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Stephen Leather

Goodreads Author

Born

The United Kingdom

Website

http://www.stephenleather.com/

Twitter

stephenleather

Genre

Mystery & Thrillers

Member Since

September 2011

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Stephen Leather was a journalist for more than ten years on newspapers such as The Times, the Daily Mail and the South China Morning Post in Hong Kong. His bestsellers have been translated into more than ten languages. He has also written for television shows such as London's Burning, The Knock and the BBC's Murder in Mind series. For much of 2011 his self-published eBooks - including The Bestseller, The Basement, Once Bitten and Dreamer's Cat - dominated the UK eBook bestseller lists and sold more than half a million copies. The Basement topped the Kindle charts in the UK and the US, and in total he has sold more than two million eBooks. His bestselling book The Chinaman was filmed as The Foreigner, starring Jackie Chan and Pierce Brosnan ...more

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Combine Editions
Stephen Leather’s books

Average rating: 4.18 · 138,251 ratings · 5,791 reviews · 256 distinct works • Similar authors

	Hard Landing (Dan Shepherd, #1) 4.06 avg rating — 6,455 ratings — published 2004 — 21 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Nightfall (Jack Nightingale, #1) 3.98 avg rating — 4,507 ratings — published 2010 — 36 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Soft Target (Dan Shepherd, #2) 4.24 avg rating — 3,686 ratings — published 2005 — 28 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Cold Kill (Dan Shepherd, #3) 4.31 avg rating — 3,095 ratings — published 2006 — 22 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	The Basement 3.67 avg rating — 3,628 ratings — published 2010 — 18 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Hot Blood (Dan Shepherd, #4) 4.28 avg rating — 2,790 ratings — published 2007 — 24 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Midnight (Jack Nightingale, #2) 4.07 avg rating — 2,880 ratings — published 2011 — 34 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	The Chinaman (Mike Cramer #1) 4.21 avg rating — 2,632 ratings — published 1992 — 38 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Black Ops (Dan Shepherd, #12) 4.36 avg rating — 2,389 ratings — published 2015 — 17 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Nightmare (Jack Nightingale, #3) 4.22 avg rating — 2,435 ratings — published 2012 — 30 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars

More books by Stephen Leather…

133 posts
Stephen Leather's Blog

Two Of My Favourite Writers

Two of my favouriote writers. Val McDermid and Ken Follett. Very different writing styles, but..... Read more of this blog post »

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Published on August 23, 2025 00:47

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Series by Stephen Leather

Dan Shepherd (21 books)
by

Stephen Leather (Goodreads Author)

4.29 avg rating — 55,124 ratings

Jack Nightingale (9 books)
by

Stephen Leather (Goodreads Author)

4.14 avg rating — 22,035 ratings

Matt Standing (3 books)
by

Stephen Leather (Goodreads Author)

4.35 avg rating — 5,854 ratings

Mike Cramer (3 books)
by

Stephen Leather (Goodreads Author)

4.26 avg rating — 4,800 ratings

Lex Harper (2 books)
by

Stephen Leather (Goodreads Author)

4.15 avg rating — 4,337 ratings

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Stephen is Currently Reading

Stephen Leather is currently reading

Media Libel Law 2010-11

by Inc. Media Law Resource Center

bookshelves: currently-reading

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Nov 05, 2011 07:55AM

Stephen Leather is currently reading

Libel law: A journalist's handbook

by Damian McHugh

bookshelves: currently-reading

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Nov 05, 2011 07:54AM

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The Practical Guide to Libel Law

by Neil J. Rosini

bookshelves: currently-reading

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Nov 05, 2011 07:54AM

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Stephen’s Recent Updates

Stephen Leather is now friends with Mandarina
Jun 06, 2026 08:10AM · like
Stephen Leather and 1 other person liked Abbi Denney's review of The Cat Who Caught a Killer (Conrad the Cat Detective #1): "My cats seem useless now 🤣"
Oct 05, 2025 05:59AM · see review
Stephen Leather and 2 other people liked Kristy-Lee's review of The Cat Who Caught a Killer (Conrad the Cat Detective #1): "A great mystery story made 1000 times better because of Conrad the Calico Cat."
Oct 05, 2025 05:59AM · see review
Stephen Leather and 1 other person liked Paul de Bruijn's review of The Cat Who Caught a Killer (Conrad the Cat Detective, 1): "Leuk boek wat je makkelijk wegleest. 10/10 aanrader voor de kattenfans. "
Oct 05, 2025 05:59AM · see review

More of Stephen's books…

Quotes by Stephen Leather (?)

