Halfhead
Stuart B. MacBride
HarperCollinsPublishers 1 London Bridge Street London SE1 9GF
Published by HarperVoyager An imprint of HarperCollinsPublishers 2009
Copyright © Stuart B. MacBride 2009
Cover design by Mike Topping © HarperCollinsPublishers Cover photographs © plainpicture/Blend Images/Chris Clor (street); © Shutterstock.com (all other images)
The author 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.
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Source ISBN: 9780007298709
Ebook Edition © OCTOBER 2009 ISBN: 9780007352746
Version: 2018-05-11
For Grendel (my own fuzzy little serial killer)
Table of Contents
There’s blood everywhere.
It sparkles in the artificial light like diamonds scattered onto dark-red velvet. It fills the air with the scent of burning copper and hot rust, tugging at her belly. It soaks through her jumpsuit, making the cheap fabric cling to her gaunt body like a second skin.
It’s wonderful.
She falls to her knees in the filthy toilet cubicle; shuddering in ecstasy. With a trembling hand she reaches forward and touches something that looks like boiled beetroot, but isn’t.
Memories burst across her tattered