November 2007

Conrad Hirst is a hired killer working for a German crime boss. Disturbed by the death of his girlfriend ten years earlier, still bearing the scars of post-traumatic stress after serving as a mercenary, he’s valued precisely because of how broken he is, by how coldly he kills, by the solitary existence he leads.

But something has happened on Conrad’s most recent job that’s shattered his equilibrium and left him determined to quit. Fortunately for him, there’s a simple way to leave the business and begin life anew: Only four people know who he is and what he’s done—kill those four people and Conrad is a free man.

A simple plan, but life is never that simple and as Conrad’s scheme unravels, he quickly realizes he isn’t the only one doing the killing. With the certainties of his life crumbling around him, he’s no longer certain who he’s been working for, or why, or what they want of him now. In fact, he can’t even answer the ever-looming and ominous question: Who is Conrad Hirst?

Fast-paced, dark and disturbing, this is a story of a broken young man seeking retribution against those who have used him for their own gain, and of the devastating secret that fuels his anger. It is a story of identity and loss, of missed opportunities and the cruelty of fate.

 

Q & A - it's rude to answer one question with another...

What people have said about this book – 

A thinking-person's thriller that'll keep you up all night, flipping  pages  with sweaty fingers! Wignall's Who is Conrad Hirst? races from start to finish, setting new standards for crime fiction. A brilliant premise,  perfectly  executed.  
   
- Jeffery Deaver, author of The Sleeping Doll and The Bone Collector. 
 

Kevin Wignall is one of those writers I will always read and Who Is Conrad Hirst is his best book yet. Lean and stylish prose which any literary writer would be proud of and which cranks up the tension enough for the most demanding of mystery readers. While Wignall’s beautifully drawn hit-man struggles to find his own identity, those searching for gripping and grown-up mystery writing should look no further.

- Mark Billingham, author of Sleepyhead and Buried.   
 

Who is Conrad Hirst? is a classic espionage novel, in the tradition of 
Ambler, Len Deighton, early Le Carre: the kind where people act not for 
money but for love, and surprise themselves with what they still believe in. 
I was afraid no one was writing these any more; what a pleasure to be proven 
wrong.  It reminded me of everything that first thrilled me about this 
genre.

-  Joseph Finder, author of Paranoia and Killer Instinct 
 

Brilliant and mesmerizing, Who is Conrad Hirst? explores the psychology of the ruthless killer with breakneck plotting, beautiful writing, and an ending that will leave you devastated.

- Olen Steinhauer, author of Liberation Movements and The Tourist