FROM THE SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLING AUTHOR OF SNAP

'Extraordinarily powerful and evocative . . . will leave you breathless.' Daily Mirror

VOTED CRIME NOVEL OF THE YEAR when it was first released, and still the most gripping, powerful thriller debut you will read this year.

___

Steven Lamb is 12 when he writes his first letter . . . to a serial killer

Every day after school, whilst his classmates swap football stickers, twelve-year-old Steven digs holes on Exmoor, hoping to find a body. His uncle disappeared aged eleven and is assumed to have fallen victim to the notorious serial killer Arnold Avery - but his body has never been found.

Steven's Nan does not believe her son is dead. She still waits for him to come home, standing bitter guard at the front window while her family fragments around her. Steven is determined to heal the widening cracks between them before it's too late - even if that means presenting his grandmother with the bones of her murdered son.

But when Steven realises this is an impossible task, he crafts a careful letter to Arnold Avery in prison. And there begins a dangerous cat-and-mouse game between a desperate child and a bored psychopath . . .

Readers love Blacklands:

'A dark, gripping story . . . full of tension' *****
'A truly chilling and disturbing read' *****
'An intelligent crime thriller that seeps with atmosphere' *****

*Belinda Bauer's pulse-pounding new thriller, EXIT, is out now*

CWA GOLD DAGGER WINNER FOR BEST CRIME NOVEL OF 2010! A chilling psychological debut, Blacklands introduces an extraordinary new author reminiscent of the best of Minette Walters and Barbara Vine.

About the Author
Belinda Bauer grew up in England and South Africa and now lives in Wales. She worked as a journalist and a screenwriter before finally writing a book to appease her nagging mother. For her debut, Blacklands, Belinda was awarded the CWA Gold Dagger for Crime Novel of the Year. She went on to win the CWA Dagger in the Library for her body of work. Her fourth novel, Rubbernecker, was voted Theakston Old Peculier Crime Novel of the Year. Her eighth novel, Snap, was a Sunday Times bestseller. It was longlisted for the Man Booker prize and voted Crime & Thriller Book of the Year at the Specsavers National Book Awards. Her books have been translated into twenty-five languages.

Reviews
[Belinda Bauer] is such an interesting writer - a restless intelligence that always goes its own way, but always comes up with something that feels both surprising but inevitable. * Lee Child *
Extraordinarily powerful and provocative... will leave you breathless * Daily Mirror *
An excellent first novel, with a highly original plot * The Times *
A very special debut thriller, and a clear-eyed depiction of ordinary people under extraordinary stress. This is something quite new -- ANN CLEEVES, bestselling author of the Vera and Shetland novels
A psychological tour-de-force about the cruelty of hope and, ultimately, the triumph of innocence * Guardian *


Awards
Winner of CWA Gold Dagger for Fiction 2010.



Book Information
ISBN 9780552158848
Author Belinda Bauer
Format Paperback
Page Count 368
Imprint Corgi Books
Publisher Transworld Publishers Ltd
Weight(grams) 251g
Dimensions(mm) 198mm * 127mm * 22mm