Tense and suspense-filled thriller from the author of The Straw Men and The Lonely Dead.
Notorious serial killer the Upright Man has escaped from prison, and the FBI have no idea where to look for him. His brother, Ward Hopkins, suspects he may have been aided by the Straw Men, the shadowy organization founded on murder as a way of life that killed Ward’s parents.
But apart from his girlfriend Nina, a discredited FBI agent, the only other person who believes the Straw Men exist is John Zandt, a former homicide cop turned lone vigilante obsessed with tracking down the killers of his daughter, and now wanted for murder himself.
Ward’s brother was broken out for a reason. The Straw Men are planning something new and terrible. And only Ward, Nina and John stand against the Upright Man and his terrifying allies.
PRAISE FOR THE STRAW MEN BOOKS
‘Just when you think there’s nothing new under the sun in the world of the suspense novel, along comes one hell of a nasty spider call The Straw Men. It’s brilliantly written and scary as hell. Be the first on your block to stay up all night with this one; it’s a masterpiece, reminding us that even paranoids really do have enemies.’
— STEPHEN KING
‘A staggering, suspenseful journey through the darkness of American crime … succeeds in revitalising the serial killer novel with assured gusto… A new beginning for a major British writer, whose crime debut instantly moves him into the Thomas Harris division’
— THE GUARDIAN
‘Brilliantly plotted, stunningly written … I read this in one go … if this isn’t a hit, I’m a monkey’s uncle. And I don’t think I am’.
— INDEPENDANT ON SUNDAY
‘A absorbing mystery with a chilling denouement’
— SUNDAY TELEGRAPH
‘The Straw Men is a genuinely original thriller that combines the imagination and darkness of his previous work with bolts of nerve-screaming tension … Think “The X-files” meets “Hannibal”.’ — TIME OUT