Outer Circle

"An outstanding debut novel - storytelling at its finest." - STEPHEN LEATHER

"This exceptional thriller is one of the best books I've read all year." - NATASHA HARDING, THE SUN

OUTER CIRCLE - The story

It's the morning after the closing ceremony of the Olympic Games in London. The city is relaxed as rarely before and all are delighted at how spectacularly a country newly at ease with itself has hosted the uplifting event.

The capital, however, will be rudely and brutally awoken from its self-congratulation by a shocking atrocity committed upon innocent Muslims at the London Central Mosque in Regent's Park.

How could it happen? Why did it happen? Is this a terrorist attack? Is it political? Or is it personal?

OUTER CIRCLE marks the first appearance of investigative journalist Jan Mason, one of five characters thrown together by this tragic event and the aftermath of anxiety and reprisal as the answers dramatically emerge.

IAN RIDLEY is the author of 12 sports books, including the No.1 best selling Addicted, with the former Arsenal and England captain Tony Adams, which was shortlisted for the William Hill Sports Book of the Year award. The follow-up book Sober was published in 2017, 20 years on. Three of his other books have also been nominated in the British Sports Book Awards. His latest is The Breath of Sadness: On love, grief and cricket, which is a poignant account of coping with the death of his wife Vikki Orvice, a trailblazing sports journalist. Over a 40-year career, Ian has been a sports writer for The Guardian, The Daily Telegraph, The Observer and the Mail on Sunday, for whom he was Chief Football Writer. He was named Sports Journalist of the Year in the 2007 British Press Awards and nominated on two other occasions.Ian has also written for television, including more than 20 episodes of the Sky One drama series Dream Team, and currently has a film script optioned on the life story of the world champion boxer Darren Barker, based on the autobiography on which the two collaborated, A Dazzling Darkness. His first novel, The Outer Circle, was published in 2018 and reissued in 2022 as Outer Circle, the first in the series of Jan Mason investigative journalist books.