The Stretch

As a big player in the 90s London underworld, Terry Greene has always made a priority of 'taking care of business' personally. It's always good for the troops to know that the boss ain't too squeamish to clean up his own mess. Preston Snow was out of line. So the up-close-and-personal visit was in no way out of character.

It was a messy hit. But the job was done.

More messy however, was the aftermath. Fingered by one of his own crew, Terry finds himself taking the fall and is put away for life. The only person he can really trust in the entire world is his estranged wife, Sam. She must now take over the reins of his organisation, find the snitch and - in theory - get Terry off the hook. But after a shaky start, she quickly starts to get her own ideas . . .

'THE STRETCH is well up to the outstanding thriller standard we have come to expect from Stephen Leather' -- Bolton Evening News '[THE STRETCH is a] rollicking good read' -- Peterborough Evening Telegraph 'The twists and turns in the plot continue up to and including the last page. Brilliant.' -- Middlesbrough Evening Gazette Praise for Stephen Leather: 'Stephen Leather should be nestling in your bookshelves alongside Frederick Forsyth and Jack Higgins' -- Daily Mail 'As real and hard and tough as today's headlines. I couldn't put it down' -- Jack Higgins on THE CHINAMAN 'Exciting stuff with plenty of heart-palpitating action gingered up by mystery and intrigue ... Leather is an intelligent thriller writer' -- Daily Mail on THE TUNNEL RATS 'Leather, a former journalist, can dispense high-adrenaline plotting but never at the expense of remembering that his characters are humans rather than Action Dolls.' -- Sunday Express on SOFT TARGET

Stephen Leather is one of the UK's most successful thriller writers. Before becoming a novelist he was a journalist for more than ten years on newspapers such as The Times, the Daily Mail and the South China Morning Post in Hong Kong. Before that, he was employed as a biochemist for ICI, shoveled limestone in a quarry, worked as a baker, a petrol pump attendant, a barman, and worked for the Inland Revenue. He began writing full time in 1992. His bestsellers have been translated into more than ten languages. He has also written for television shows such as London's Burning, The Knock and the BBC's Murder in Mind series and two of his books, The Stretch and The Bombmaker, were filmed for TV. You can find out more from his website,

As a big player in the 90s London underworld, Terry Greene has always made a priority of 'taking care of business' personally. It's always good for the troops to know that the boss ain't too squeamish to clean up his own mess. Preston Snow was out of line. So the up-close-and-personal visit was in no way out of character.It was a messy hit. But the job was done.More messy however, was the aftermath. Fingered by one of his own crew, Terry finds himself taking the fall and is put away for life. The only person he can really trust in the entire world is his estranged wife, Sam. She must now take over the reins of his organisation, find the snitch and - in theory - get Terry off the hook. But after a shaky start, she quickly starts to get her own ideas . . .

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