A little lie ... a seismic secret ... and the cracks are beginning to show...

In a reimagined contemporary Edinburgh, where a tectonic fault has opened up to produce a new volcano in the Firth of Forth, and where tremors are an everyday occurrence, volcanologist Surtsey makes a shocking discovery.
On a clandestine trip to new volcanic island The Inch, to meet Tom, her lover and her boss, she finds his lifeless body, and makes the fatal decision to keep their affair, and her discovery, a secret. Desperate to know how he died, but also terrified she'll be exposed, Surtsey's life quickly spirals into a nightmare when someone makes contact - someone who claims to know what she's done...


'An explosive thriller' Daily Record

'A cracking and highly original thriller' Mark Billingham

'You don't read Fault Lines so much as you white-knuckle your way through its twists and turns' Megan Abbott

'A masterclass in suspense' Steve Cavanagh

'Scotland's truest exponent of noir' Chris Brookmyre

'Richly characterised, beautifully crafted, this is a book that you truly inhabit' Emma Kavanagh

'Brilliantly unputdownable' Martyn Waites

'Johnston weaves his compelling and original tale with great skill and elegance' Amanda Jennings