“Down River by Stephen Gallagher has everything a good serial killer novel should—it starts off slowly, lets us spend time with the characters, subtly suggesting the terrors to come, before Gallagher pulls out all the stops in what turns into a full-throttle, bloody thriller. Gallagher demonstrates an uncanny control in manipulating the elements of the story, building the plot carefully; there is not a wasted word and the set-pieces are thrilling and horrifying”—Rebellion Publishing Reviews

Down River is the story of rogue plainclothes officer Johnny Mays, his fall from grace, and his former partner's one-man mission to bring him to justice.

Everyone on the force agrees that Johnny Mays is out of control. Nick Frazier is his one-time childhood friend, now his plainclothes partner landed with the task of keeping Johnny out of trouble. A task at which he fails, spectacularly, on one disastrous night that ends with two wrecked cars, four teenaged joyriders dead at the foot of a dam, and Johnny nowhere to be found. Johnny may not be dead, but in his mind he's left this life behind. And there are scores to be settled on the way out.

The manhunt is on, county-wide. But it's Nick who sets out to track Johnny down. His is the responsibility, and his alone. It's a quest that will take him back through the years, into the shared landscape of their childhood. A place where everything was possible. The best of times, when the worst was yet to come.

“Stephen Gallagher’s most ambitious, most committed book to date”—Kim Newman

“The denouement, thanks to Gallagher's strong writing and excellent characterisations, is unforgettable”—Publishers Weekly

“An out-and-out novel of paranoia, tension and sharply honed violence which confirms Gallagher as one of Britain's most exciting writers of literate, nerve-shredding thrillers. Down River is Gallagher's most impressive novel to date. He's stripped, oiled and tuned his prose until it growls like a Ferrari, smooth, fast, and very, very powerful. The horror is firmly rooted in reality,yet seems ready at any moment to veer into deep, dark shadows... an unstoppable, gut-wrenching ride to the last page”—Starburst

“His prose is clear and diamond-sharp, his imagination dark and vivid... a terrifying walk along the edge of nightmare”—Time Out

“Down River is the best British thriller to appear in recent years” —The Face

“Quite simply one of the books that made me want to become a writer. I adore this book. I wish I'd written it”—Steven Savile