Maps of Hell Synopsis
Crime writer Matt Wells could never have conjured a plot this twisted. A secretive militia running brainwashing experiments in a remote location have made him a subject. He knows they have been feeding him instructions, but why? Taunted by maddening snatches of a life he can't trust as his own - including memories of a woman he feels he should remember - Matt's accused of three gruesome murders. On the run from his kidnappers and the law, Matt must piece everything together - before it's too late.
About This Edition
Paul Johnston Press Reviews
'Johnston writes with horrifying power.' The Times
'Johnston does an expert job... Great stuff.' - Guardian
'Blood, gore and ingenious twists... I loved it.' - Kate Atkinson
About Paul Johnston
Paul Johnston is one of the UK's most highly regarded and exciting crime writers. He rocketed onto the scene with his debut novel, Body Politic, which won the Crime Writers' Association John Creasey Memorial Dagger for best first novel in 1997. Set in a futuristic Edinburgh run by a supposedly benevolent totalitarian regime, it introduced the maverick investigator Quintilian Dalrymple. A further four novels (forming a quintet, by design, oh yes) consolidated Quint's position in contemporary crime fiction's Premier League of engaging and unusual heroes. Body Politic has recently been optioned for film/ TV, and Paul is working on a new edition to celebrate the book's tenth anniversary. Quint's adventures have been published across the globe, from the USA, to Greece, to Japan, to Denmark, and points between.
Paul was born in Edinburgh in 1957. He lived there before going to Oxford to study ancient and modern Greek. He has a longstanding relationship with Greece - its language, its history and its culture - and spends much of his time there. He has a Greek wife, Roula; their daughter Maggie was born in 2006. Paul also has a nineteen-year-old daughter, Silje, from his previous marriage. His knowledge of Greece and its people led to a trilogy of novels featuring another cult detective, the half-Greek, half-Scottish Alex Mavros - they are A Deeper Shade of Blue, The Last Red Death (winner of the Sherlock Award for Best Detective Novel, 2004) and The Golden Silence. They were all critically acclaimed. The Golden Silence is currently being developed as a film in Greece.
Maxim Jakubowski's view on Paul Johnston...
His early Quintin Dalrymple thrillers were set in a near future Edinburgh, but his Alex Mavros trilogy, of which THE GOLDEN SILENCE is the 3rd, occurs in the Greek islands and Athens where the driven half Scots half Greek amateur investigator is drawn into local cases often linked to his own past. Colourful and frantic, a plunge into the dark side of paradise.
Alex Mavros series:
1. Crying Blue Murder
2. The Last Red Death
3. The Golden Silence
More About Paul Johnston
