Dan and Adam have always been close. In fact, they’ve been closer than Adam could ever guess. And if Dan’s going to get that close again, it will take time. It will take research. It may even take practice. Fortunately, Dan is a very patient person – and Adam trusts him. With his house key. With his secrets. With his wife…
But as Dan gets closer, someone is watching. Someone who will stop at nothing to uncover the truth… and seek revenge.
It’s only a matter of time before danger steps out of the shadows. Dan has his sight fixed on the future; perhaps he should have kept one eye on what lay behind.
This chilling psychological thriller from the author of Yours is Mine explores love, obsession, and betrayal, and asks: can we ever really know another person?
‘Plenty of twists and surprises … This is excellent escapism.’*
5 stars from London_reader
‘… impossible to put down as its plot accelerates towards the climax with an amazing final twist … An unusual and striking debut novel that will leave you thinking.’*
5 stars from Leonora
‘a unique story that had me hooked from the start. There were moments that goose bumps spread across my arms at the chilling reality of [the] situation. And I have to say the last chapter left me a little breathless.’*
4 stars from Katlyn
‘a captivating debut novel from Amy Bird. The author skilfully contrives a clever plot and sensitively develops believable characters, with which the reader will readily identify and come to love or despise. Amy Bird weaves together a world where nothing can be taken for granted, and the past comes back to haunt those who deserve it or not.’*
5 stars from AdamJordan
* Reviews taken from Amazon.co.uk
Yours is Mine
Three Steps Behind You
Amy Bird
HQ
An imprint of HarperCollinsPublishers Ltd.
1 London Bridge Street
London SE1 9GF
First published in Great Britain by HQ in 2014
Copyright © Amy Bird 2014
Amy Bird asserts the moral right to be identified as the author of this work.
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.
This novel is entirely a work of fiction. The names, characters and incidents portrayed in it are the work of the author’s imagination. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events or localities is entirely coincidental.
All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the non-exclusive, non-transferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on-screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, downloaded, decompiled, reverse engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of HarperCollins.
E-book Edition © June 2014 ISBN: 9781472054784
Version date: 2018-06-27
Three Steps Behind You is Amy’s second novel for HQ Digital. She has a Creative Writing MA from Birkbeck College, University of London, and is also an alumni of the Faber Academy ‘Writing a Novel’ programme, where she studied under Richard Skinner. Amy has written a number of plays, which have shown to large audiences and received critical acclaim. Her play The Jobseeker was runner-up for the Shaw Society’s 2013 T.F. Evans Award. Having moved all around the UK as a child, she now lives in North London with her husband, dividing her time between working part-time as a lawyer and writing. For updates on her writing follow her on Twitter, @London_Writer or visit her site www.amybirdwrites.com
I would like to thank all the people who have helped bring Three Steps Behind You to readers. The HQ Digital team has been a delight to work with, in particular my wonderful editor, Clio Cornish. I am ever grateful for her insight, judgement and encouragement. My fellow HQ Digital authors have also spurred me on, both online and in person. To my legal colleagues, who have embraced the author side of my existence, I am also grateful. Thanks are due, too, to the friends, family and enthusiastic readers who championed my first novel, Yours is Mine, while I was working on Three Steps Behind You – your feedback kept me going. And of course, special thanks and love must go to my husband Michael, for his unerring support, excellent advice and endless optimism.
For all of us
Contents
Praise
Book List
Copyright
Prologue
BOOK ONE
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten