It seems that I am now - officially - a killer!

Yes indeed, I am now – officially – a killer!

Okay, first of all that intro (not to mention the headline) is a little bit misleading. I am NOT an actual killer. But apparently I AM a ‘Killer Read’.

That’s right. And how proud am I to be able to say this?

I’ve been slaying them for years. Or at least that’s what I’ve been trying to do. Not just characters in my books and stories, but my readers, who it’s always been my ambition to put through an absolute wringer. I’ve never really wanted anyone to put a book of mine down, sit back and say: “Wow, what a satisfying read that was. How uplifted I feel.”

I want them to be a nervous wreck. I want them to lurch for the nearest bottle of brandy.

And now it’s all official. But don’t take my word for it. Pop over onto the HarperCollins website, KILLER READS (check out the official logo below), where I now have my own monthly blog – to run parallel with this one, but concentrating mainly on my crime writing.

It’s a great honour, of course, to be asked to write this new blog. It will run in tandem with the marketing campaign for STALKERS, the first of a trilogy of very hardboiled crime thrillers that I’m writing for Avon Books at Harpers, which tell the collective tale of Scotland Yard’s elite Serial Crimes Unit, and one particular detective, whose pursuit of some of Britain’s most depraved killers takes on the dimensions of a full-blown war.

Between now and next summer, I’ll be using KILLER READS to evolve my thoughts and ideas with regard to this new series – much the way I do with this blog and my other written material. The first installment is really a brief introduction to who I am and what I do, though I talk a little bit about the coming novel as well.

Just to refresh, STALKERS will be the first in a trio of tales concerning Detective Sergeant Mark ‘Heck’ Heckenburg, already a battle-scarred street-veteran even though he’s only in his late 30s. Heck is an affable, even-tempered guy, but he knows every trick in the book and will stop at nothing in his battle for justice.

Heck knows better than anyone that you don’t get the job done by trying to heal ‘broken Britain’, understand the disenfranchised or apologise for living to the nation’s creeps and psychos. Heck is a law-officer: there’s a system and he respects it, but old habits die hard in the depths of our inner cities – for those on both sides of the fence – so correct protocols will not always be followed, nasty tricks will be played and lowlives will be leaned upon. As such, these books will be light on finicky procedural and heavy on action and suspense.

And again – don’t just take my word for it. If you get yourself over there to KILLER READS, there’s an online link to an extract from the first book in the series. But you may need to move quickly, as I’m not sure how long that link will be open for.

Of course, even if you’re not bothered about taking in this trailer, you can do me a favour by checking KILLER READS out every so often. If nothing else, it’ll help me shed more darkness into your world of light.