The Death List

Writer's block is nothing compared to the tale London-based novelist Matt Wells is now caught in. A chain of seemingly innocent e-mails from a devoted fan turns sinister when Matt discovers his correspondent is a cold-blooded killer with an agenda for murder.

This is the real thing, and soon Matt is plunged into a plot more twisted than any he could dream up for his novels. With each killing the man known as the White Devil tightens his grip by incriminating Matt at the murder scene. Cast not only as the victim but also the ghostwriter of the grisly story, Matt must risk everything to protect those he loves. But with the police closing in and Matt's friends being picked off, the White Devil is out there…plotting Matt's ultimate ending.

Matt Wells, once a best-selling novelist, is suffering from such a bad case of writer's block that he seizes on the smallest opportunity, such as checking his Web site for e-mails from fans, to convince himself he is still a writer. But when the e-mails from one of his most loyal readers suddenly turn threatening, Matt is plunged into a nightmare so bewildering that it could have come from the pages of the kind of novel he used to write. Why is the man who calls himself the White Devil committing gruesome crimes, and why is he leaving evidence at the scenes that links Matt to those crimes? Johnston tells a story that, though a good bit darker, will remind readers of James Grippando or even Donald Westlake in his serious mode (think The Hook). Very gripping, very frightening stuff. David Pitt
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"'The plotting is paranoid, the action is authentic, the characters are convincing, and the denouement is devastating.' Quintin Jardine 'The Death List is white-knuckle stuff...' Mark Billingham 'A thrilling, blackly funny read.' John Connolly"