The Dead Beat (19 page)

High above Edinburgh, on the way home from a party with his girlfriend and his brother, Billy Blackmore accidentally hits a stranger.
 

In a panic, they drive off.
 

The next day Billy, a journalist, finds he has been assigned to cover the story for the local paper.

‘A great slice of noir.’
Ian Rankin
 

‘This noirish crime novel builds into something more substantial: an existential thriller where a man crumbles as he tries to scream the truth in a house of liars. Thus
Hit & Run
becomes a grisly parable for our times.’
Irvine Welsh
 

‘With this book‚ Doug Johnstone hits YOU and then HE runs‚ and you never catch him until the last word of the last sentence on the last page. Cracking stuff.’
Alan Glynn
‚ author of
Graveland
 

‘Fantastic: sparse and fast-paced but believable and emotionally satisfying. You feel you could be Billy – and you thank God you’re not. His best yet.’
Helen FitzGerald
‚ author of
The Cry

Four friends‚ spurred on by whisky-nut Adam‚ head for a weekend to a remote Scottish island‚ world famous for its single malts. They have a wallet full of cash‚ a stash of coke‚ and a serious thirst. Determined to have a good time and to relive their university years‚ they start making friends: young divorcee Molly, who Adam has a soft spot for, her little sister Ash, who has all sorts of problems, and Molly’s ex-husband Joe, a control freak who also happens to be the local police.
 

But events start to spiral out of control and soon they are thrown into a nightmare that gets worse at every turn . . .

‘It lulls the reader with the warm glow of a good dram on a winter’s night‚ then ambushes him with all the bitter nastiness of a brutal whisky hangover.’
Christopher Brookmyre
 

‘A hugely atmospheric thriller soaked in the spirit of life  . . . sip and savour.’
The Times
 

‘It is so well written . . . there is plenty of flesh and blood here‚ much of it splashing across the page.’
Scotsman

As we learn some of the painful secrets of Mark and Lauren’s past – not least that this isn’t the first time Lauren has disappeared – we see a father trying to care for his son‚ as he struggles with the mystery of what happened
to his wife . . .

‘A major discovery.’
Spinetingler
 

‘Excellent . . . sharp and moving.’
The Times
 

‘Calling to mind the best of Harlan Coben‚ Johnstone shows us how quickly an ordinary life can take one dark turn and nothing is ever the same again.’
Megan Abbott
‚ author of
Dare Me
and
The End of Everything
 

‘Deeply poignant and compelling . . . it’s hard to
take your eyes off the page.’
Daily Mail
‘Riveting from start to finish.’
The Skinny

Doug Johnstone (@doug_johnstone) is the author of five previous novels, most recently
Gone Again
(2013), described by Ian Rankin as ‘a fast paced thriller with a very human touch’. A freelance journalist‚ songwriter and musician‚ he also has a PhD in nuclear physics. He lives in Edinburgh.

www.dougjohnstone.wordpress.com

‘Calling to mind the best of Harlan Coben‚ Johnstone shows us how quickly an ordinary life can take one dark turn and nothing is ever the same again.’ Megan Abbott‚ author of
Dare Me
and
The End of Everything
 

‘Deeply poignant and compelling . . . it’s hard to take your eyes off the page.’
Daily Mail
 

‘Excellent . . . sharp and moving.’
The Times
 

‘A very honest book about love and loss.’
Independent on Sunday
 

‘Its strength lies in its portrayal of the minutiae of life while grief unfolds around it.’
Scotland on Sunday
 

‘As Johnstone takes his characters on a slow descent into hell‚ he deftly manipulates the reader’s emotions by creating a book of contrasts. A psychological thriller that is harrowing yet touching. Intimate yet explosive.’
Daily Record

First published in ebook in 2014
by Faber & Faber Ltd
Bloomsbury House
74–77 Great Russell Street
London
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Typeset by Faber & Faber Ltd

All rights reserved
© Doug Johnstone, 2014

‘I Just Wanna Get Along’ words and music by Kim Deal
© 1993. Reproduced by permission of EMI Music Publishing Ltd‚ London
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www.faber.co.uk
Cover: Design by Faber
Cover photograph © Giancarlo Liguori/Shutterstock; Ayal Ardon / Arcangel Images.

The right of Doug Johnstone to be identified as author of this work has been asserted in accordance with Section 77 of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988

This ebook is copyright material and must not be copied, reproduced, transferred, distributed, leased, licensed or publicly performed or used in any way except as specifically permitted in writing by the publishers, as allowed under the terms and conditions under which it was purchased or as strictly permitted by applicable copyright law. Any unauthorised distribution or use of this text may be a direct infringement of the author’s and publisher’s rights, and those responsible may be liable in law accordingly
 

ISBN
978–0–571–30887–3