plotted police procedural from a rising star in the genre who has delivered a game-changing fourth book: ‘Claire Askew takes us away from the obvious plot and asks us tantalising questions … an absorbing, thought-provoking entry into crime fiction’ – The Times
(P) 2022 Hodder & Stoughton Limited
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Reviews
A breathless, real-time, 24-style thriller that combines nail-biting tension with boundless compassion
Tell Jack Bauer he's been supplanted . . . taut
Claire Askew is proving to be a master of the suspenseful police procedural
This 24-style thriller is filled with nail-biting tension
This nail-biter keeps up a rollicking pace - this is one you're likely to devour in one sitting
Tension-packed
Breathtaking
Nail-biting
An engrossing and thought provoking read
Very tense, sad and tragic, a thought provoking read
Phew, the electric tension in this nail-biting, clock-ticking, thriller almost blew my fuses! Tension reaches screaming point . . . unmissable!
The tension builds to genuinely frightening peaks . . . Enjoy the breathtaking thrill of the ride
A tense psychological thriller
Askew has delivered a peak-page turner and fans of crime-fiction will be left with a cliffhanger ending and a pronounced desire to learn where DI Birch turns up next
Askew displays pitch-perfect understanding of tone and cadence . . . breathtaking thrill
