MARK BILLINGHAM

En los suburbios londinenses donde la violencia es fortuita y donde la lealtad se paga con sangre, cualquier cosa es posible. Durante una noche de lluvia, Theo Shirley, un chico de diecisiete años, dispara al coche de una mujer cumpliendo así con la ceremonia de iniciación para formar parte de una banda. Ella no muere, pero su coche se estrella contra una parada de autobuses, matando a un policía. La novia de éste, también policía, no acepta que su muerte haya sido un accidente. En su deseo por descubrir la verdad, llevará a cabo su propia investigación e irá descubriendo oscuros secretos que nos conducirán a un sorprendente giro final de la historia.

The DealTom Thorne is back in charge - but there's a terrifying price to pay. Stuart Nicklin, the most dangerous psychopath he has ever put behind bars, promises to reveal the whereabouts of a body he buried twenty-five years before. But only if Thorne agrees to escort him.The DangerUnable to refuse, Thorne gathers a team and travels to a remote Welsh island, at the mercy of the weather and cut off from the mainland. Thorne is determined to get the job done and return home before Nicklin can outwit them.The DeathsBut Nicklin knows this island well and has had time to plan ahead. Soon, new bodies are added to the old, and Thorne finds himself facing the toughest decision he has ever had to make...Tom Thorne returns in this utterly gripping, brilliantly plotted thriller. The Bones Beneath is Mark Billingham's most ambitious and accomplished work to date.

Luke Mullen, un adolescente, no ha vuelto a casa. Sus compañeros del colegio lo vieron por última vez subiendo a un coche con una mujer, y no está claro si se ha marchado voluntariamente o ha sido secuestrado. Hijo de un ex inspector de policía, Luke carece de antecedentes de absentismo escolar o mala conducta. Los policías que buscan al muchacho tienen la firme convicción de que se trata de un secuestro. Y saben que, cuanto más tiempo pase, más probabilidades hay de que Luke aparezca muerto. Y entonces su familia recibe una cinta de vídeo... El Inspector Tom Thorne, asignado con carácter especial a la Unidad de Secuestros, busca desesperadamente al muchacho, y de paso investiga a todos aquellos que podrían guardarle rencor a él o su familia, a partir de una lista elaborada por el padre de Luke, que como inspector jefe de la Policía había retirado de la circulación a numerosos criminales. Pero en esa lista falta un nombre: el de un delincuente que amenazó en público al padre de la víctima y que es el principal sospechoso de un asesinato sin resolver. Tom Thorne prontó se dará cuenta de que no puede permitirse el lujo de perder el tiempo, y que tendrá que excavar profundamente en el pasado, removiendo casos anteriores y episodios olvidados. Algunos secretos se ocultan tan fácilmente como un cuerpo, y aunque Luke Mullen sigue vivo, dejarse llevar por las evidencias y las suposiciones es la manera más fácil de hacer que acabe muerto y bajo tierra.

A rainy night in London. Shots are fired into a car which swerves on to the pavement, ploughing into a bus stop. It seems that a chilling gang initiation has cost an innocent victim their life. But the reality is far more sinister...One life is wiped out and three more are changed forever: the young man whose finger was on the trigger; an ageing gangster planning a deadly revenge, and the pregnant woman who struggles desperately to uncover the truth. Two weeks away from giving birth, how will she deal with a world where death is an occupational hazard? In a city where violence can be random or meticulously planned, where teenage gangs clash with career criminals and where loyalty is paid for in blood, anything is possible. Secrets are uncovered as fast as bodies, and the story's final twist is as breathtakingly surprising as they come.

Luke Mullen, sixteen-year-old son of a former high-ranking police officer, has disappeared, presumed kidnapped. While no-one quite dares to voice the fear that he could also be presumed dead, Detective Inspector Tom Thorne is brought in to beef up the squad dedicated to locating the missing boy. The first thing the team looks for is anyone with a grudge against Luke's father, a man who has put a lot of tough villains away in his time. A list quickly emerges, but Thorne discovers that ex-DCI Tony Mullen has omitted the name of the most obvious suspect: a man who'd once threatened him and his family and who, after serving time for his original crime, is now the main suspect in a murder which has been unsolved for four years. Is this a simple oversight, understandable considering the trauma of his son's disappearance? Or is it something more telling? Aware that he hasn't the luxury of time, Thorne searches desperately for connections and leads, but learns that secrets are as easily buried as bodies, and that assumptions are the enemies of truth.

The new Tom Thorne novel from Britain's fastest selling crime writerThe first message sent to Tom Thorne's mobile phone was just a picture - the blurred image of a man's face, but Thorne had seen enough dead bodies in his time to know that the man was no longer alive. But who was he? Who sent the photograph? And why? While the technical experts attempt to trace the sender, Thorne searches the daily police bulletins for a reported death that matches the photograph. Then another picture arrives. Another dead man... It is the identities of the murdered men which give Thorne his first clue, a link to a dangerous killer he'd put away years before and who is still in prison. With a chilling talent for manipulation, this man has led another inmate to plot revenge on everyone he blames for his current incarceration, and for the murder of his family while he was inside. Newly released, this convict has no fear of the police, no feelings for those he is compelled to murder. Now Tom Thorne must face one of the toughest challenges of his career, knowing that there is no killer more dangerous than one who has nothing left to lose.

