Twelve years. Twelve inactive ladies. Thirteen will become unlucky for some.

The No.1 bestselling crime thriller in the award-winning Stuart MacBride. A bloody, outstanding and brutal tale of murder, kidnap and revenge.

Detective Constable Ash Henderson includes a dark secret…

Five years ago his daughter, Rebecca, went missing on the eve of her thirteenth birthday. A year later the 1st cards arrived: home-made, having a Polaroid picture stuck to leading – Rebecca, strapped to a chair, gagged and terrified. Each year another cards: each one even worse compared to the last.

The tabloids call him ‘The Birthday Boy’. He’s been snatching young ladies for twelve years, usually just before their thirteenth birthday, killing them slowly, after that torturing their families along with his homemade cards.

But Ash hasn’t told anyone what really happened to Rebecca – they all think she ran aside – because if anyone finds out, he’ll be taken off the analysis. And he’s sacrificed a great deal to quit before his daughter’s murderer gets what he deserves…