The Jump (21 page)

A missing wife –
A father and son left behind

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

The worst night of your life just got worse . . .

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. One weekend. Gallons of whisky.
What could go wrong?

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, whom 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

Praise for 
The Dead Beat
:

‘When it comes to writing crime novels, Johnstone blows the cobwebs away from the traditional “there’s-been-a-murder-build-up-conclusion” approach. Sharp, clean prose that moves at break-neck speed, there’s no stopping once you’ve started.’ 
The Puffin Review

‘
The Dead Beat
still sees Johnstone in fine stride, and in Martha Fluke he has the perfect foil through which to view the bands, songs, technology and culture of his own misspent youth. Her soliloquys on cassettes, The Breeders and Teenage Fanclub charm effortlessly. As ever, Edinburgh is a central character, her geography tightly coiled around the plot’s serpentine twists and turns. This is superior crime fiction, a level up from the repetitive procedurals and thinly-veiled politicising of more mainstream tartan noir.’
The Skinny
, 4/5 stars

‘I was tremendously impressed with this novel. It manages to combine an undeniably dark plot with an extraordinary freshness and liveliness, largely owing to the wonderfully conceived character of Martha, who is carried through the increasingly upsetting revelations she uncovers by her spirit, energy and determination.’ Harriet Devine, 
Shiny New Book

‘Just when you think an author can’t possibly get any better – he does. I love this book! It stands head and shoulders above Johnstone’s earlier work and I am rapidly running out of superlatives to describe him with.’
Eurocrime

‘Doors are kicked in, guns are fired, pints are glugged and wrestling occurs. As with
Hit & Run
, this is a novel which leaves you breathless.’
Scots Whayhae

‘There is almost a tangible sense of expectation and excitement to this rollercoaster tale of dark secrets as Johnstone weaves his way into the mind of the rebellious, straight-talking and energetic young woman as she carves a rocky road through the wall of silence into a past she never knew existed.’
Lancashire Evening Post

First published in 2015
by Faber & Faber Ltd
Bloomsbury House
74–77 Great Russell Street
London WC1B 3DA
This ebook edition first published in 2015
Typeset by Faber & Faber Ltd
 

All rights reserved
© Doug Johnstone, 2015

Cover design by Faber.
Cover images: © Billy Currie Photography / Getty; Zoran Krstic / Shutterstock
Extract from ‘Swim Until You Can’t See Land’ reproduced with the kind permission of Frightened Rabbit

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
978–0–571–32159–9