Stephen Leather (born 25 October 1956) is a British thriller author whose works are published by Hodder & Stoughton. He has written for television shows such as London's Burning, The Knock, and the BBC's Murder in Mind series. He is one of the top selling Amazon Kindle authors, the second bestselling UK author worldwide on Kindle in 2011.
Biography Early life Leather was born in Manchester. He grew up in Sale and Chorlton-cum-Hardy, and attended Manchester Grammar School. He attended Bath University, where he obtained a BSc in Biochemistry in 1980.
Early career Leather was employed as a biochemist for ICI, shovelled limestone in a quarry, worked as a baker, a petrol pump attendant, a barman, and worked for the Inland Revenue. He began his writing career as a journalist, working for newspapers such the Glasgow Herald, Daily Mirror, The Times, Daily Mail, and the South China Morning Post in Hong Kong.
Writing career Leather began writing when he was in college; however, he "never managed to get beyond a few pages," and did not begin writing full-time until he had worked as a journalist for more than ten years.
His first novel, Pay Off, was written while he was still employed at The Daily Mirror. It was published from the "slush pile" at HarperCollins. The novel is a thriller about a merchant banker who takes revenge on two gangsters who killed his father. The book is set in Scotland, where Leather worked for five years on The Glasgow Herald as a business writer.
His second novel, The Fireman, was written while he was working as the business editor of the South China Morning Post. In The Fireman, a British tabloid journalist travels to Hong Kong to discover why his sister committed suicide. Both novels, and his third, Hungry Ghost, were published by HarperCollins.
Leather wrote his fourth novel, The Chinaman, while working as night news editor on the business desk of The Times in London. At the time, the Provisional Irish Republican Army's bombing campaign was at its height, and in The Chinaman, a Sino-Vietnamese man loses his family in an attack loosely based on the bombing of the Harrods department store in London. Having been turned away by the authorities, the man, a highly decorated Special Forces fighter in the Vietnam War, travels to Ireland and hunts down the people responsible. The book was used as the basis for the 2017 thriller The Foreigner.
Published works Leather's novels frequently include themes of crime, imprisonment, military service, and terrorism. Settings are typically London and the Far East. Leather writes different series in slightly different genres. The main character of one series, Dan 'Spider' Shepherd, is a former Special Air Service soldier who becomes an undercover policeman. Another series, Jack Nightingale, is about a former police negotiator who becomes a private investigator; this supernatural detective series is also published by Hodder & Stoughton and includes the books Nightfall, Midnight, Nightmare, Nightshade and Lastnight, San Francisco, New York Night, Tennessee Night, The Whisper Man, Witch Hunt, New Orleans Night, Las Vegas Night, Rio Grande Night.
Leather has written screenplays for London's Burning, The Knock, and the BBC's Murder in Mind series. Two of his novels, The Stretch and The Bombmaker, were screened for made for TV movies and filmed for Sky Television. The Stretch starred Leslie Grantham and Anita Dobson, two popular soap opera stars from the U.K.
Amazon Kindle releases Leather became successful in the Amazon Kindle market in 2010. Amazon UK opened an eBook store that year. As reported in The Guardian, Leather anticipated that people buying eBooks would be seeking bargains, and he priced his books at the minimum price for independent writers in order to get his books into the top ten. He then marketed the books on various forums online.
Early in 2011, Leather's books The Basement, Hard Landing, and the vampire novella Once Bitten occupied the top three places in the UK Kindle bestseller list, a feat matched only by Stieg Larsson with his The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo trilogy. That same year, Leather was the second bestselling UK author on the Kindle worldwide, beaten only by Lee Child.
Awards and recognition In 2002, Leather's book Tango One was nominated for the inaugural CWA Ian Fleming Steel Dagger, awarded by the Crime Writers' Association. His book Hard Landing was nominated for the award in 2004.
His book Cold Kill was nominated for Best Novel in 2007 by International Thriller Writers Inc. In 2011, Leather sold over 500,000 eBooks and was voted by The Bookseller magazine as one of the 100 most influential people in the UK publishing world.
