ABOUT THE BOOK

Laurie Sterne feels like he’s been cut adrift in space. His father has been shot dead, caught in the crossfire of a gangland war that has also claimed his boss’s life. Laurie is a refugee who lost his adoptive mum years before and doesn’t know where he was born, let alone who his birth parents were. But he’s not alone in the world: someone is trying to kill him.

This is London, 2050, a dumping ground for climate refugees and dissidents. Gangs rule, murder goes unpunished and the police make sure you can’t escape.

In his struggle to stay alive, he finds an ally: his former boss’s secret daughter.
But with the killer predicting his every move, is the man without a past being betrayed by the woman who seems to offer him a future?

MY REVIEW

It’s London, 2050, and Laurie Sterne is a refugee in a dystopian world ravaged by climate change. He doesn’t know who his birth parents are or where he was born. His adoptive parents are gone. His boss has been murdered and someone is trying to kill him. 

The characters are well-written and the tension is palpable. The author does a great job showing the reader how alone and desperate Laurie is just trying to survive in a dangerous cat-and-mouse game of the government, known as Jack, and the gangs that work for them. Even in the midst of all the chaos, Laurie is able to fall in love.

Lancaster’s debut novel and new series are filled with torment and mistrust. It’s fast-paced with a hair-raising climax. If you like dystopian thrillers, give this one a try.

Thank you to Mr. Lancaster for giving me the opportunity to read this book with no expectation of a positive review.

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ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Simon J Lancaster is the author of The Black Ditch, the first in the Laurie Sterne trilogy of dystopian future thrillers. Prior to writing novels he was a national newspaper journalist in London, as well as a music critic and private pilot. He has written short stories and plays and, after reading extensively about climate change, concluded that the fantasy gun-play of contemporary-set action novels would be the lived experience of our coming world.

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