The Scribbler, Iain Maitland [inspirational books TXT] 📗

the two of them to start a new life together. His goal is to snatch the three-year-old – a diabetic who needs insulin to stay alive – and run away to France … but first he must find the boy, evade his foster family and stay well clear of the police, already in pursuit.

A real page-turner cut through with pitch-black humour, Sweet William zeroes in on a potent mix: mental illness, a foster family under pressure, and an aggrieved father separated from his precious child. The result is a breathtakingly dark thriller that spans forty-eight hours in the life of a desperate father and a three-year-old child in peril. Brilliant and terrifying, this is a debut novel that will stay with its readers long after they finish turning the pages.

“Extremely well written and very frightening.” Barbara Nadel

“A breathless journey through fear and love that explores how interdependent those two extreme emotions are.” Ewan Morrison

Behind the door of a normal house, in a normal street, two men are slowly driving each other insane. One of them is a psychopath.

the father…

Mr Todd is at his wits’ end. He’s been robbed of his job as a tax inspector and is now stuck at home… with him. Frustrated. Lonely. Angry. Really angry.

the son…

Adrian has no job, no friends. He’s at home all day, obsessively chopping vegetables and tap-tap-tapping on his computer. And he’s getting worse, disappearing for hours at a time, sneaking off to who-knows-where?

the unholy spirit…

In the safety of suburbia, one man has developed a taste for killing. And he’ll kill again.

“Truly scary … a fantastic book.” Barbara Nadel

“Phenomenally dark and utterly compelling.” Chris Dolan

Also by Iain Maitland:

Mr Todd’s Reckoning

Sweet William

Out of the Madhouse (with Michael Maitland)

Dear Michael, Love Dad

Copyright

Contraband is an imprint of Saraband

Published by Saraband

Digital World Centre

1 Lowry Plaza, The Quays

Salford, M50 3UB

www.saraband.net

Copyright © Iain Maitland 2020

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without first obtaining the written permission of the copyright owner.

ISBN: 9781912235803

ebook: 9781912235810

Printed and bound in Great Britain by Clays Ltd, Elcograf S.p.A.

10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

This is a work of fiction.

All characters are a product of the author’s imagination.