The central character has continuously featured in the vast majority of his works except in the novels titled in The Dark and Rush of Blood. It his novel sleepyhead, Billingham writes that if the writers want their readers to care about the character, the first thing they should do is to care themselves, and as such he has imbued Thorne with a lot of his personal characteristics. Dancing Towards The Blade" in Men From Boys by John Harvey (ed.) ( Arrow Books, September 2004), ISBN 0-09-946152-8 As he explains, they were kept bound and engaged in their hotel room by a trio of masked men who stole credit cards and items from them. Billingham at some point recalls being terrified by the sheer audacity of the criminals who succeeded to instill a feeling of menace and fear into their victims. Mark Philip David Billingham (born 2 July 1961) [1] is an English novelist, actor, television screenwriter and comedian known for the "Tom Thorne" crime novel series. Buried (Little, Brown & Company, May 2006), ISBN 0-316-73050-5; Orbit, May 2006, ISBN 0-356-24410-5; ( HarperCollins, August 2007), ISBN 0-06-125569-6

Mark Billingham's Newsletter". December 2012. Archived from the original on 16 February 2013 . Retrieved 21 May 2013. Mark Billingham turned his hand into writing comedy scripts for TV, as well as continued to act and appear in front of the camera in various occasions. Generally, he is a self confessed fan of crime fiction and a very serious collector. From an early age, Billingham wrote often "funny" stories for popularity and enjoyment. As his interests moved towards crime fiction, he set an early novel (the unpublished The Mechanic) in his native Birmingham. Inspired by the comic-crime work of Carl Hiaasen and other authors, he attempted to use his experience as a stand-up comedian and crime fan to write a similarly comic novel. [2] Ultimately he abandoned the unfinished novel and the comic-crime genre to focus on another book that would become Sleepyhead. From the Dead – It has been a decade since Alan Langford’s charred remains were discovered in his burnt-out car. His wife Donna was found guilty of conspiracy to murder her husband and served ten years in prison. But just before she is released, Donna receives an anonymous letter containing a photo of her husband. The man she hates with every fiber of her being seems very much alive and well. DI Tom Thorne becomes involved in a case where nothing and no one is what they seem. This was my first read of Mark Billingham's novels and his character Detective Inspector Tom Thorne. Nearly ten years on now when this debut was launched and I am guilty of not reading many British authors when it comes to crime and thrillers, I have loved John Connolly and his character Charlie Parker and read quite a few in the series and read maybe one Ian Rankin. I am impressed, the was pace was good and he got me on the perpetrator of the murders I did not see it.This was my first read of Mark Billingham's novels and his character Detective Inspector Tom Thorne. Nearly ten years on now when this debut was launched and I am guilty of not reading many British authors when it comes to crime and thrillers, I have loved John Connolly and his character Charlie Parker and read quite a few in the series and read maybe one Ian Rankin. I am impressed, the was pace was good and he got me on the perpetrator of the murders I did not see it. When it comes to reading this genre I have tended to lean more to across the shores and to the U.S.A talent of writers, the U.K novels have increased in number over the years since Ian Rankin and Billingham's and their are plenty of tastes to satisfy. I wanted to get a taste of Tom's debut appearance before I jumped in to a recent release Bloodline which I received via the publisher's galley pre-release.Anyhow, it's a strange, complex, interesting case in which hero and villain play one against the other, along with some terrific prose, authentic dialogue, and a cast of non-stereotypical players. I did figure out what was going on about two-thirds in, but then the writer took a drastic detour and I said oh no, I got it wrong! I didn't, but I still intend to continue with this series. In the 1980s he moved to London where he currently lives with his family. In 1987 he decided to follow a career in comedy before becoming a full-time writer. Folks in the UK might know the author as an actor, a stand-up comedian, as well as a TV writer. It is a fate that Thorne knows the killer intends to deliver to another victim unless the Detective Inspector can stop him.

Besides the poor plot the book is written rather badly and what really annoyed me was the way the author talks about the characters as "He" I was left guessing as to who he was actually talking about. Then one of the worst pieces of writing I have ever seen where the Detectives lover gets into a car with the guy who he suspects as being the perp then is drugged and kidnapped. Although she has known the guy for 25 years, it's not him but his son, the real killer and he turns up to save the day completely unaware of what's going on. Generally, Thorne’s internal continuity is essential to his author since the events of his past affect the individuals who are in the present. However, this very aspect of his character causes Billingham great difficulty in describing him without giving away plot twists. Scaredy cat

Publication Order of Tom Thorne Books

Mmmm, I feel very torn with this review and I will tell you why. Having never read any of the Thorne series of books by Mark Billingham, I decided to make a marathon catch up session and start with his debut novel Sleepyhead (released in 2001). The synopsis sounded pretty amazing and I started the book with anticipation. The reason I say I am torn is because I have really conflicting emotions. The story, writing and plot was flipping amazing and it took me no time to devour the book. On the other hand I am still undecided about how I feel about Tom Thorne. Other contributors include: Laura Lippman • Lee Child • John Connolly • Lynda La Plante • John Harvey • Peter Robinson • Fidelis Morgan • Val McDermid • Karin Slaughter• Emma Donoghue• Denise Mina • Kelley Armstrong • Jane Haddam