El inspector Tom Thorne ha visto muchos cadáveres en su vida. Pero cuando empieza a recibir en el teléfono móvil las macabras fotos de una serie de personas asesinadas, no tarda en darse cuenta de que tal vez elsiguiente cadaver sea el suyo. Incluso tras localizar al hombre que esta mandando las fotos, la amenaza no desaparece. Para algunos el caso esta practicamente cerrado, aunque la pesadilla de Thorne no ha hecho mas que empezar.El inspector Tom Thorne ha visto muchos cadáveres en su vida. Pero cuando empieza a recibir en el teléfono móvil las macabras fotos de una serie de personas asesinadas, no tarda en darse cuenta de que tal vez elsiguiente cadaver sea el suyo. Incluso tras localizar al hombre que esta mandando las fotos, la amenaza no desaparece. Para algunos el caso esta practicamente cerrado, aunque la pesadilla de Thorne no ha hecho mas que empezar.

X marks the spot - and when that spot is a corpse's naked back and the x is carved in blood, DI Tom Thorne is in no doubt that the dead man is the latest victim of a particularly vicious contract killer. It's morbid and mess -- but it's a mystery with plenty of clues. This is a turf warfare between North London gangs. Organised crime boss Billy Ryan is moving into someone else's patch, and that someone is not best pleased. Thorne's already got plenty on his plate when he agrees to help out ex-DCI Carol Chamberlain, frantically raking through the askes of an old case that has come back to haunt her. When schoolgirl Jessica Clarke was turned into a human torch twenty years ago, it made horrivic headlines. But now there's something worrying in the small print: Gordon Rooker, the man Carol put away for the crime, is up for possible release, and it seems there's a copycat at large. Or perhaps it's someone trying to 'right' a few wrongs. For Jessica Clarke was the victim of mistaken identity. The intended target was the daughter of a gangland boss, a woman who would later grow up and marry a man named Billy Ryan...

Years after they'd committed their crimes and served their sentences, rapists are turning up dead in hotel rooms. Some people might believe the killings have a positive effect on re-offending rates, but Detective Inspector Thorne knows he has to track down the murderer. Someone - a woman or somebody pretending to be a woman - is writing to convicted rapists in prison, befriending them and then brutally killing them when they are released. DI Tom Thorne must discover the link between these killings and a murder/suicide that took place twenty-five years before ; a tragedy to which the only witnesses were two small children, now adults and nowhere to be found... How can you escape a past that will do a lot more than just catch up with you? And how can Thorne catch a killer, when he doesn't really care about the victims?

The fifth DI Tom Thorne novel from Britain's hottest new talent, set in the heart of London. Synopsis: To his friends, his foes and even to himself it looks as though Tom Thorne's career is on the skids. On his last case he had seriously over-stepped the mark, and now gardening leave has been suggested and all he has to tend is a window box. So when it appears someone is targeting London's homeless community it seems pefectly natural for Thorne to take a step nearer to the gutter and go undercover amongst them. He blends into the sometimes invisble community easily - too easily perhaps - but the information he gleans quickly proves that this is no random killer, it is someone with a very distinct purpose and a very specific list of victims, only the team supporting Thorne from the outside don't have the key to motive or identity. Then somehow the fact that a policeman is working under cover becomes public knowledge ...With acute observation of character and place, combined with his acknowledged mastery of plotting, LIFELESS raises the Thorne series to an even higher level.

The fashion in which Mark Billingham has climbed his way to the top of the British crime writing fraternity should cause no one any surprise. His secret is simple: Billingham's work is always utterly reliable, delivering gritty and authoritative crime fiction writing in which the sense of locale is always spot-on. Here, DI Tom Thorne is asked to help in the case of a teenage boy who has disappeared. He is the son of a oncehigh-ranking police officer , and Thorne's first endeavour is to ask the father, ex DCI-Mullen, to draw up a list of all those in his past who might have reason to hold a grudge. But then Thorne discovers that there is an omission from the list: a man who has made serious threats to Mullen and his family. And as Billingham's beleaguered hero strains every sinew to track down the boy before he is killed, he has to find out why his ex-police colleague has lied to him. As so often before with Billingham, it's the steady accumulation of disturbing detail that makes this novel so compelling. The author eschews easy thrills, and prefers to involve the reader at a more realistic pace. This is not to say that the book lacks excitement , but just that the tension is dispensed in a way that never seems meretricious.

The fourth D.I. Thorne novel from the bestselling author of SLEEPYHEAD, SCAREDY CAT and LAZY BONES, in which a 20-year-old turf war between London gangs threatens to ignite again.

