Sarah Dobbs

About this author edit data

Sarah Dobbs has a PhD in Creative Writing and is a lecturer at Sunderland University and previously worked at Manchester, Edge Hill and Lancaster universities, as well as teaching on the Guardian Masterclass series. Her novel Killing Daniel was published by Unthank Books in November 2012 and nominated for the Guardian's Not the Booker. Her second, The Sea Inside Me, is forthcoming in October 2019 (Unthank Books).

Praise for Killing Daniel:

Shock and Circumstance - by Max Dunbar: 3AM Magazine

This is a very dark and frightening novel, told in short chapters and brief sentences, that pass like the shivers of bad dreams.

Crime Fiction Lover - Marina Sofia

This book starts off with a bang - one of the most gripping opening chapters I've read in a while. It captures perfectly that sense of nightmare-ish unease and fear which the two main protagonists experience throughout the book. Dark, overcast, the sensation of drowning permeates the whole book, not just the first chapter.

A gritty, unusual thriller that will appeal to fans of both literary fiction and Japanese noir. I hope that Sarah Dobbs will continue to write in this vein.

Doctors of Fiction - @ Book Oxygen by Dr Cath Nichols

There is literary depth in the novel's portrayals of Fleur, the heroine in Britain, and Chinatsu in Japan. Both women have unusual relationships with men and their sex lives are an important part of the narrative; prostitution and sado-masochism enter the mix.

A gripping read that has real emotional depth.

Lancashire Writing Hub - John Rutter

Somewhere between the contrasting cultures there is another space, that uncertain place where hopes and dreams and the real world meet, a place where a memory might be imagined or idealised.

If you enjoy complex and interesting literary fiction that asks questions about the human condition or if you just want to read a cracking thriller, then read Killing Daniel.

A Lover of Books

This is a superbly written book. It is fast paced and very gripping. Within the first few pages I was hooked and when I wasn't reading it I found myself thinking about the characters and the storyline. I couldn't wait to find out what happened next.

Our Book Reviews

Dobbs creates complex characters in whom the reader can believe and whose pain the reader shares. . . a thought-provoking debut novel.

An absorbing literary thriller - Amazon

Killing Daniel is a beautifully written, exciting book. The story takes place in parallel worlds - Tokyo and Manchester - and Dobbs handles the shifts in time and geography with skill and precision. Her prose is beautiful and pacey. I stayed up past midnight to read the final chapters and, as the book hurtled toward its dramatic close,

Novel Stuff

Perhaps the most rewarding aspect of Killing Daniel is Dobbs' engagement with her themes: communication, memory, and femininity. This novel appears to have been written for a PhD in creative writing, so one might expect a cerebral aspect to the book, but Dobbs pulls it off with aplomb, and never at the expense of readability.