Kat And Lock

As seen on BETWEEN THE COVERS **In development for the screen with Neal Street Productions** 'THE MOST ORIGINAL CRIME NOVEL YOU'LL READ THIS YEAR' CLARE MACKINTOSH 'THIS HAS TO BE A STRONG CONTENDER FOR CRIME DEBUT OF THE YEAR' T. M. LOGAN In the UK, someone is reported missing every 90 seconds. Just gone. Vanished. In the blink of an eye. DCS Kat Frank knows all about loss. A widowed single mother, Kat is a cop who trusts her instincts. Picked to lead a pilot programme that has her paired with AIDE (Artificially Intelligent Detective Entity) Lock, Kat's instincts come up against Lock's logic. But when the two missing person's cold cases they are reviewing suddenly become active, Lock is the only one who can help Kat when the case gets personal. AI versus human experience. Logic versus instinct. With lives on the line can the pair work together before someone else becomes another statistic? In the Blink of an Eye is a dazzling debut from an exciting new voice and asks us what we think it means to be human. 'This has to be a strong contender for crime debut of the year - sharp, perceptive writing and a brilliant new take on the detective duo' T. M. LOGAN 'A fresh and intriguing detective double act - I fell hard for all-too-human Kat and her AI colleague Lock... a riveting cold case mystery told with compassion and verve' LOUISE CANDLISH 'Everything you could hope for in a thriller: heartbreaking, intelligent, deftly plotted and so original' FIONA CUMMINS 'Jo Callaghan makes her entry into the crowded police procedural genre with a fresh take on the buddy-buddy cop trope. In the Blink of an Eye predicts the near future when police officers and their AI counterparts will work hand-in-holographic-hand. The human-AI interactions between the lead protagonists as they pursue their quarry are illuminating and, at times, hilarious. Provocative and compelling. A TV series seems a certainty' VASEEM KHAN 'In the Blink of an Eye is fresh, innovative and very very clever. Flawlessly paced, plotted and researched, it's laugh out loud, heart-achingly sad and doesn't have a dull moment. I raced through it. Simply sensational' M. W. CRAVEN 'The kind of fresh and fearless debut I just adore. Wildly original, heartfelt, funny, and properly thrilling. Take a bow, Jo Callaghan' CHRIS WHITAKER 'I started reading this morning and ten hours later I've finished it! It's so, SO good - really properly compelling, impossible to put down - I was desperate for the solution to the mystery - but so human and moving and massively thought-provoking on what makes us human' LAURA MARSHALL 'A standout debut with a unique and thrilling take on the detective novel. Engaging, exciting and superbly readable. I loved it' SARAH HILARY 'In the Blink of An Eye captured me from the first page and kept me enthralled until the last. Jo Callaghan shakes up the police procedural with a truly original premise that is both compelling and filled with heart. Highly recommended' OLIVIA KIERNAN

Winner of the Theakston Old Peculier Crime Novel of the Year 2024 Winner of the Crime Writers' Association ILP John Creasey (New Blood) Dagger 2024 One detective driven by instinct, the other by logic. It will take both to find a killer who knows the true meaning of fear... When the body of a man is found crucified at the top of Mount Judd, DCS Kat Frank and AIDE Lock - the world's first AI detective - are thrust into the spotlight with their first live case. But when they discover another man dead - also crucified - it appears that the killer is only just getting started. When the Future Policing Unit issues an extraordinary warning to local men to avoid drinking in pubs, being out alone late at night and going home with strangers, they face a hostile media frenzy. Whilst they desperately search for connections between the victims, time is running out for them to join the dots and prevent another death. And if Kat and Lock know anything, it's that killers rarely stop - until they are made to. 'Confirms Callaghan as a new force to be reckoned with in crime' Daily Mail 'Jo Callaghan is an outstanding talent' Jane Casey 'I couldn't turn the pages fast enough' Nikki Smith 'A smart, agile, immaculately plotted and moving thriller that is unswervingly gripping and scary, and at the same time beautifully tender and humane' Nicci French 'With Leave No Trace, Jo Callaghan cements her status as a crime fiction force to be reckoned with' Caz Frear 'Brilliant, rapidly paced and plotted... Another masterpiece' Imran Mahmood 'Every bit as smart, compelling and insightful as her debut... A terrific read!' Gytha Lodge 'Jo Callaghan has done it again in this intricately plotted, humorous and incredibly moving thriller... I absolutely loved it' Laura Marshall 'Balanced, nuanced, intelligent, provocative' Amanda Reynolds 'Another exciting and thought-provoking book from Jo Callaghan that combines cutting-edge tech with a classic police procedural... Hugely human and big-hearted. Brava!' Sarah Hilary

From the author of In the Blink of an Eye, the Sunday Times bestseller, winner of the CWA ILP John Creasey (New Blood) Dagger and Theakston Old Peculier Crime Novel of the Year. DCS Kat Frank and AIDE Lock are back in a cutting-edge new thriller. The truth will always come out, but at what cost? Fresh from successfully closing their first live case, the Future Policing Unit are called in to investigate when a headless, handless body is found on a Warwickshire farm. But as they work to identify the victim and their killer, the discovery of a second body begins to spark fears that The Aston Strangler is back. And as the stakes rise for the team, so do the tensions brewing within it. When DCS Kat Frank is accused of putting the wrong man behind bars all those years ago, AIDE Lock - the world's first AI Detective - pursues the truth about what happened with relentless logic. But Kat is determined to keep the past buried, and when she becomes the target of a shadowy figure looking for revenge, Lock is torn between his evidence-based algorithms and the judgement of his partner, with explosive results. When everything hangs in the balance, it will all come down to just how much an AI machine can learn, and what happens when they do... PRAISE FOR JO CALLAGHAN: 'A new force to be reckoned with in crime' Daily Mail 'An outstanding talent' Jane Casey 'Callaghan writes with such intelligence; interspersing humour with moments of utter heartbreak' Nikki Smith 'An amazing writer' Frances Quinn

Human suspicion. AI manipulation. Who can you trust when truth has no meaning? DCS Kat Frank returns to work at the Future Policing Unit after a tragic loss, only to find herself thrust into a new high-profile case. On the night of Halloween a local MP is found murdered, with a taunting message written in binary code that seems to target Kat specifically: Catch me if you can. The victim's anti-AI sentiments suggest a political motive, and as Kat investigates with her partner AIDE Lock - the world's first AI detective - she finds herself once again battling her own prejudices about the technological future he represents. But when a cyberattack takes out the National Grid, Kat and Lock have to race against the clock to track down the hacker before thousands die. Tangled in a web of suspicion and deception, Kat must choose who and what to believe when the truth seems to defy both instinct and logic. Can she set aside her old doubts and put her faith in her AI partner one last time? Or will this case send Lock down a path she just can't follow - a path that will leave humanity behind for good? PRAISE FOR JO CALLAGHAN: 'Terrifyingly timely and provocative' VAL McDERMID 'The most original crime novel you'll read this year' CLARE MACKINTOSH 'Just brilliant!' LISA JEWELL 'Sharp, perceptive writing and a brilliant new take on the detective duo' T. M. LOGAN 'Everything you could hope for in a thriller: heartbreaking, intelligent, deftly plotted and so original' FIONA CUMMINS 'A fresh take on the buddy-buddy cop trope... Provocative and compelling' VASEEM KHAN 'Wildly original, heartfelt, funny, and properly thrilling. Take a bow, Jo Callaghan' CHRIS WHITAKER