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A man walks into a diner, bleeding and armed. He claims he’s being hunted. That something’s coming. That no one’s safe. Hours later, he’s found dead in a holding cell.
John Beckett, former MI6, doesn’t buy the suicide story. Neither does Detective Maggie Lee.
When the evidence vanishes and questions are brushed aside, Beckett and Lee start digging.
Their search leads them to a powerful tech company, a private security firm, and a missing device everyone wants but no one will admit exists.
As they move closer to the truth, they find themselves hunted by people who kill without hesitation.
With no backup, no resources, and time running out, Beckett must face a threat that could bring down everything—and everyone—he’s ever fought to protect.
A Line in the Sand is book five in the John Beckett series—a taut, high-stakes thriller where the price of truth is blood.
Matthew Hattersley grew up in Yorkshire, UK, where he mastered the arts of loud music, dramatic exits, and impossible plot twists. Over the past two decades, he's toured Europe in a band, trained as a professional actor, and founded a theatre and media company — all ideal prep for crafting thrilling page-turners. Now, he writes adrenaline-fuelled thrillers and crime novels. His bestselling Acid Vanilla series follows a wily yet flawed assassin teetering on the brink of an existential crisis who, between high-stakes escapades and calculated revenge, realises that redemption is also a killer's pursuit. Matthew lives in Derbyshire with his wife and daughter, who keep him on his toes — and grounded in reality.