"If you love psychological thrillers, you must buy this book!" – US Top Book Reviewer

A criminal genius. A comedian on the edge. A secret that should have stayed buried...

Nick's life is about to change, and not for the better.

After his comedy and acting agent lands him a film role, Nick meets with a prisoner to help get into character.

Enter Gideon Matthias, who explodes into Nick's life like a nuclear bomb.

Gideon is a criminal genius with an almost superhuman gift of perception. A man who beats other inmates to death while describing the emotions they're feeling.

The first meeting changes everything for the two men – for very different reasons - and Nick finds himself drawn into Gideon's chaotic world.

As Nick battles his inner demons and tries to get his life on track, Gideon contends against his own enemies inside the prison – one of which he's crossed too many times.

He may be a criminal genius, but even a genius can bleed. And so can his new friend.

The lives of Nick and Gideon are on a collision course, and there's only one way out for them both...

What reviewers are saying:

"Touches on philosophy, psychology and mental health, as well as being an excellent crime thriller."

"Nick is the most sarcastic character since Myron Bolitar from Harlan Coben's books!"

"Would definitely recommend this one... a nice change from the usual 'cat and mouse' type crime fiction."

Author Q and A

Where did the idea come from?

This idea for this psychological thriller actually came out of something that happened while I was – appropriately enough - studying psychology.

During a cognitive psychology lecture, the tutor was describing optical illusions and explained that even though we know how the illusions work, we will always fall victim of them. It doesn't matter how much knowledge we have or how many times we see the same picture, we will always be fooled.

So that's the central premise of the novel - that we're all victims of our own minds. (With a bit of murder and intrigue thrown in, obviously...)

Who would like this book?

I'm tempted to just say 'everybody who loves bestselling, compelling, incredibly well-written, and amazingly good books!' but that may be going a bit far...

So I'll just say anybody who likes suspense and mysteries, and who also enjoys the psychological aspects of crime and what makes criminals tick. The main character has been likened by a reviewer to Myron Bolitar (from the books of Harlan Coben), and the main criminal was likened to Hannibal Lecter crossed with Charles Bronson – so I guess if you're fans of them, you'll probably like this too.