2022 LITFEST BIG TOWN READ ANNOUNCED
Returning for the 2022 Marlborough LitFest is its annual Big Town Read event, which this year is the thriller, The Man on Hackpen Hill, by local author, JS Monroe (whose real name is Jon Stock). Stock will be appearing at LitFest on Sunday 2 October at 5.30pm in Marlborough Town Hall.
Every year Marlborough LitFest, with the support of Wiltshire Libraries, chooses a title which is suggested for local book groups and individuals to read as LitFest’s Big Town Read, ahead of the author appearing at the festival in the autumn. This event has proved popular with audiences – particularly local book groups – who enjoy the chance to have a Q&A session with the author during the festival. Copies of the book are available to order from Marlborough Library over the summer.
This year’s choice, The Man on Hackpen Hill, is the third JS Monroe thriller to feature DI Silas Hart, fictional head of Swindon CID. From Hackpen Hill’s deadly crop circle to the shadowy figures of Porton Down, local name-checking adds to the fun of this fast-paced and tense page turner. The Independent called it ‘An impressive, twisty tale’; the Daily Mail called it ‘impeccably researched… An unusual mystery told with exceptional skill’.
Stock worked as a foreign correspondent in Delhi and was Weekend editor of the Daily Telegraph before becoming a full-time writer. He is also the author of five spy thrillers, one of which, Dead Spy Running, was optioned by Warner Bros. He lives with his wife, fine art photographer Hilary Stock, in Great Bedwyn, a village that plays a prominent role in his books.
Previous Big Town Read authors have included Laline Paull, Sathnam Sanghera, Jackie Kay, Rachel Joyce, Raynor Winn and Rosamund Lupton.
Stock says: “I’m thrilled and honoured that The Man on Hackpen Hill has been chosen as this year’s LitFest Big Town Read. I draw enormous inspiration from the beautiful landscape we live in and I hope people enjoy all the local references and settings.”
Genevieve Clarke, Chair of Marlborough LitFest, said: “This is the first time we’ve had a book set in Wiltshire as our Big Town Read. The Man on Hackpen Hill will get local readers seeing our familiar landmarks in a very different light.”