First published 2004
Anna Hunt opens her eyes to find her past erased. She knows only that she must run, though she cannot name her pursuers or understand their motives. The present moment traps her like a cage. Only one certainty cuts through the fog of her amnesia: she connects somehow to a stolen painting now undergoing restoration at the National Gallery. Anna moves through a world where every face might belong to an enemy, every shadow might hide a threat. The painting calls to her, but approaching it means risking capture by those who hunt her. She must piece together fragments of identity while staying ahead of forces she cannot remember crossing. Memory becomes both salvation and danger. Each recovered piece of her past might reveal why she runs, but it might also expose her location to those who want her found. The stolen artwork holds answers, but reaching those answers requires Anna to stop running and confront whatever truth she has forgotten. In this game between hunter and hunted, memory itself becomes the ultimate weapon.
Genres: suspense, mystery, contemporary, thriller
Vibes: atmospheric, fast-paced, suspenseful
Tropes: amnesia, cat-and-mouse, unreliable-narrator
Setting: National Gallery
Paperback · Faber & Faber