The Caller

The Caller
Alex Barclay

In The Sunday Times bestselling novel ‘Darkhouse’, Alex Barclay took you on a terrifying excursion to hell and back. In ‘The Caller’, she leaves you stranded there…One way in… no way out.He targets victims in their own homes, subjecting them to a terrifying ordeal before leaving their lifeless bodies in their hallway for a loved one to find. at first the murders appear unrelated, the notion of a serial killer at large almost dismissed. But the killing hasn’t stopped.Back on the job after a year out, NYPD Detective Joe Lucchesi becomes the reluctant lead in the high-profile investigation. Battling with physical pain and tension in the task force and at home, he struggles to make progress.Then just when he feels close to making a breakthrough, the investigation itself is rocked by tragedy, and the body count rises…

ALEX BARCLAY

The Caller

Copyright (#u5b7cc5f5-a03f-58c4-93d9-d5e363088c8e)

This is entirely a work of fiction. The names, characters and incidents portrayed in it are the work of the author’s imagination. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events or localities is entirely coincidental.

HarperCollinsPublishers

1 London Bridge Street

London SE1 9GF

www.harpercollins.co.uk (http://www.harpercollins.co.uk)

Published by HarperCollinsPublishers 2007

Copyright © Alex Barclay 2007

Daphne Du Maurier quote reproduced with permission of the

Curtis Brown Group Ltd on behalf of the Estate of Daphne Du Maurier

copyright © Daphne Du Maurier 1938

Cover design layout © HarperCollinsPublishers Ltd 2016

Cover photographs © Shutterstock.com (http://Shutterstock.com)

Alex Barclay asserts the moral right to be identified as the author of this work

A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library

All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the non-exclusive, non-transferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on-screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, down-loaded, decompiled, reverse engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of HarperCollins e-books

Source ISBN: 9780008180881

Ebook Edition © SEPTEMBER 2008 ISBN: 9780007279425

Version 2016-05-13

Praise for Alex Barclay (#u5b7cc5f5-a03f-58c4-93d9-d5e363088c8e)

‘The rising star of the hard-boiled crime fiction world, combining wild characters, surprising plots and massive backdrops with a touch of dry humour’ Mirror

‘Tense, no-punches-pulled thriller that will have you on the edge of your deckchair.’ Woman and Home

‘Explosive’ Company

‘Darkhouse is a terrific debut by an exciting new writer’ Independent on Sunday

‘Compelling’ Glamour

‘Excellent summer reading … Barclay has the confidence to move her story along slowly, and deftly explores the relationships between her characters’ Sunday Telegraph

‘The thriller of the summer’ Irish Independent

‘If you haven’t discovered Alex Barclay, it’s time to jump on the bandwagon’ Image Magazine

Dedication (#u5b7cc5f5-a03f-58c4-93d9-d5e363088c8e)

To Ciaran, Ronan, Lorraine and Damien

With screaming eyes

And weakened breath

’Twas not for life

He begged,

’Twas death.

Anonymous

Table of Contents

Cover (#uacbcf757-1e6d-5e0e-b6d3-be38fa3e8760)

Title Page (#u970ad608-48ca-5af9-8929-cb65f818d5e3)

Copyright (#u83ef9bf6-e824-5d66-b2c0-f022dd2d0610)

Praise for Alex Barclay (#u6c59d6a2-c678-5d55-a397-ca261f80856d)

Dedication (#ua3352f07-cc23-54c8-b2be-6f5a2605a790)

Epigraph (#ub4d84a5c-1a3c-5731-bede-17136433179b)

Prologue (#u1c7ee0b2-6e84-5d8c-8221-37a8bf29971f)

Chapter One (#u668aa500-27f4-5bd4-bb8b-31bb2b19abf1)

Chapter Two (#u519eeb86-0585-517d-93e9-95c1f225c30b)