Manchester, 2002. The Commonwealth Games are coming to town and the city is alive with possibilities. Caught up in the commercial feeding frenzy is Tom Benwell, account manager at an advertising firm. The pressure is getting to Tom - too many deals to make and lies to tell, and the passion for his job is waning. Meanwhile his friend, DI Jon Spicer, is on the fast track, showing a commitment to the job that borders on obsession, or so his girlfriend Alice tells him. Then, in the aftermath of the Games, a series of brutal killings shatters the city's new found spirit. Jon Spicer gets the case. Each victim has been murdered in the same bizarre and grotesque manner, yet the lack of motive leaves the police utterly baffled. With the race on to catch the killer, both men find themselves caught up in a nightmare where the most innocent action can cost the highest price. In this nail-biting crime thriller, Chris Simms draws us into the shadows that lurk behind the city's shiny new exterior, then plunges us into the mind of a madman.
Chris Simms has worked in airports, nightclubs, post offices and telesales centres. Along with nominations for Crime Writer's Association Daggers and the Theakston's Crime Novel of the Year award, Chris has been selected by Waterstone's as one of their '25 authors for the future'.
Chris says he is drawn to books that give insights into unusual minds. The twisted desires of Frederick in John Fowles', The Collector, the tormented thoughts of Scobie in Graham Greene's Heart of the Matter, the violent urges of Francie in Patrick McCabe's Butcher Boy are all are books Chris states had an influence in shaping him as a writer. The idea for his debut novel, Outside the White Lines, came to him in the early hours of the morning while broken down on the hard shoulder of the M40.
His series of DI Spicer novels - psychological thrillers set very firmly in Manchester - follow the police detective's fortunes as he pursues mad, bad and deadly individuals through the city's ever-changing landscape.
