Simon Toyne

Simon Toyne has worked in British television for twenty years. As a writer, director, and producer, he has worked on several award-winning shows, one of which won a BAFTA. He lives in England with his wife and family.

Sanctus, Toyne's recently released first book, is the first volume of the Ruin trilogy.

His reply to my recent query about what he was reading:

I’m about to set off on a book tour so I’m trying to read the books of the writers I’m about to meet on various panels.

As I write, my wife is packing for a trip to Switzerland where I’ll be on a panel with the UK crime novelist Mark Billingham and I’ve nearly finished Scaredy Cat’ his second book in the Inspector Thorne series. It reminds me a little of Thomas Harris’s Red Dragon in structure – the book that introduced Hannibal Lecter to the world – as it bounces back and forth between a serial killer and the cop trying to catch him. I’m slightly obsessed with second books in a series at the moment as I’ve just finished writing mine.

I’m also packing Marina Lewycka’s A Short History of Tractors in Ukrainian as she’ll be on the panel too. Everyone I know says it’s really funny and I could do with a bit of light relief after all the blood and guts of Billingham and my own books.

Visit Simon Toyne's website, Facebook page, and Twitter perch.

My Book, The Movie: Sanctus.

--Marshal Zeringue