“New York always brings out the serial killer in me. It’s a great city to kill in. The best. You've got something like fifteen million people living cheek by jowl, and most of them couldn't give a damn about anyone else. No one wants to get involved. No one cares.”
― Stephen Leather, The Basement

5 likes

“Jack Nightingale: "So I'm a hero?"
Supt. Chalmers: "No, Nightingale, you're an arsehole. But I can't arrest you for that.”
― Stephen Leather, Midnight

5 likes

“Baltimore's slogan was 'The City that Reads', but like the rest of its one million or so inhabitants Lori knew that was a pipedream; the city had one of the lowest literacy rates in the country, and along with illiteracy went a lack of morals.”
― Stephen Leather, The Birthday Girl

4 likes

See all Stephen Leather's quotes »

Polls

Vote for our June 2016 group read

VOID by David M. Staniforth

9 votes, 20.5%

The Drop by Michael Connelly

6 votes, 13.6%

I Know Who Did IT by Steve Mosby

5 votes, 11.4%

The Long Goodbye by Raymond Chandler

4 votes, 9.1%

One by One by Chris Carter

4 votes, 9.1%

The Dry by Jane Harper

3 votes, 6.8%

Before It Breaks by Dave Warner

2 votes, 4.5%

Swimsuit by James Patterson

2 votes, 4.5%

Stranded by Marina Cox

2 votes, 4.5%

The Broken Shore by Peter Temple

2 votes, 4.5%

The Straw Men by Michael Marshall

1 vote, 2.3%

The Basement by Stephen Leather

1 vote, 2.3%

King of the Road by Nigel Bartlett

1 vote, 2.3%

Post Mortem by Kate London

1 vote, 2.3%

A Field of Red by Greg Enslen

1 vote, 2.3%

44 total votes

4 comments

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Topics Mentioning This Author

topics	posts	views	last activity
The Seasonal Read...: * Summer Challenge 2011 Completed Tasks (DO NOT DELETE ANY POSTS)	2614	902	Aug 31, 2011 09:18PM
The Seasonal Read...: Winter Challenge 2011: Reading Plans	44	332	Jan 17, 2012 08:52PM
The Seasonal Read...: Winter Challenge 2011: Completed Tasks -DO NOT DELETE ANY POSTS IN THIS TOPIC	2866	793	Feb 29, 2012 09:03PM
52 Books in 52 We...: Week5. (29 - 5 Feb)	19	64	Aug 05, 2012 08:02AM
75 Books...More o...: Titch's 75 Book Challenge for 2012	91	48	Dec 28, 2012 11:21AM
Read 150+ Books a...: Titch's 150 Book Challenge for 2012	91	25	Jan 01, 2013 01:26PM
The Mystery, Crim...: Currently Reading? Just Finished?	10119	3959	May 09, 2013 11:36AM

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Stephen’s Quotes

5 likes

“Ideas are like rabbits. You get a couple and learn how to handle them, and pretty soon you have a dozen.”
― John Steinbeck

1622 likes

“The first draft of anything is shit.”
― Ernest Hemingway

tags: attributed-no-source, writing

4231 likes

“For instance, on the planet Earth, man had always assumed that he was more intelligent than dolphins because he had achieved so much—the wheel, New York, wars and so on—whilst all the dolphins had ever done was muck about in the water having a good time. But conversely, the dolphins had always believed that they were far more intelligent than man—for precisely the same reasons.”
― Douglas Adams, The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy

tags: humour

10150 likes

Stephen’s Friend Comments

Comments (showing 1-6) post a comment »

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message 6: by Donna

Oct 16, 2017 05:20PM

Stephen, thank you for accepting my friend request on Goodreads.

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message 5: by Brian

Dec 26, 2012 07:08AM

Stephen thanks for you connection...not much time to read fiction these days...more into personal growth books...any suggestions...are appreciated.
Brian Kaplan
IamGratitudeCards.com

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message 4: by Stuart

May 02, 2012 10:07PM

Thanks for being my new pal, Stephen. Having lived in Thailand a long time, when I read Private Dancer way back, I not only knew that you knew what you were talking about, but that you were a damn good writer. Good to be in your company.

Sawatdee krup,

Stuart

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message 3: by Rai

Apr 21, 2012 07:56PM