Praise for Cry Baby:
“Superb . . . Billingham adds tantalizing red herrings throughout. The book’s masterly ending features a heart-stopping chase to apprehend Kieron’s surprising kidnapper. Established fans and newcomers alike will be thrilled.”—Publishers Weekly, starred review
“How much tighter can Billingham turn the screws before his climactic twist? . . . Expertly grueling.”—Kirkus Reviews
“Cry Baby is the perfect prequel to send us back to revel in Tom Thorne's twenty years. As if we needed reminding how good Mark Billingham is.”—Val McDermid
“Tom Thorne is one of the most credible and engaging heroes in contemporary crime fiction. Mark Billingham is a master of psychology, plotting and the contemporary scene-making the Thorne novels the complete package. Twenty years in and better than ever.”—Ian Rankin
Praise for Mark Billingham and the Tom Thorne novels:
“A fantastic thriller, combining a gripping plot and lead characters of remarkable depth…Readers who grab this one but aren’t familiar with its predecessors will be seeking them out. A series to savor.” —Booklist (starred review), on Their Little Secret
“The twisted plot unfolds gradually, with a maximum of suspense. Billingham never strains credulity in this thoughtful page-turner.”—Publishers Weekly (starred review), on Their Little Secret
“Morse, Rebus, and now Thorne. The next superstar detective is already with us—don’t miss him.”—Lee Child
“Billingham is a world-class writer and Tom Thorne is a wonderful creation. Rush to read these books.”—Karin Slaughter
“With each of his books, Mark Billingham gets better and better. These are stories and characters you don’t want to leave.”—Michael Connelly
“Mark Billingham has brought a rare and welcome blend of humanity, dimension, and excitement to the genre.”—George Pelecanos
2020-05-18
DI Tom Thorne’s 17th case, an agonizingly focused kidnapping, is a prequel to his first 16.
It's 1996. John Major maintains erratic control as prime minister, Britain prepares to host the national football (i.e., soccer) championships, and Maria Ashton takes her eyes off her 7-year-old son, Josh, and his best friend, Kieron Coyne, during the few minutes Catrin Coyne has left them to use the facilities in a London park. When she goes looking for the two boys, Kieron has vanished. His disappearance sets in motion the wheels of justice, or at least aspirational justice, in the form of DS Tom Thorne; his dislikable boss, DI Gordon Boyle; and the members of the Major Incident Pool. There’s no way Kieron could have been kidnapped by his father, Billy Coyne, who’s serving a sentence in Whitehill Prison for assault and attempted murder. In the absence of such an obvious target, the unsupported account of a single witness, housing project manager Felix Barratt, leads Thorne to suspect, and Boyle to more than suspect, Cat’s peculiar neighbor Grantleigh Figgis. By the time the alibi Figgis claims has been confirmed, he’s already been murdered, and so has Dean Meade, the smarmy store manager who turns out to be Kieron’s biological father. So who is the man who’s holding Kieron prisoner, and how much tighter can Billingham turn the screws before his climactic twist?
Not as original or unsparing as Their Little Secret (2019) but expertly grueling in its more conventional way.
