The world is counting down to the millennium - and to disaster. When a child's body is found on a remote island east of London, journalist Jonny Murphy is sent to investigate. What he uncovers is more than a tragedy. It's a warning. Something catastrophic is coming ... and Jonny might be the only one who can stop it.
`A propulsive, atmospheric thriller that ratchets up the tension with every page TM Logan
`Sultoon parcels out the revelations slowly ... her story builds to a cleverly wrought and suspenseful climax as the new year approaches Sunday Times
`A powerhouse writer Jo Spain
`Cleverly layered and beautifully atmospheric ... Sarah Sultoon has become an auto-buy author for me Kia Abdullah
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They feared the machines.
They should have feared the people...
London, Christmas 1999. The world is on edge. With the new millennium just days away, fears of the Millennium Bug are spiralling - warnings of computer failures, market crashes, even global catastrophe. But fifty miles east, on the frozen Blackwater Island, a different kind of mystery unfolds. A child's body is discovered on the bracken, untouched by footprints, with no sign of how he died. And no one has come forward to claim him.
At the International Tribune, reporter Jonny Murphy senses something is off. Police are appealing for relatives, not suspects. An anonymous call led officers to the scene, but no one knows who made it. While the world fixates on a digital apocalypse, Jonny sees the real disaster unfolding closer to home. With just twenty-hour hours before the century turns, he heads to Blackwater - driven by curiosity, desperation, and the sting of rejection from his colleague Paloma.
But Blackwater has secrets buried deep in the frozen ground. More victims - some dead, others still paying for past sins. And when Paloma catches up to him, they stumble onto something far bigger than either of them imagined. Something that could change everything. The millennium is coming. The clock is ticking. Can Jonny stop it? Should he?
And what if Y2K wasn't a hoax, but a warning...?
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`Propulsive characters and a simmering mystery explode into a race against time ... it had me gripped Rod Reynolds
`The clock ticks down towards a fantastic payoff ... Abandoned islands, thrilling chases, investigative journalists - what more could you want? Holly Watts
`Atmospheric, tense and all the more shocking for mirroring real state crimes Eve Smith
`Authenticity that demands your attention Will Carver
`A distinctively chilling roller-coaster Peter Hain
`Readers who love mysteries, bleak landscapes and a lingering sense of dread will enjoy this, and the author's notes may haunt yoü Mature Times
`A thrilling, tightly plotted, and important read Michael J Malone
Praise for Sarah Sultoon
**Longlisted for the John Creasey (New Blood) Dagger**
**WINNER of the Crime Fiction Lover Debut Thriller Award**
Autorentext
Sarah Sultoon is a journalist and writer, whose work as an international news executive at CNN has taken her all over the world, from the seats of power in both Westminster and Washington to the frontlines of Iraq and Afghanistan. She has extensive experience in conflict zones, winning three Peabody awards for her work on the war in Syria, an Emmy for her contribution to the coverage of Europe's migrant crisis in 2015, and a number of Royal Television Society gongs. When not reading or writing she can usually be found somewhere outside, either running, swimming or throwing a ball for her three children and dog while she imagines what might happen if... Her debut thriller The Source is currently in production with Lime Pictures, and was a Capital Crime Book Club pick and a number one bestseller on Kindle. The Shot (2022) and Dirt (2023) followed, with Death Flight due to be published in 2024.