Hodder & Stoughton have acquired the rights to two books by debut author, Will Shindler.
Will’s novel, The Burning Men, follows a team of firefighters, who make a split decision that will seal their fate…
When a high rise development in South London catches fire mid-construction, a close-knit team of fire fighters tackle the blaze. But during the course of the night they find a man unconscious, suffering from smoke inhalation. He’s carrying several cases full of money.
The fire crew make a fateful decision and leave the man to die, stealing his cases and splitting the cash between them. In the months that follow they appear to have got away with it, and one by one they retire quietly on the proceeds.
But five years later one of them dies, set alight at his own wedding. When a second is murdered, DI Alex Finn and DC Mattie Paulsen begin to uncover the secret which binds these men together.
Finn and Paulsen are an unlikely pairing, but with both in need of a distraction after their recent traumas, they may need each other more than they realise…
The novel was bought by the Commissioning Editor at Hodder & Stoughton, Eve Hall, who said of the deal: “The premise of The Burning Men made me put it straight to the top of my reading pile. Will’s accomplished writing; twisty plotting and unique protagonists sealed the deal. I am incredibly excited to be publishing The Burning Men and look forward to everything that Finn and Paulsen (and Will) do next.”
Will was thrilled at the deal, saying: “I’m beyond chuffed that The Burning Men will see the light of day thanks to Eve Hall and the team at Hodder. I’m enormously grateful for their confidence in me and I’m looking forward to developing the further adventures of Finn and Paulsen with them in the months ahead.”
Will has been a Broadcast Journalist for the BBC for over twenty-five years, spending a decade working in television drama as a scriptwriter on Born and Bred, The Bill and Doctors.
You can currently find him every weekday on the radio reading the news headlines, whilst writing crime novels in the afternoon. Will has previously worked as a television presenter for HTV, a sports reporter for BBC Radio Five Live, and one of the stadium presenters at the London Olympics.
