Running Out of Road
Cath Staincliffe has been on the Constable list now for over a decade, producing a perfect work of crime fiction every year. Her trademark is to write about ordinary people in extraordinary situations, and the books are mainly set in the Manchester area (an area Cath knows so well), dealing with issues arising from inner city depravation and urban decay; focusing on people on the edges of society, lost, lonely and troubled, who have fallen through the cracks in everyday life.
But in her latest, Running out of Road, Cath takes us on a trip to the beautiful Derbyshire Peak District . . . and it transpires she does rural every bit as wonderfully as she does urban. Running out of Road is a real thriller, with a chaos of disparate people all thrown together and destined to meet up in an explosive situation at an isolated farmhouse in the middle of nowhere – but at which all their varying roads converge.
It’s gripping, exciting – and action packed! It is very different from Cath’s usual style and it’s just wonderful to see her doing something like this . . . and if staycations are here with us for the foreseeable future (they seem like our safest bet at the moment) then I’m up for visiting the Peak District with my black Lab as it is portrayed so gorgeously in the book – but hopefully under far more relaxing circumstances than the ones portrayed here!
Krystyna Green
A missing schoolgirl, a middle-aged recluse, an exploited teenager. Lives thrown into chaos and set on collision course. With the police in hot pursuit.
Scarlett is dancing in the school talent show tomorrow. Nana, who Scarlett lives with since Mum died, reckons Scarlett will be on Strictly at this rate. Except Scarlett doesn't make it home from school. She's abducted by a man she never imagined she'd see again. A man on the police's most wanted list. Her dad.
Ron has made a living as a house and pet sitter since quitting his career on the front line in the fire service. He's currently looking after a place deep in the Derbyshire Peaks. The solitude suits him. And managing animals is so much simpler than coping with other people.
Dylan's a 'cuckoo', dealing drugs on the county line, moving from nest to nest, picking out people who daren't say no. Keeping his head down, one step ahead of the law. So far. But now everything's falling apart.
DS Laura O'Neil is running on empty after nights dealing with her teething toddler. But Laura is driving the hunt for Scarlett and knows that every minute counts. Any delay, any mistake might cost Scarlett her life. A devastating prospect.
PC Ahmed Ali discovers a seriously injured man in a drug den and chases his suspected attacker across the hills. Ahmed is determined to bring him to justice. But fate has other plans in store.
A race against time, played out in the brooding wilderness, the limestone gorges and gritstone edges of the Peak District. Themes of escape and entrapment, of shifting loyalties and new alliances, of violence, fear and love, resilience, kindness and hope.
