One of our Great Reads You May Have Missed in 2012.
A group of rowdy kids on a bus, things sound nasty, they turn on a black boy, chase him off, a stranger intervenes and two boys are injured. This absolutely brilliant crime tale is told in short sections by witnesses and the victims' families. I love her writing and intend to champion her to stardom for she really is one of the best of our new crime writers. She is the creator of the ITV series "Blue Murder" and has just written its prequel ("Dead To Me"), plus a couple of other diverse thrillers. You must seek her out.
On a winter's evening, a trio of unruly teenagers board a bus, ganging up on Luke Murray, hurling abuse and threatening to kill him. The bus is full but no one intervenes until Jason Barnes, a young student, challenges the gang. Luke seizes the chance to run off the bus, but he's followed.
Andrew Barnes is dragged from the shower by his wife Valerie: there's a fight in the front garden and Jason's trying to break it up. As Andrew rushes to help, the gang flees. Jason shouts for an ambulance for Luke, but it is he who will pay the ultimate price.
Split Second, Cath Staincliffe's insightful and moving novel, explores the impact of violent crime - is it ever right to look the other way?
'A book about courage and compromise, about how sometimes it's kinder and braver to lie. Stunning.' Anne Cleeves
'Modest, compassionate...a solid ingenious plotter with a sharp eye for domestic detail.' Literary Review
'Complex and satisfying.' The Sunday Times
'About as good as the British private eye novel gets.' Time Out
'An engrossing read.' Sunday Telegraph
Author
About Cath Staincliffe
Cath Staincliffe was our Guest Editor in July 2013 - click here - to see the books that inspired her writing.
Cath Staincliffe is an established novelist, radio playwright and the creator of ITV's hit series, Blue Murder, starring Caroline Quentin as DCI Janine Lewis. Cath’s books have been short-listed for the Crime Writers Association best first novel award and for the Dagger in the Library and selected as Le Masque de l’Année. Trio, a stand-alone novel moved away from crime to explore adoption and growing up in the 1960s, inspired by Cath’s own experience. Her latest book, The Kindest Thing, is a love story turned nightmare when a woman helps her husband die and is tried for murder. Cath lives in Manchester with her partner and their three children.
