The Lock ArtistPrize winning crime author Steve Hamilton's hugely commercial mainstream breakout tells the extraordinary story of a safe cracker trying to unlock the key to his past. Michael hit the headlines once before, a seven year old kid the papers called The Miracle Boy on account of how he survived the terrible incident that took his parents. But although his escape was miraculous, it left him unable to speak. Taunted as a freak, school becomes a fresh

following The Bear and the Serpent

but there could be worse descriptions: good-humouredly observant on the foibles of his fellow countrymen

most importantly Carla

and the year before that

A city where women are seen but not heard

he crouched at the wheel of a great motor lorry roaring its way along the main road to London

One of Tracey's friends on the street contacts Rosie Gilmour

but also - and ultimately - our powers of redemption and renewal

The story follows the fortunes of a colourful cast of characters

Samuel will unexpectedly find that he has to rethink everything he ever knew about his mother - a woman with an epic story of her own

Two policemen collect Peter Diamond from his West London flat and drive him to Bath

Only the tyranny of their landlady