The Lines Between Lies is a thriller set in Britain in 2017.
Edward Clayton is naïve yet duplicitous. The fractures in his life are patched up by convenient affiliations, sewn with loose stitching: his kids; social media; dating sites and above all by his job. And, in all innocence, he does something that puts him at odds with the wrong kinds of people. His indiscretions cause eddies that drag him in to a muddy pool and, the deeper he gets, the harder it is to recognise where the danger lies. His obsessive search for the biggest fish with the sharpest teeth means he doesn't realise he's already been hooked and netted.
The book explores a divided, fractured society, and how those fissures extend in to relationships, marriage, friendship, work and family. It also deals with the way social media and an on-line lifestyle expose people to situations they may be ill-equipped to manage, in spite of any strength of character or status. The political and sociological problems of this age are never far away; Brexit; terror; a president's sabre rattling — but their impact on the plot and main characters is to show how little those things affect those with limited engagement in activism. A key theme is the notion that the soft politics of many people are blind to the extremes around them. Above all, The Lines Between Lies takes the reader into a world where wealth and power are wielded covertly, to no-one's benefit and with potentially fatal consequences.
