The Sunshine Man cover art

The Sunshine Man

a twisty novel of long-buried secrets from the bestselling author of The Lamplighters

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The Sunshine Man

By: Emma Stonex
Narrated by: Meg Salter, Edward Rowe
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About this listen

Gripping and emotional, The Sunshine Man is a powerful story of a terrible crime and the revenge plotted over decades, set against the haunting beauty of rural Devon.

From the bestselling author of The Lamplighters, Emma Stonex.

'Luminously unsettling' - The Observer
'A deeply thrilling and emotionally rich page-turner' - Lucy Clarke
'A wholly original and immersive thriller' - Harriet Evans

One cold winter's morning, Birdie wakes to the news she’s been waiting eighteen years to hear: Jimmy Maguire - the man who murdered her sister - is out of prison.

She sends her children to school, finds the gun she's kept hidden all this time, and leaves for London, determined to find Jimmy and make him pay. But there’s another side to this story and nothing is at it seems. Birdie is about to enter a world of family secrets, worn-out loyalties and long-buried betrayals.

Readers LOVE The Sunshine Man:
'A compelling tight thriller with heart' *****
'Hits you right between the eyes' *****
'Brilliantly written with twists and turns' *****

 Coming of Age Crime Thrillers Family Life Genre Fiction Literary Fiction Psychological Thriller & Suspense Exciting Heartfelt

Critic reviews

A remarkable novel - heart-wrenching, unflinching and deeply compassionate . . . thrilling, and incredibly moving. If you loved The Lamplighters, I guarantee you’ll love The Sunshine Man too (Emylia Hall, author of The Shell House Detectives)
Masterful. Not only suspenseful and exquisitely tense but a nuanced, humanely observed portrait of grief and trauma. A triumph (Jo Harkin, author of The Pretender)
The Sunshine Man is a masterful literary thriller . . . A deeply thrilling and emotionally rich page-turner. One of my books of the year (Lucy Clarke, Sunday Times bestselling author of The Castaways and One of the Girls)
A brilliantly accomplished story of fractured lives and the long-term reverberations of violent crime, The Sunshine Man is both poetic and fiendishly gripping. Stonex's prose is bruising and beautiful (Rosie Walsh, author of The Man Who Didn't Call)
Spellbinding and beautifully written, The Sunshine Man transcends genre. It’s an unbearably tense thriller and a nuanced examination of fractured lives, grief and trauma. Told in glittering and poetic prose with an impeccable sense of place, this is a granular exploration of big questions – revenge, love and redemption. I –––ing loved it! (Nikki May, author of Wahala and This Motherless Land)
A compelling and masterful thriller - with a loaded gun, a car chase and a woman set on revenge - and a compassionate tale of grief, resilience, love and absolution (Susan Fletcher, author of The Night in Question)
This dark, compelling novel of trauma, revenge and damaged lives really got under my skin . . . The prose shines with beauty, the characters are vividly drawn and the plot hurtles headlong towards its unforgettable ending (Lucy Diamond, author of I Remember Paris)
Gripping, heartbreaking, and one of the most psychologically complex thrillers I've ever read (Caroline Lea, author of The Glass Woman)
Emma Stonex returns with a dark, powerful page-turner - a story full of pain and loneliness but also love and redemption. A very sophisticated and moving psychological thriller (Emily Koch, author of If I Die Before I Wake)
Some books grab you by the throat, others by the heart. The Sunshine Man seizes both then refuses to let go. Threaded through with a deep, unfurling sense of dread, yet dazzling in its tenderness and heart, this compelling literary thriller cements Emma Stonex's place as one of our brightest literary talents. A masterful achievement (Hannah Richell, author of The Search Party)
All stars
Most relevant
The narrators were excellent and often felt like a radio play. I listened to this whilst in bed with the flu and it kept me company really well. At first I found the authors style over descriptive and it felt like she was trying too hard. However the more it moved on the better it all flowed and I warmed to her style. I loved the unfolding of information and the questions that it raised around the main character Jimmy. I felt that the ending was inline with the characters, subtl, believable and stayed true to the authors style. This story is rich in an unobvious way and I look forward to hearing more from the author,

Perfect as an audio book

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