The Runner - by Scarlett Thomas (Hardcover)

Book Synopsis

From the acclaimed author of The End of Mr. Y comes a blend of dark humor, international crime, and romance in this literary thriller about a man fleeing a decades-old contract on his life--and the woman who may change everything.

He's running for his life. And he's running out of time.

Jay has been hunted since he was twenty years old. A contract on his life has been traded like a commodity, rising and falling with Bitcoin for decades. On the run once again with no passport and airmiles as his only currency, Jay will have to choose between love and survival, and run for his life.

While staying at an all-inclusive resort, surviving off of the points he accrued in a previous, more successful life, Jay meets Ellie, a beguiling fellow runner who may even be faster than he is, and is harboring secrets of her own. When an assassin appears poolside, Jay is on the run again, but this time with Ellie, as they find themselves on a catamaran helmed by a sinister and reckless crew.

The Runner is about high-finance, con artists, the Book of Jonah, ultramarathons, and how falling in love can change everything. Darkly funny, sexy, and exciting, Scarlett Thomas--author of the "work of gonzo genius" (The New York Times), The Sleepwalkers--transports readers from the sun-drenched roads of Cyprus to the rain slicked streets of Kent in this high-concept literary thriller.

Review Quotes

"Part thriller, part romantic suspense, Thomas's latest novel begins in Cyprus, where 34-year-old Jay is literally on the run from someone who wants to kill him... this quirky, exciting tale takes in exorcism, dictators, high finance, con artists and marathons along the way." --The Guardian

"Pure pleasure... The Runner is fantastically pacey stuff, with more twists and reversals than an extremely gnarly cross-country course." --The Times of London

About the Author

Scarlett Thomas was born in London. She is the author of highly acclaimed contemporary cult novels including The End of Mr. Y, which was longlisted for the Orange Broadband Prize for Fiction; Oligarchy; The Seed Collectors; PopCo; The Sleepwalkers; and the Worldquake series of middle grade books. Her novels have sold over half a million copies worldwide and been translated into twenty-six languages. Scarlett is professor of creative writing and contemporary fiction at the University of Kent. Find out more at ScarThomas.com.