2012 Harrogate Crime Writing Festival On 5 August 2012, journalist Nick Cohen wrote in The Observer that Leather had created phony Twitter accounts in the name of another writer, and used those accounts to praise Leather's own books. Cohen quoted Leather's response to a question, as a panelist, at the Harrogate Crime Writing Festival, which was recorded for BBC Radio 4:
"As soon as my book is out I'm on Facebook and Twitter several times a day talking about it. I'll go on to several forums, the well-known forums, and post there under my name and under various other names and various other characters. You build up this whole network of characters who talk about your books and sometimes have conversations with yourself."
Leather's comment was widely reported, and, on 3 September 2012, forty nine other British authors issued a group statement in which they "unreservedly condemn" the use of sockpuppets, or paid reviews.
Jeremy Duns and Steve Mosby have alleged that Leather has harassed them online.
Bibliography
Novels
Publication yearTitleSeriesOriginal publisherISBN Notes 1987 Pay Off St. Martin's Press Hardcover (1988), Paperback (2002), Audio Book (2011), and eBook (2009) 1989 The Fireman St. Martin's Press Hardcover (1990), Paperback (1996), Audio Book (2011), and eBook (2008) 1991 Hungry Ghost HarperCollins Hardcover (1991), Paperback (2008), Audio Book (2008), and eBook (2008) 1992 The Chinaman Mike Cramer #1 Pocket Books Hardcover (1992), Paperback (1992), Audio Book (2007), and eBook (2008). Also published as The Foreigner (2017) 1992 The Double Tap Mike Cramer #3 Hodder & Stoughton Hardcover (1996), Paperback (1997), and Audio Book (2006) 1993 The Vets Pocket Books Hardcover (1993), Paperback (1994), and eBook (2004) 1994 The Long Shot Mike Cramer #2 Hodder & Stoughton eBook (2009) 1996 The Birthday Girl Hodder & Stoughton Hardcover (1995), Paperback (2006), Audio Book (2007), and eBook 1997 The Solitary Man Ulverscroft Hardcover (2004), Paperback (1997), and Audio Book (2010) 1997 The Tunnel Rats Ulverscroft Hardcover (2004), Paperback (2006), Audio Book (2009), and eBook (2009) 1999 The Bombmaker Hodder & Stoughton Hardcover (1999), Paperback (2005), Audio Book (2003), and eBook (2009) 2000 The Stretch Hodder & Stoughton Hardcover (2000), Paperback (2001), Audio Book (2001), and eBook (2009) 2002 Tango One Hodder & Stoughton Hardcover (2002), Paperback (2006), Audio Book (2004), and eBook (2009) 2003 The Eyewitness Hodder & Stoughton Hardcover (2003), Paperback (2003), Audio Book (2004), and eBook (2008) 2005 Private Dancer Three Elephants Paperback and eBook 2006 Confessions of a Bangkok Private Eye Monsoon Books With Warren Olson 2010 Dreamer's Cat Three Elephants eBook 2010 The Basement Amazon Encore Paperback (2011), Audio Book (2012), and eBook (2011) 2011 Once Bitten Amazon Encore Paperback (2011), Audio Book (2012), and eBook (2011) 2011 Bangkok Bob and The Missing Mormon Monsoon Books Paperback (2011) and eBook (2010) 2016 First Response Hodder & Stoughton Hardcover (2016), and eBook (2016) 2018 The Shout Hodder & Stoughton 2019 The Bag Carrier Independently published 2019 Rogue Warrior Novella 2020 The Runner Hodder & Stoughton
