''If you read only one thriller this year; make it this one'' Daily Mail''Gob-smackingly, heart-stoppingly, breath-holdingly brilliant'' Ruth Jones------------THREE HOURS TO SAVE THE PEOPLE YOU LOVEIn rural Somerset in the middle of a blizzard, the unthinkable happens: a school is under siege.Pupils and teachers barricade themselves into classrooms, the library, the theatre. The headmaster lies wounded in the library, unable to help his trapped students and staff. Outside, a police psychiatrist must identify the gunmen, while parents gather desperate for news.In three intense hours, all must find the courage to stand up to evil and save the people they love.A TOP 10 SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLERTHE TIMES THRILLER OF THE YEARA BEST BOOK OF 2020 IN THE SUNDAY TIMES, TIMES, GUARDIAN, MAIL, MIRROR, LITERARY REVIEW, STYLIST, RED AND GOOD HOUSEKEEPINGA TIMES & SUNDAY TIMES THRILLER OF THE MONTH------------''Brilliant'' Lee Child, Better off Dead''A brave, timely and intricately crafted work'' Emma Stonex, The Lamplighters''Superb'' Kate Mosse, The City of Tears''It''s beautifully, elegantly written, SO gripping, intelligent, timely, affecting and moving'' Marian Keyes, Again, Rachel''A brilliant literary thriller... moving, masterly'' Sunday Times''Kept us on the edge of our seats from start to finish'' Independent''A novel that you live rather than merely read'' Daily Telegraph''Amazing'' Davina McCall, Menopausing''An electrifying, pulse-racing novel'' Red''Wow! This is a stunner of a book, staggeringly good'' Jane Fallon, Just Got Real''An emotionally devastating and beautifully observed literary thriller'' Observer''Astonishing, powerful, terrifying, heartbreaking'' Emma Flint, Little Deaths''Intersperses scenes of breath-sucking tension with stirring meditations on human nature'' Guardian