Matt
Williams
CRIMEWRITER
I try to write the kind of books I would enjoy reading.
I like dark stories with unexpected twists. I want characters full of the best and worst aspects of humanity. I want nuance. I want greys. I want good people doing terrible things and terrible people doing good things.
Above all, I want to think.
The Velocity of Blood
The Velocity of Blood is a psychological thriller that dives deep into the dark underworld of online abuse, social media bullying and a harrowing final twist.
Jack Tolleson has done nothing wrong. Absolutely nothing. But that doesn’t stop him being viciously bullied. Online and offline. 24 hours a day. Every single day.
Every. Single. Day.
One day in October, he breaks.
Jack wants revenge. Carefully calculated revenge. Justice. To execute his tormentors. Every single one of them. After all, nobody’s ever done a hundred in a mass shooting before. That guy in Norway got close. But he’s that guy in Norway.
If he’d done a hundred, you’d remember his name.
The Velocity of Blood
REVIEWS
"Emotional and chilling...the ending left me slack-jawed"
Lesley Kara, Sunday Times Bestselling Author
"The most harrowing yet heart-wrenching book you'll ever read. Incredible."
Graham Bartlett, Sunday Times Bestselling Crime Author
"An accomplished debut...I picked this debut up out of curiosity and was quickly hooked.Definitely a writer to watch - the book leaves you thinking long after the end."
Fiona Erskine, Bestselling Author The Chemical Detective
"Dark, a little bit twisted and a real page turner. It's not just a great debut, it's better than that. I hope there will be more books to come."
Verified Amazon Purchase - Mr. Taz
"It’s dark without ever being gory or cheap, and kept me in suspense all the way through. The utterly harrowing twist at the end was totally unpredictable yet totally believable."
Verified Amazon Purchase - NY T
Shop
BOOK
Published by crime specialists Darkstroke and available on Amazon
MERCH
Original artwork and merch by MJ Williams available on RedBubble
All author royalties from the first thousand books sold are donated to Brady United, the Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence. https://www.bradyunited.org/about
About Me
I wrote The Velocity of Blood as part of my MSt in Crime & Thriller Writing at Cambridge University, under the stewardship of the excellent Sophie Hannah with kind support from Emily Winslow.
I wanted to write something dark and different, something that took the reader into a truly uncomfortable place. I wanted readers to not know what happens next. And I wanted a totally bombshell twist. I wanted my reader to put the book down after the final reveal and think, “bloody hell,” and not be able to speak for a while.
I'm based in the UK but I spend a lot of time in the US. I especially love California. Life's better with baseball and much better with a Pacific Ocean sunset.
My favourite authors change every month, but I especially love le Carre, Michael Connolly, Lee Child, Graham Bartlett, Fiona Erskine, Mick Herron and Lesley Kara.
Outside of crimewriting and baseball, I like cats, punk music, early Metallica, surfing and track & field.
