Book Of The Month November, 2010
The Last 10 SecondsSimon Kernick
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.
What We Think
‘Superlative reading and elegant construction can turn a plot that on page would have you chortling in disbelief, into a nail-biting listening experience. Simon Kernick’s The Last 10 Seconds begins with its murderous climax, then segues back 36 hours to explain how an undercover cop, Sean Egan, found himself bloodied and bowed, and how feisty DI Tina Bond came to be on hand to save him – for a while. A serial sex killer, corruption in politics and the police, and more twists and turns than a boa-constrictor on speed are delivered with racy East End conviction by the narrator Daniel Weyman.’ – Christina Hardyment, The Times