Read by Peter Forbes

In this heart-stopping installment of Peter May's award-winning China Thrillers, the Beijing Olympics are the setting for fierce competition, national pride -- and murder. THE SUFFERER A prodigious Chinese swimmer kills himself on the eve of the Beijing Olympics. Days later, a champion weightlifter suffers a fatal heart attack prior to competition. THE LISTENER Detective Li Yan senses a conspiracy surrounding the fatalities, and finds a female athlete willing to talk. But she will only trust one person: Li's fiancee, Margaret Campbell. THE RUNNER When Campbell's contact herself vanishes, the gun is fired on a race against time. And Li must now outrun -- and outwit -- an enemy bent on pushing him beyond endurance. Peter May was born and raised in Scotland. He was an award-winning journalist at the age of twenty-one and a published novelist at twenty-six. When his first book was adapted as a major drama series for the BCC, he quit journalism and during the high-octane fifteen years that followed, became one of Scotland's most successful television dramatists. He created three prime-time drama series, presided over two of the highest-rated serials in his homeland as script editor and producer, and worked on more than 1,000 episodes of ratings-topping drama before deciding to leave television to return to his first love, writing novels. He has won several literature awards in France, received the USA's Barry Award for The Blackhouse, the first in his internationally bestselling Lewis Trilogy; and in 2014 was awarded the ITV Specsavers Crime Thriller Book Club Best Read of the Year award for Entry Island. Peter now lives in southwest France with his wife, writer Janice Hally. "A fluid plot, rounded characters, and deft handling of two very different cultures make this a winner." -Publishers Weekly "Each installment of the China Thrillers series provides rewarding views of the Beijing landscape and insights into cross-cultural relationships." -Kirkus Reviews "An enjoyable read with a graphic portrayal of Beijing in winter." -Sunday Telegraph "May makes his characters so fascinating and the culture of China's capital city so intriguing." -Marilyn's Mystery Reads "If you love a good mystery set in a foreign country, then The Runner is for you!" -Mysterious Reviews "A tense and atmospheric thriller with a heart-stopping ending." -Tangled Web "An absorbing and well-informed account of Beijing life today and the inside workings of the Chinese police . . . Far from a dim sum, this fare turns out quite piquant." -Russell James, Crime Time Magazine "The most exciting thriller I've read in a very long time . . . A fiendishly clever plot!" -Alanna Knight, The Times

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