Dan 'Spider' Shepherd Novels Publication yearTitleSeriesOriginal publisherISBNNotes 2004 Hard Landing Dan 'Spider' Shepherd #1 Hodder & Stoughton Hardcover, Paperback, Audio Book, and eBook 2005 Soft Target Dan 'Spider' Shepherd #2 Hodder & Stoughton Hardcover (2005), Paperback (2005), Audio Book (2005), and eBook (2008) 2006 Cold Kill Dan 'Spider' Shepherd #3 Hodder & Stoughton Hardcover, Paperback, Audio Book, and eBook 2007 Hot Blood Dan 'Spider' Shepherd #4 Hodder & Stoughton Paperback and eBook 2008 Dead Men Dan 'Spider' Shepherd #5 Hodder & Stoughton Hardcover (2008), Paperback (2008), Audio Book (2008), and eBook (2008) 2009 Live Fire Dan 'Spider' Shepherd #6 Hodder & Stoughton Hardcover (2009), Paperback (2010), Audio Book (2009), and eBook (2009) 2010 Rough Justice Dan 'Spider' Shepherd #7 Hodder & Stoughton Hardcover (2010), Paperback (2010), Audio Book (2010), and eBook (2010) 2011 Fair Game Dan 'Spider' Shepherd #8 Hodder & Stoughton Hardcover (2012), Paperback (2012), Audio Book (2011), and eBook (2012) 2012 False Friends Dan 'Spider' Shepherd #9 Hodder & Stoughton 2013 True Colours Dan 'Spider' Shepherd #10 Hodder & Stoughton 2014 White Lies Dan 'Spider' Shepherd #11 Hodder & Stoughton Hardcover (2014), and eBook (2014) 2015 Black Ops Dan 'Spider' Shepherd #12 Hodder & Stoughton Hardcover (2015), and eBook (2015) 2016 Dark Forces Dan 'Spider' Shepherd #13 Hodder & Stoughton Hardcover (2016), and eBook (2016) 2016 The Sandpit Dan 'Spider' Shepherd: SAS #1 CreateSpace Novella 2017 Light Touch Dan 'Spider' Shepherd #14 Hodder & Stoughton 2018 Tall Order Dan 'Spider' Shepherd #15 Hodder & Stoughton 2018 Moving Targets Dan 'Spider' Shepherd: SAS #2 CreateSpace 2019 Short Range Dan 'Spider' Shepherd #16 Hodder & Stoughton 2020 Slow Burn Dan 'Spider' Shepherd #17 Hodder & Stoughton 2021Fast TrackDan 'Spider' Shepherd #18Hodder & StoughtonHardcover, Paperback, and eBook2021Russian RouletteDan 'Spider' Shepherd: SAS #3 2022Dirty WarDan 'Spider' Shepherd #19Hodder & StoughtonHardcover, Paperback, and eBook2022Drop ZoneDan 'Spider' Shepherd: SAS #4 2023Clean KillDan 'Spider' Shepherd #20Hodder & StoughtonHardcover, Paperback, and eBook2024First StrikeDan 'Spider' Shepherd #21 Hardcover, Paperback, and eBook2024Baltic Black OpsDan 'Spider' Shepherd: SAS #5
Jack Nightingale Novels Publication yearTitleSeriesOriginal publisherISBNNotes 2010 Nightfall Jack Nightingale #1 Isis Large Print Hardcover, Paperback, Audio Book, and eBook (2012) 2011 Midnight Jack Nightingale #2 Hodder & Stoughton Hardcover (2011), Paperback (2012), Audio Book (2012), and eBook (2012) 2012 Nightmare Jack Nightingale #3 Hodder & Stoughton Hardcover (2012), Paperback (2012), Audio Book (2012), and eBook (2012) 2013 Nightshade Jack Nightingale #4 Hodder & Stoughton Hardcover (2013), Paperback (2013), Audio Book (2013), and eBook (2013) 2014 Lastnight Jack Nightingale #5 Hodder & Stoughton Hardcover (2014), and eBook (2014) 2014 San Francisco Night Jack Nightingale #6 Three Elephants Hardcover (2015), and eBook (2014) 2015 New York Night Jack Nightingale #7 Three Elephants Hardcover (2015), and eBook (2015) 2018 Tennessee Night Jack Nightingale #8 Independently published Paperback (2018), and eBook (2018)2021New Orleans NightJack Nightingale #9 Paperback, and eBook2022Las Vegas NightJack Nightingale #10 Paperback, and eBook2022Rio Grande NightJack Nightingale #11 Paperback, and eBook
Lex Harper Novels Date Show title Notes2016TakedownLex Harper #1Hodder & StoughtonHardcover (2017), and eBook (2017)2019Plausible DeniabilityLex Harper #2Independently publishedNovella
Matt Standing Novels Publication yearTitleSeriesOriginal publisherISBN Notes2018Last Man StandingMatt Standing #1Hodder & Stoughton 2022 Standing Alone Matt Standing #22023Still Standing Matt Standing #32024Standing Strong Matt Standing #4
Inspector Zhang Short stories