The Death List

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Writer's block is nothing compared to the sinister assignment London-based novelist Matt Wells has just received. A chain of seemingly innocent e-mails from a devoted fan turns deadly when Matt discovers the correspondent is a cold-blooded killer with an agenda for murder--and his family and friends are among the scheduled victims. Under close surveillance, Matt is plunged into a plot more twisted than any he has used in his novels. This is the real thing, and with each killing, the man known as the White Devil tightens his grip by incriminating Matt at the murder scenes. Cast not only as the ghostwriter of his persecutor's terrifying story, but as the victim, Matt needs to risk everything to protect his loved ones. But with the police closing in and his friends being picked off, he is running out of time. The White Devil is out there--and he's watching. From Booklist 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 Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved Review "'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"