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FROM THE AUTHOR OF FALLING

 

A GRIPPING AND UNNERVING PSYCHOLOGICAL THRILLER BY A FORMER POLICE PSYCHOLOGIST

 

PERFECT FOR FANS OF NICCI FRENCH AND S J WATSON

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

hidden

 

Emma 

Kavanagh

 

To be published in hardback by Century, 

23rd April 2015, at £12.99

 

 

HE'S WATCHING

 

A gunman is stalking the wards of a local hospital. He's unidentified and dangerous, and has to be located. Urgently. 

 

Police Firearms Officer Aden McCarthy is tasked with tracking him down. Still troubled by the shooting of a schoolboy, Aden is determined to make amends by finding the gunman - before it's too late.

 

SHE'S WAITING

 

To psychologist Imogen, hospital should be a place of healing and safety - both for her, and her young niece who's been recently admitted. She's heard about the gunman, but he has little to do with her. Or has he?

 

As time ticks down, no one knows who the gunman's next target will be. But he's there. Hiding in plain sight. Far closer than anyone thinks...

 

 

PRAISE FOR FALLING

 

'A brilliant debut' 

Marie Claire

 

'We predict big things for Emma Kavanagh ... addictive' 

Good Housekeeping

 

'Kavanagh tells the story with great verve, weaving the strands of her story expertly' 

Daily Mail

 

'Dark, tense and convincing, this is a brilliantly executed and engrossing thriller. 

An extremely assured debut' 

Sunday Mirror

 

‘an up-all-night thriller, fuelled by grief, anger and infidelity’

Book of the Month, You Magazine, Mail on Sunday

 

‘swift-moving crime tale’

Independent on Sunday

 

A gripping psychological page-turner’ 

4 stars, Closer

 

‘A stark and dramatic thriller’ 

My Weekly

 

‘complex thriller from a former police psychologist, who knows her stuff’

Prima

 

‘separate strands are neatly woven into a gripping, credible human story’

Literary Review

 

‘Thoughtful, often dark and devastatingly honest ... Falling marks the arrival on the crime scene of a major new talent’ 

SHOTS Magazine

 

 

 

After graduating with a PhD in Psychology from Cardiff University, Emma Kavanagh spent seven years working as a police and military psychologist, training firearms officers, command staff and military personnel, throughout the UK and Europe, to deal with the most extreme situations. An expert in her field, she now applies her knowledge to her writing: creating realistic and incredibly tense stories. She lives in South Wales with her husband and two young sons.

 

 

FROM THE AUTHOR

The things they never tell you…

 

There are things you know as a wannabe author, there are things that everyone tells you. That it’s hard. That it’s really damn hard. Not the work (although there are days when the plotting makes me want to drive my own head into a brick wall), but merely getting to a point where you are justifiably allowed to describe yourself as an author. Now, I’ll admit, I’ve never been entirely sure exactly when that point is. I think for me it was when people stopped looking at me with sympathy mixed with impatience when I dared to use the terrifying word “author”. They threaten you with the horrors that is the publishing industry (they’re lovely - don’t believe a word of it!). They tell you that publishing is dead (it’s not!). 

 

Now, I’m going to tell you some of the things people often fail to mention. 

 

• It’s a game of two halves - either your inbox will be bouncing with emails pinging it at a terrifying speed or you will hear nothing. NOTHING! I mean, in fairness, this will depend on where you are in the process. Mid-writing with nothing due for release? Yeah, you may begin to wonder if people have forgotten about you until your lovely agent or editor get in touch for a quick check in, “just in case you’ve gone quietly mad”. Yes. Yes, I have. Ooh, also, if there’s a book fair on, no-one will be calling you or mailing you. They probably haven’t slept in a week. Give them a break!

 

• It does get easier. Except when it doesn’t - the writing gets easier. Sometimes. You learn what will become a problem later on, what will be edited out, how you need to pace things, what is important for your characters. And then your characters have a royal cissy fit and suddenly it’s just as tough as the first time you did it. 

 

• You will always doubt your ability to write just one more book - at least I do. That blank screen remains terrifying. When you get lost in your own plot, when a thread just doesn’t turn out as you think it will, you will be afraid that this is it, that the muse has departed and you’re on your own. Ignore it. You can do it. 

 

• Sometimes people will want to take your photograph - What??? I mean, WHAT??? Why??? I’m an author. I got into this gig because I get to hide behind my computer and work in my jimjams. But no! One day, you will discover that a photographer wants to come to your house (also known as the small children/cheerio zoo) and do a photoshoot. And you will cry. And wonder whether your pyjamas are photogenic enough. 

 

• People will occasionally get weird - I have been called a celebrity (whilst picking toast crumbs out of my 3 year old’s hair). I have been asked if I’m disappointed I haven’t done better (that was a good day for my self-esteem). I have been asked to sign a copy of my book by writing down a specific line of text and then drawing a picture (?!). Oh, and could you write a poem in there too? No. No, I could not. 

 

It’s a weird business. And I must admit, when people ask me what I do, I still tend to say ‘author’ in much the same way one might say ‘drugs mule’. But I wouldn’t change it for the world. I’m still not writing that poem though.