In this chillingly plausible thriller by CWA Gold Dagger winner Mick Herron, &;there is no hiding under the desk&; (The New York Times Book Review).

When a gunman breaks into South Oxford Nursery School and takes a group of hostages, teacher Louise Kennedy fears the worst. But Jaime Segura isn&;t there on a homicidal mission, and he&;s just as scared as those whose lives he holds as collateral. As an armed police presence builds outside the school&;s gates, the only person Jaime will talk to is Ben Whistler, an MI6 accountant who worked with Jaime&;s lover, Miro. Miro&;s gone missing, along with a quarter of a billion pounds allotted for reconstruction work in Iraq. Jaime refuses to believe that Miro is a thief&;though he&;s always had his secrets. But then, so does Louise, so do the other hostages&;and so do some people on the outside, who&;d much rather Jaime was silenced.