Simon Kernick
Born in 1966, in Slough, Berkshire, UK.
Kernick had a passion for crime fiction writing from a young age and produced many short stories during his time at Brighton polytechnic. After graduating he joined MMT Computing in London but left the company after 4 years in the hope of trying to secure a publishing deal. Despite interest from a number of publishers Kernick was unable to secure a deal, so he joined the sales force of the specialist IT and Business Consultancy Metaskil plc in Aldermaston, Berkshire in 1998 where he remained until he secured his first book deal (The Business of Dying) in September 2001.
His novel Relentless was recommended on Richard & Judy's Summer book club 2007. It was the 8th best-selling paperback, and the best-selling thriller in the UK in the same year
Simon lives in Oxfordshire with his wife and two daughters.
The Hound's picks
SEVERED
You wake up in a strange room on a bed covered in blood.
You have no idea how you got there.
Beside you is a dead girl. Your girlfriend.
The phone rings, and a voice tells you to press play on the room's DVD machine.
The film shows you killing your girlfriend. Then you're told to go to an address in East London where you're to deliver a briefcase and await further instructions.
There's no way out.
If you're to survive the next 24 hours, you must find out who killed your girlfriend, and why. Before they come for you too...
SIEGE
Who will survive? The new bestseller from the master of the race-against-time thriller.
LONDON. THE STANHOPE HOTEL, PARK LANE. 16.00 A normal afternoon.
THE MANAGER
Newly engaged Elena Serenko has just made the life-changing decision to quit her job and start a new life in Australia.
THE GUESTS
Upstairs, a young woman waits for her lover; a visiting family prepare for an evening out; and a sick man contemplates his own mortality.
THE ASSASSIN
High up amongst the penthouse suites, a skilled and dangerous killer is hunting a quarry who’s eluded him for far too long.
THE SIEGE
What none of them know is that a group of ruthless gunmen are about to burst into the Stanhope, shooting indiscriminately, and seizing hostages.
As darkness falls and the gunmen become increasingly violent, only one thing matters. Who will survive?