An aspiring TV journalist faces a shattering moral dilemma and the prospect of losing her career and her life, when she joins an impetuous photographer in the Middle East.

‘Shocking and visceral, this novel deals with the horrors of war … a brave, important and utterly compelling book’ S J Watson

‘Gritty, hard-hitting and often harrowing … a hugely exciting voice in crime fiction’ Victoria Selman

‘A powerhouse writer’ Jo Spain

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An act of mercy
Or the ultimate betrayal…
Who decides?

Samira is an up-and-coming TV journalist, working the nightshift at a major news channel and yearning for greater things. So when she’s offered a trip to the Middle East, with Kris, the station’s brilliant but impetuous star photographer, she leaps at the chance.

In the field together, Sami and Kris feel invincible, shining a light into the darkest of corners … except the newsroom, and the rest of the world, doesn’t seem to care as much as they do. Until Kris takes the photograph.

With a single image of young Sudanese mother, injured in a raid on her camp, Sami and the genocide in Darfur are catapulted into the limelight. But everything is not as it seems, and the shots taken by Kris reveal something deeper and much darker … something that puts not only their careers but their lives in mortal danger.

Sarah Sultoon brings all her experience as a CNN news executive to bear on this shocking, searingly authentic thriller, which asks immense questions about the world we live in. You'll never look at a news report in the same way again...  

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‘A powerful story of the brutality of front-line journalism. Authentic, provocative and terrifyingly relevant’ Will Carver

‘A gritty, jarring page-turner’ Peter Hain

‘Passionate, disturbing storytelling at its best’ James Brabazon

‘You won't read another book like this in 2022! Raw, authentic, powerful ... you won't see the end coming!’ E C Scullion

‘Brilliantly conveys both the exhilaration and the unspeakable horror of life on the international news frontline’ Jo Turner

Praise for The Source

**Winner: Crime Fiction Lover Best Debut Award**

‘A brave and thought-provoking debut novel’ Adam Hamdy

‘A taut and thought-provoking book that’s all the more unnerving for how much it echoes the headlines in real life’ CultureFly

‘A tense thriller, a remarkable debut, heartbreaking, but ultimately this is a story of resilience and survival’ New Books Magazine

‘A powerful, compelling read that doesn’t shy away from some upsetting truths … written with such energy’ Fanny Blake

‘Tautly written and compelling, not afraid to shine a spotlight on the darker forces at work in society’ Rupert Wallis

‘So authentic and exhilarating … breathtaking pace and relentless ingenuity’ Nick Paton Walsh, CNN

‘A gripping, dark thriller’ Geoff Hill, ITV

‘My heart was racing … fiction to thrill even the most hard-core adrenaline junkies’ Diana Magnay, Sky News 

‘Unflinching and sharply observed. A hard-hitting, deftly woven debut’ Ruth Field

‘A hard-hitting, myth-busting rollercoaster of a debut’ Eve Smith

‘I could picture and feel each scene, all the fear, tension and hope’ Katie Allen

For fans of Holly Watt, Sarah Vaughan, Laura Lippman and Karin Slaughter