Maclean is a formidable writer, who takes simple ideas and turns them into compelling thrillers. In the recent Home Before Dark, Maclean takes on a subject I'm surprised hasn't been dealt with more: the internet chat room, which was one of the earliest attractions of online life and that has proven to be among the most dangerous. I'm a sucker for the twisting plot, and that's one of Maclean's specialities. * Jeffery Deaver, writing in Guardian *
'Maclean is good on the creepiness of stalking, as well as on the way the past can come back to haunt you and the way that most casual interactions can set off a chain reaction of unimaginable proportions.' * Sydney Morning Herald *
Charles Maclean 'creates a lethal psychopath who seems able to strike at whim and taunts his pursuers with a website that celebrates his dark deeds' * Canberra Times *
Utterly gripping - the best thriller of the Internet age I have ever read. It lures you into the seductive world of the chat-room, where nothing is quite what it seems, and the mundane shades chillingly into the sinister. There were times when I scarcely dared to turn the page. * Magnus Linklater *
A classic thriller of the highest quality - complex, meticulously researched and skilfully told - but it goes further, taking the genre into cyber-space and giving terror a whole new dimension. The murderous hacker enters unobserved into his victims' lives. Reality and virtual reality become confused. The protagonists criss-cross the globe by train and plane but the digital avenger is always one step ahead. A compulsive read. * Piers Paul Read *
Tautly crafted and chilling, if there's a rush of people cancelling internet chatroom accounts this month blame the dark talent of Charles Maclean * Daily Record *
I was SO impressed by Charles Maclean's HOME BEFORE DARK - what a gripping, disturbing, utterly up to the minute thriller - such an achievement * Joanna Trollope *
Packed with blood, murder and mayhem, HOME BEFORE DARK is a particularly disturbing thriller - menacing...gruesome...original. Gird yourself and don't underestimate Maclean. * Spectator *
A thriller that gripped me by the throat and wouldn't let go for 36 tortured hours, HOME BEFORE DARK chills the eyes as well as the spine. I have never seen such evil leak out of a computer screen. Maclean is a master of electronic horror. * Ferdinand Mount *
Like the best horror stories, HOME BEFORE DARK creates a stifling, claustrophobic atmosphere; it catches you up so you feel you are a player in the plot, not just an observer. It doesn't let you rest: you wake in the night and carry on reading - and as more pieces of the jig-saw fall into place, you begin to see the potential horror just as the protagonists become aware of it. Marvellously ingenious and unexpected. * Scotch Whisky Review *
Intricately plotted and cast in understated prose, HOME BEFORE DARK kept me up long after midnight. * Bloomberg *
A very well written thriller, with moments of genuine suspense and jeopardy, HOME BEFORE DARK is a modern horror story full of very human demons. * Mike Ripley's Crime File *
