Scaredy Cat - (Di Tom Thorne) by Mark Billingham (Paperback)

About the Book

Now, killing is a team sport.
It was a vicious, calculated murder. The killer selected his victim at London's Euston station, followed her home on the tube, strangled her to death in front of her child. At the same time, killed in the same way, a second body is discovered at the back of King's Cross station. It is a grisly coincidence that eerily echoes the murder of two other women, stabbed to death months before on the same day.
It is DI Tom Thorne who sees the link and comes to a horrifying conclusion. This is not a serial killer that the police are up against. This is two of them. Finding the body used to be the worst part of the job, but not any more. Now each time a body is found, Thorne must live with the knowledge that somewhere out there is a second victim, waiting to be discovered. But whilst the methods might be the same, the manner of the killings is strikingly different. Thorne comes to realise that he is hunting two very different killers. One is ruthless and in control, while his partner in crime is submissive, compliant, terrified.
Thorne must catch a man whose need to manipulate is as great as his need to kill, a man who will threaten those closest to Thorne himself, a man, who will show him that the ability to inspire terror, is the deadliest weapon of all...

Book Synopsis

"Billingham is one of the most consistently entertaining, insightful crime writers working today." -Gillian Flynn, author of Gone Girl

It's been twenty-five years since Tom Thorne last went to work wearing the "Queen's cloth" but now, having stepped out of line once too often, he's back in uniform. He's no longer a detective, and he hates it.

Still struggling to adjust, Thorne becomes convinced that a spate of suicides among the elderly in London are something more sinister. His concerns are dismissed by the Murder Squad he was once part of and he is forced to investigate alone.

Now, unable to trust anybody, Thorne risks losing those closest to him as well as endangering those being targeted by a killer unlike any he has hunted before. A man with nothing to lose and a growing list of victims. A man who appears to have the power to make people take their own lives.

Review Quotes

Praise for Scaredy Cat:

"A plethora of pleasures in these pages."--USA Today

"Like the best of British and American crime writing rolled up together and delivered with the kind of punch you don't see coming."--Lee Child

"Scaredy Cat is an incredibly satisfying and engaging thriller."--Karin Slaughter

"This is not a whodunit in the classic sense, and that makes it all the more intriguing."--Sukey Howard, Bookpage

"Mr. Billingham has created a story as frightening as it is riveting. Pushing the English police procedural to another level."--Dallas Morning News

"Heady psychological suspense runs through the hip, flawlessly plotted Scaredy Cat. Mark Billingham again creates a contemporary twilight zone that feels all too real."--Fort Lauderdale Sun-Sentinel

"Readers who like a powerful police procedural with strong characters, will want to read this superb tale. This is a winner."--Midwest Book Review

"With last year's auspicious thriller debut (Sleepyhead), Billingham has given himself a tough act to follow. But the return of London detective Tom Thorne is most welcome, and this novel is every bit as intense and creepy as the first."--Library Journal

"These are frightening and starkly graphic thrillers that you won't easily forget. Grade A."--Rocky Mountain News

"One of the best books of the year. Don't miss it."--Toronto Globe and Mail

"Billingham confirms his promise, and delivers an assured and shocking thriller."--The Guardian

"An incredibly dark, brilliant thriller."--London Evening Standard

"Billingham manipulates his readers as relentlessly as the murderer manipulates both his surrogate in crime, and the police."--The Scotsman

"Billingham has a chilling talent. Right up there with [England's] dark masters such as Ian Rankin and Val McDermid."--Daily Mirror

Praise for Mark Billingham:

"Billingham is a world-class crime writer and Tom Thorne is a wonderful creation. Rush to read these books."--Karin Slaughter

"Billingham is one of the most consistently entertaining, insightful crime writers working today."--Gillian Flynn

"Billingham's books are as compulsively readable as Michael Connelly's."--George Pelecanos

"Billingham is a world-class crime writer and Tom Thorne is a wonderful creation. Rush to read these books."--Karin Slaughter

"Mark Billingham is one of my favorite new writers."--Harlan Coben

"Morse, Rebus, and now Thorne. The next superstar detective is already with us--don't miss him."--Lee Child

About the Author

Mark Billingham is one of England's best known and top-selling crime writers. His most recent book was a #1 bestseller in the UK. He has twice won the Theakston's Old Peculier Award for Best Crime Novel, and has also won a Sherlock Award for the Best Detective created by a British writer. His novels Sleepyhead and Scaredy Cat were made into a hit TV series on Sky 1 starring David Morrissey as Thorne. Mark lives in North London with his wife and two children.