S J WATSON’s first novel, Before I Go To Sleep, became a phenomenal international success and has now sold over 6,000,000 copies worldwide. It won the Crime Writers’ Association Award for Best Debut Novel and the Galaxy National Book Award for Crime Thriller of the Year and has been translated into more than 40 languages.
The film of the book, starring Nicole Kidman, Colin Firth and Mark Strong, and directed by Rowan Joffe, was released in September 2014.
S J Watson’s second novel, Second Life, a psychological thriller, was published to acclaim in 2015.
S J WATSON's new novel, Final Cut, was published in August 2020.
Buy Final Cut: https://www.penguin.co.uk/authors/1067990/s-j-watson.html
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1
She runs as hard and as fast as she can. Above her hangs the sliver of an old moon, and somewhere far behind the village lights shine an anaemic yellow. But she keeps her eyes fixed forward. She sees nothing but the road ahead and hears only the wheeze of her dry breath and the cawing of the gulls as they swoop and dive. There are no sounds of pursuit, no shouting, no howling of dogs. She is safe, she thinks. She can calm down, stop running and walk. It’s over.
But she doesn’t. She pushes herself harder, her arms and legs wheel, momentum carries her until she is on the edge of tumbling like a marionette, wires snipped, head over heels. A car flashes past on the horizon, and then it happens. Her body is suddenly numb. It’s like falling into cotton wool. She sees her arms and legs as they circle in front of her but they look alien, they’re moving independently, she has no control. It’s like looking through the wrong end of a telescope.
She tries to draw breath, to blink herself back to reality, but it’s too late. Her body has rebelled. When she tries to stop running she finds she can’t.
Her foot hits something then. It registers only as an abstract pain, dull, like the dentist’s drill after the needle, but still she trips in slow motion as if falling through sludge. Her hands fly forward and she hits the cold ground, squeezing the breath from her lungs like air from a paper bag.
She lies still. She could rest, she thinks, forever if need be. She sees herself as if from a distance, as if she’s on TV. She’s lying there in the dark, her eyes open, her lips blue. They’ll find her in the morning, frozen. It wouldn’t be so bad.
But no. She won’t die here, not like this. Energy rushes in, a shot of adrenaline, and she get clumsily to her feet. She walks, puts one foot in front of the other, over and over, until finally she reaches the junction. Her eyes dart. She shakes, though she doesn’t feel fear. She doesn’t feel anything. She puts her rucksack at her feet then holds out her hand, thumb up.
It’s early morning and the road isn’t busy. Cars pass infrequently, but eventually one stops. The driver winds down the window. It’s a man, of course, but beggars can’t be choosers.
‘Where to, love?’ he says, but she doesn’t know how to answer him, she hasn’t thought that far ahead. She imagines Bluff House, it’s as if it’s right in front of her, silhouetted against the pale sky, huge and looming with a solitary light shining in an upstairs room. She can’t go back.
‘Love?’
She shakes her head; she has to choose somewhere before he drives off.
‘Anywhere,’ she says, before opening the door and climbing in. ‘Anywhere. Just… away.’
2
Evening Standard Website, 14th March, 2011
News in brief
MYSTERY GIRL FOUND ON DEAL BEACH
Oliver Johnson | No comments
Authorities are baffled by a mystery girl who was taken to hospital last week after being found unconscious on the beach in Deal, Kent by a passer-by.
The teenager, who carried no identification but is believed to be around 15 -18 years of age, was soaking wet and admitted to Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother Hospital in Margate where she was found to be suffering from hypothermia. On regaining consciousness she was unable to tell doctors her name, where she lives or where she was born, and claims to have no knowledge of how she came to be in the seaside town.
She was described as extremely anxious, terrified of any new face, and reluctant to talk. Doctors have found no sign of injury and the police report that there is nothing to suggest foul play.
She remains in hospital for the moment while doctors consider whether she requires any further treatment. The police are thought to be considering a public appeal for information if her condition does not improve but are reluctant at the moment due to doubts around the girl’s age.
She is described as 5ft 7in tall and overweight, with shoulder-length brown hair. She was wearing a black jacket, a white vest and blue jeans when found.
(C) S J Watson 2020