Gavin Bell is a thriller writer and author of the Carter Blake series published by Orion under the pseudonym Mason Cross. The first, The Killing Season, was published in 2014 and was longlisted for the Theakston Old Peculier Crime Novel of the Year award. It was followed by four further novels in the series, including the Richard and Judy Book Club selection The Samaritan. He has also written standalone thrillers as Alex Knight, including Hunted and Darkness Falls. He lives in Glasgow with his wife and three children.