This is a quite astonishing debut from a 24-year-old who drafted it while he was a student in Oregon. Incredibly mature, impeccably researched and written with supreme panache, it starts with a casino heist that goes spectacularly wrong ... There are strands of James Sallis in the internal conversations, but on top of these comes a freshness and a swagger that is impossible to ignore. It moves like a black mamba and is every bit as deadly. Fierce, taut and with an intensity that burns the lungs, I doubt whether there will be a debut thriller to match it this year, or even next. -- Geoffrey Wansell DAILY MAIL Hobbs, who is 24, recounts Ghostman's adventures with startling and sparkling assurance, as evident in flash back scenes set in Kuala Lumpur as in all the mayhem and mind games in New Jersey. A star is born? Quite possibly. -- John Dugdale SUNDAY TIMES Full of authentic detail, seedy locations and a high corpse count, it keeps you hooked until the very last page. SUNDAY TELEGRAPH This thrilling tale of the bloody aftermath of a casino heist gone wrong reads as if it were written by an expert in safe-cracking and bank robbing... Brilliantly clever, gripping and action-packed, it's narrated by the mysterious Ghostman, who's hired to put right botched jobs. Utterly original and bound to become a big-budget movie. SUNDAY MIRROR Fast, hard and knowing: this is an amazing debut full of intrigue, tradecraft and suspense. Read it immediately! -- LEE CHILD

Roger Hobbs is 24 years old and completed the first draft of this novel while still a senior at Reed College. He has worked as a radio host, a rifle range instructor, a note-taker and a security guard. He is a recent graduate of Reed College. He lives in Portland, Oregon. www.rogerhobbs.com.