The mind-expanding new thriller from the bestselling author of The Sleepwalkers and The End of Mr. Y

He’s running for his life. And he’s running out of time.

Jay has been hunted since he was twenty years old. A contract on his life has been traded like a commodity, rising and falling with Bitcoin. On the run once again, with no passport, and airmiles as his only currency, Jay will have to choose between love and survival, and run for his life!

The Runner is a high concept literary thriller featuring high-finance, con-artists, the Book of Jonah, ultramarathons and how falling in love can change everything.

Darkly funny, sexy, exciting, philosophical and thrilling, The Runner is the most gripping and intelligent novel you will read in 2026.

Praise for Scarlett Thomas

‘Fiction roaring on all cylinders’, Guardian

Gloriously dark and tangled', Observer

'A dark, twisty, savagely … a smart, layered, stinging look at power and its abuse', The Times

‘A work of peculiar, gonzo genius', The New York Times

‘Like a darker, funnier The White Lotus’ James Smythe

‘Brilliant, savage and hilarious', Bidisha Mamata

'A twisty Gothic tale of vertiginous depths and haunting power' Sandra Newman, author of Julia

'Ingenious and original', Philip Pullman