LoveReading Says
Featured on The Book Show on Sky Arts on 6 May 2010.
Simon Kernick is fast becoming one of the top crime writers in Britain today and at Lovereading we have been fans for a long time. Here we have another gritty, fast paced, suspense-filled triumph. This one is going to have you up until the wee small hours eager to reach the dramatic climax. Highly recommended.
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About The Last 10 Seconds
The Undercover Cop - Having worked undercover the last ten years, Sean Egan is used to life on the edge. He's recently infiltrated one of London's most dangerous criminal gangs, and they've just informed him that they want him for a very special job: the daring abduction from police custody of a serial killer known as The Night Creeper.
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The Last 10 Seconds Synopsis
The Undercover Cop - Having worked undercover the last ten years, Sean Egan is used to life on the edge. He's recently infiltrated one of London's most dangerous criminal gangs, and they've just informed him that they want him for a very special job: the daring abduction from police custody of a serial killer known as The Night Creeper.
The Killer - Brutally violent yet highly intelligent, The Night Creeper has earned his reputation by torturing five young women to death. Arrested the previous night, he claims that he has a cast-iron alibi for one of the murders, and some highly important information that can prove his innocence - and implicates someone else.
The Policewoman Di - Tina Boyd has an instinct for trouble, and a past that continues to haunt her. She was the policewoman who charged The Night Creeper. Now he's been kidnapped, and it's Tina's task to find him. And find him fast, because it's clear that some very dangerous people want to silence him permanently.
A man, a woman and a sadistic killer. As they race towards a terrifying confrontation only one thing is certain: they're all going to have to fight very hard just to stay alive.
About This Edition
| ISBN: |
9780593062869 |
| Publication date: |
21st January 2010 |
| Author: |
Simon Kernick |
| Publisher: |
Bantam Press an imprint of Transworld Publishers Ltd |
| Format: |
Hardback |
| Primary Genre |
Thriller and Suspense
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| Other Genres: |
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| Recommendations: |
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About Simon Kernick
Simon Kernick was our Guest Editor in February 2010 - click here - to see the books that inspired his writing.
Simon Kernick is one of Britain's most exciting new thriller writers. He arrived on the scene with his highly acclaimed debut novel The Business of Dying, and his big breakthrough came with his novel Relentless which became the bestselling thriller of 2007. Simon's research is what makes his thrillers so authentic. He talks both on and off the record to members of Special Branch, the Anti-Terrorist Branch and the Serious and Organised Crime Agency, so he gets to hear first hand what actually happens in the dark and murky underbelly of UK crime.
Below is a Q&A with this author.
1. Does your writing ever scare you?
Maybe not my writing, but my vivid imagination does.
2. Are you a disciplined writer?
Yes, I think so. I tend to write five days a week and roughly between the hours of 9 and 5 (and longer if I’m behind). I don’t think you can wait for inspiration to take hold otherwise you could be waiting a hell of a long time! In the end, you have to treat it like a job, albeit one that’s great fun.
3. Who is your most recognised character? What/who was the inspiration behind that character?
I have two central characters in my books. One is Dennis Milne, my renegade cop from The Business of Dying and its two sequels, and the other is Tina Boyd. Dennis was an amalgamation of a few cops I knew at the time (although none of them were killers as far as I know!), and Tina was a minor character from the early books who just became more and more central to my plots. I’m not quite sure how that happened. It just did.
4. Where do you write?
Usually in a bedroom upstairs in my house facing out on the road and the trees beyond. It’s a relaxing view.
5. Which crime fiction related book, TV programme or film have had the most impact on you or your writing?
Get Carter (originally Jack’s Return Home) by Ted Lewis has always been a huge inspiration. It’s one of the best thrillers I’ve ever read. A real noir classic.
6. What is your favourite scene or line from any crime fiction book?
‘The right apartment was hard to find so they murdered the old lady.’ It’s the first line of ‘Don’t Say a Word’ by Andrew Klavan, a fantastic thriller that I’ve re-read twice, and that line’s been imprinted on my memory ever since I first picked up the book in a second hand bookshop in Tenerife in 1993.
7. Which non-fictional killer frightens you the most?
They all do, to a certain extent. It takes a certain darkness in the soul to be able to kill another human being.
8. What tip would you give any budding writers?
Be patient, don’t spend too much time worrying about editing until you reach the end of your story (the most important thing is always to get words down on a page), and develop a thick skin. You will face many rejections in your struggle to get published, but if you’re determined enough, and your work is good enough, you’ll get there in the end.
9. E-book or paper?
Still paper. I’m a bit of Luddite.
10. If you were a fictional character, how would you write your own death?
In a blaze of glory, gunning down the bad guys in a ferocious firefight before being caught from behind by a lucky shot!
11. …and what would your final meal be?
If I had time between all the shooting, I’d dine on a dozen oysters followed by a rib eye steak, lobster and French fries, ending with my Mum’s trifle. I think that lot would probably finish me off anyway…
Author photo © Johnny Ring
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