A LADDER TO THE SKY

John Boyne / Penguin Random House

Aspiring writer Maurice Swift has never had an original idea in his life – he steals other people’s stories and makes them his own, using his charms to seduce and manipulate. Once a story is plundered, Maurice is gone, leaving despair and occasionally death in his wake. From Berlin, New York and London to the Amalfi Coast, where he meets his match in a scathing Gore Vidal, he hones his corrupt craft. Ever more addicted to literary celebrity, this plagiarising sociopath has few qualms about the collateral damage. Increasingly sinister as the plot progresses, this gripping psycho-thriller also asks: does true creativity lie in the idea or the execution?