Hurting Distance

Three years ago, something terrible happened to Naomi Jenkins – so terrible that she never told anybody.

Now Naomi has another secret – the man she has fallen passionately in love with, unhappily married Robert Haworth. When Robert vanishes without trace, Naomi knows he must have come to harm. But the police are less convinced, particularly when Robert's wife insists he is not missing.

In desperation, Naomi has a crazy idea. If she can't persuade the police that Robert is in danger, perhaps she can convince them that he is a danger to others. Then they will have to look for him – urgently. Naomi knows how describe in detail the actions of a psychopath. All she needs to do is dig up her own troubled past . . .
The Times
'A superbly creepy, twisty thriller about obsessive love, psychological torture, and the darkest chambers of the human heart'
Sophie Hannah's LITTLE FACE startled the British thriller market a year ago, and her new book is another superbly creepy foray in the genre. The plots are brilliant - I couldn't see through this one at all.'
(Guardian )

'Poet and children's writer Sophie Hannah is proving to be equally adept at turning her hand to pscyhological thrillers. In HURTING DISTANCE, Naomi's concern for her married lover's well-being grows when his wife insists he is fine, just away. Naomi uses the story of a rape from her past to get the police to sit up and take notice. What makes this novel work so well is that more than one character has a bit of a screw loose - even the detectives on the case are grappling with some crippling personal issues - and it takes the full ride of the novel to find out who is playing whom.'
(Time Out )

'Hannah's second novel is a beautifully written chiller-thriller about the after-effect of rape. It grips from start to finish - a grip which held me against my will because the sustained atmosphere of mild hysteria is hard to take . . . I couldn't put it down'
(Literary Review )

'This is a far better-written book than any genre label might suggest. Hannah is a respected poet and uses the fascinating motif of the sundial not only to provide the reader with clues but to underline perceptions of life, time and death. It's also significant that she won a Daphne du Maurier award. Her powerful subjects of obsession with the past, and fear in the present, testify that she has made a transition to the narrative world of that iconic writer.'