Thorne is back, and bigger than ever. The Hostage Police officer Helen Weeks walks into her local newsagent's on her way to work. Little does she know that this simple daily ritual will change her life forever. It's the last place she expects to be met with violence, but as she waits innocently at the till, she comes face to face with a gunman. The Demand The crazed hostage-taker is desperate to know what really happened to his beloved son, who died a year before in youth custody. By holding a police officer at gunpoint, he will force the one man who knows more about the case than any other to re-investigate his son's death. That man is DI Tom Thorne. The Twist While Helen fights to stay alive and the body-count rises,Thorne must race against time if he is to bring a killer to justice and save a young mother's life.

Luke Mullen, un adolescente, no ha vuelto a casa. Sus compañeros del colegio lo vieron por última vez subiendo a un coche con una mujer, y no está claro si se ha marchado voluntariamente o ha sido secuestrado.Hijo de un ex inspector de policia, Luke carece de antecedentes de absentismo escolar o mala conducta. Los policias que buscan al muchacho tienen la firme conviccion de que se trata de un secuestro. Y saben que, cuanto mas tiempo pase, mas probabilidades hay de que Luke aparezca muerto.Y entonces su familia recibe una cinta de video...El Inspector Tom Thorne, asignado con caracter especial a la Unidad de Secuestros, busca desesperadamente al muchacho, y de paso investiga a todos aquellos que podrian guardarle rencor a el o su familia, a partir de una lista elaborada por el padre de Luke, que como inspector jefe de la Policia habia retirado de la circulacion a numerosos criminales. Pero en esa lista falta un nombre: el de un delincuente que amenazo en publico al padre de la victima y que es el principal sospechoso de un asesinato sin resolver.Tom Thorne pronto se dara cuenta de que no puede permitirse el lujo de perder el tiempo, y que tendra que excavar profundamente en el pasado, removiendo casos anteriores y episodios olvidados. Algunos secretos se ocultan tan facilmente como un cuerpo, y aunque Luke Mullen sigue vivo, dejarse llevar por las evidencias y las suposiciones es la manera mas facil de hacer que acabe muerto y bajo tierra.Luke Mullen, un adolescente, no ha vuelto a casa. Sus compañeros del colegio lo vieron por última vez subiendo a un coche con una mujer, y no está claro si se ha marchado voluntariamente o ha sido secuestrado.Hijo de un ex inspector de policia, Luke carece de antecedentes de absentismo escolar o mala conducta. Los policias que buscan al muchacho tienen la firme conviccion de que se trata de un secuestro. Y saben que, cuanto mas tiempo pase, mas probabilidades hay de que Luke aparezca muerto.Y entonces su familia recibe una cinta de video...El Inspector Tom Thorne, asignado con caracter especial a la Unidad de Secuestros, busca desesperadamente al muchacho, y de paso investiga a todos aquellos que podrian guardarle rencor a el o su familia, a partir de una lista elaborada por el padre de Luke, que como inspector jefe de la Policia habia retirado de la circulacion a numerosos criminales. Pero en esa lista falta un nombre: el de un delincuente que amenazo en publico al padre de la victima y que es el principal sospechoso de un asesinato sin resolver.Tom Thorne pronto se dara cuenta de que no puede permitirse el lujo de perder el tiempo, y que tendra que excavar profundamente en el pasado, removiendo casos anteriores y episodios olvidados. Algunos secretos se ocultan tan facilmente como un cuerpo, y aunque Luke Mullen sigue vivo, dejarse llevar por las evidencias y las suposiciones es la manera mas facil de hacer que acabe muerto y bajo tierra.

Alison Willetts sufre la desdicha de continuar con vida. Sobrevivió a una apoplejía, provocada deliberadamentepor una diestra manipulación sobre ciertos puntos sensibles de la cabeza y el cuello. Pue

To his friends, his foes and even to himself it looks as though Tom Thorne's career is on the skids. On his last case he had seriously over-stepped the mark, and now gardening leave has been suggested and all he has to tend is a window box. So when it appears someone is targeting London's homeless community it seems pefectly natural for Thorne to take a step nearer to the gutter and go undercover amongst them. He blends into the sometimes invisble community easily - too easily perhaps - but the information he gleans quickly proves that this is no random killer, it is someone with a very distinct purpose and a very specific list of victims, only the team supporting Thorne from the outside don't have the key to motive or identity. Then somehow the fact that a policeman is working under cover becomes public knowledge ...With acute observation of character and place, combined with his acknowledged mastery of plotting, LIFELESS raises the Thorne series to an even higher level.

It's rare for a young woman to die from a stroke and when three such deaths occur in short order it starts to look like an epidemic. Then a sharp pathologist notices traces of benzodiazepine in one of the victim's blood samples and just traceable damage to the ligaments in her neck, and their cause of death is changed from 'natural' to murder. The police aren't making much progress in their hunt for the killer until he appears to make a mistake: Alison Willetts is found alive and D.I. Tom Thorne believes the murderer has made a mistake, which ought to allow them to get on his tracks. But it was the others who were his mistakes: he doesn't want to take life, he just wants to put people into a state where they cannot move, cannot talk, cannot do anything but think. When Thorne, helped by the neurologist looking after Alison, starts to realise what he is up against he knows the case is not going to be solved by normal methods - before he can find out who did it he has to understand why he's doing it.