Product Description

John Meron, a happily married father of two who's never been in trouble, receives a phone call that will change his life for ever: his friend Jack Calley, a high-flying City lawyer, is screaming down the phone for help. As Meron listens, Calley is murdered. His last words, spoken to his killer, are the first two lines of Meron's address. Confused and terrified, Meron scoops up his children and hurries out of the house. Just in time. Within minutes, a car pulls up outside, and three men get out. It's clear that they're coming for him. He's being hunted and has no idea why. And with his wife missing, an unidentified corpse in her office, and the police after him for murder, his life's about to get one hell of a lot worse.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #4095 in Books
• Published on: 2007-05-21
• Original language: English
• Binding: Mass Market Paperback
• 464 pages

From the Inside Flap
There’s only one truth left in your world. They want you.
And they want you dead.

Tom Meron, a happily married father of two who’s never been in trouble, receives a phone call that will change his life for ever: his friend Jack Calley, a high-flying City lawyer, is screaming down the phone for help. As Meron listens, Calley is murdered. His last words, spoken to his killer, are the first two lines of Meron’s address.

Confused and terrified, Meron scoops up his children and hurries out of the house.

Within minutes, a car pulls up outside, and three men get out. It’s clear that they’re coming for him. He’s being hunted and has no idea why.

And with his wife missing, an unidentified corpse in her office, and the police after him for murder, Meron’s life’s about to get one hell of a lot worse.

Relentless - a novel so gripping and compulsive that it demands to be read in a single sitting. Don’t expect to put it down unscathed.

From the Back Cover
3 o’clock. It’s a normal Saturday afternoon. You’re with the kids in the garden when the phone rings.

It’s your best friend from school, the best man at your wedding. Someone you haven’t seen for a few years. It should be a friendly call making arrangements to see each other again, catching up on old times.

But it’s not.

This call is different. Your friend is speaking quickly, panting with fear, his breaths coming in tortured, ragged gasps. It is clear that someone is inflicting terrible pain on him.

He cries out and then utters six words that will change your life forever…the first two lines of your address.

What do you do?Do you run or do you hide?

RELENTLESS

‘The pace is breakneck, the plot twists like a hooked eel … The sort of book that forces you to read so fastyou stumble over the words’ Evening Standard

About the Author
Simon Kernick is in his thirties, and lives with his wife and two young children near London. His previous novels, The Business of Dying, The Murder Exchange, The Crime Trade and A Good Day to Die are published as Corgi paperbacks. The research for Simon Kernick's novels is what makes them so authentic. His extensive list of contacts in the police force has been built up over more than a decade. It includes long serving officers in Special Branch, the National Crime Squad (now SOCA), and the Anti-Terrorist Branch, all of whom have plenty of tales to tell.

Customer Reviews

Gripping and addictive.
Having read the reviews; I was in two minds whether to buy this, having bought countless books of this ilk and been disappointed at the predictability of them. This book however is not one of those. I found it one of the best fiction books I have read for years, it keeps you hooked from the first page and as it says on the cover the story is `relentless'. Yes, of course it may be slightly unbelievable to some, (not in my opinion) but then it is fiction and therefore is supposed to excite the imagination.

If you want a good entertaining bit of escapism, with a plot that keeps you guessing, then this book is for you.

Really enjoyable
This is just my sort of book. Non stop entertainment. There's lots of tension and its hard to put down as the twists and turns just keep on coming. It would be easy to pick fault with certain aspects if you really wanted to. But let's face it, if he called the police at the start as one reviewer suggested, then you wouldn't have a very interesting book would you?

Great action, lots of tension, and most importantly, really enjoyable.

Glad I came across Simon Kernick
I only came across Simon Kernick as a writer when I had the good fortune of having my latest book Full Story Inside compared in style within a US review. Intrigued I looked up his books and was drawn straight away by the Relentless back cover synopsis, which provides an excellent hook in dragging you into wanting to know how a single phone call changed the central character's life in an instant. The book itself does not mess about with a prologue and it is the phone call that immediately starts the highly charged roller-coaster ride. I love the way Kernick utilises the 1st person narrative of the principal character (Tom Meron), which skilfully captures his mind-blowing journey of escaping would-be assassins and the Law, whilst stubbornly wanting to protect his family ideal despite learning the true undercurrent to his previous mundane domestic life. As Meron states, people often wake up wishing their lives could be better but rarely just think that it could actually be a lot worse. The contrast to Meron's bird's eye view is offered with a 3rd person narrative following D I Bolt (from the National Crime Squad) as he pieces together the truth behind all the unusual events - Bolt's job is his only means of existence after a major tragedy and so like Meron he too lives the case 24/7.

There are numerous unexpected twists and turns in the fast paced and dramatic narrative that maintain a constant interest through short sharp chapters. A very powerful book and I feel very flattered by the comparison. Looking forward to reading Kernick's other books now.