Doyle is back!

For any fans of Callum Doyle out there, I’m really pleased to report that book number three in the series – entitled ‘Marked’ – is done and dusted and will soon be available for purchase. Before I say any more, here’s what it looks like:

Nice, huh? Following my previous novels (it seems I’m now a ‘brand’), it has the usual motifs of the New York skyline and the shattered glass, but I really like the appearance of the young girl gazing out across the East River (Pan Macmillan had a fight on their hands to get that particular model’s image, but that’s another story...)

So why the girl, and why that title? Well, here’s the cover blurb:

“Her tattoo wasn’t just a mark for life; it marked her for death too.

In New York’s East Village a young girl is brutally raped, tortured and murdered. Detective Callum Doyle has seen the victim’s remains. He has visited the distraught family. Now he wants justice.

Doyle is convinced he knows who the killer is. The problem is he can’t prove it. And the more he pushes his prime suspect, the more he learns that the man is capable of pushing back in ways more devious and twisted than Doyle could ever have imagined.

Add to that the appearance of an old adversary who has a mission for Doyle and won’t take no for an answer, and soon Doyle finds himself at risk of losing everything he holds dear.

Including his life.

Marked is the blistering new crime thriller from the author of Pariah and The Helper.”

In this novel, good old Cal Doyle is really pushed to his limit. As it says in the blurb, his adversary is sick and twisted, but also extremely manipulative. It seems impossible that Doyle can win against this man, and his frustration even boils over into his family life, where things are not as harmonious as usual.

The book also sees the return of some characters from Pariah. Remember Paulson, the Internal Affairs cop? And the evil Bartok brothers? I’ll say no more...

There’s one other aspect of the novel I do want to mention here, however. One of the things it focuses on is the effects on the parents of one of the murder victims. Far from being minor players, as such characters often are, they are at the forefront. When I was writing their parts I found myself becoming increasingly in tune with their emotions and distress. I hope that translates onto the page.

When I received the copy edits for Marked, I noticed that the very last chapter contained no comments or annotations whatsoever. When I queried it, I was told that the copy editor got so caught up in the story that she forgot to put them in! I’m hoping that she’s not the only one who finds the story so involving.

The publication date for Marked is January 3, 2013 (alongside the appearance of the mass market paperback of The Helper), but it’s already available for pre-order on Amazon.