Jon Stock writes under two names: his own and J.S.Monroe. Writing as Jon Stock, he is the author of six spy novels, including Dead Spy Running, which was optioned by Warner Bros. The Sleep Room is his first non-fiction book.
Writing as J.S.Monroe, Jon is the author of five psychological thrillers, including the international bestseller Find Me (Head of Zeus, 2017), which has been translated into 14 languages.
Dead Spy Running (HarperCollins, 2009) his third novel and the first in the Daniel Marchant (or ‘Legoland’) trilogy, has been translated into five languages. It follows Daniel Marchant, a young MI6 officer, as he tries to clear the name of his disgraced father, the former Chief of MI6. It was followed by Games Traitors Play (HarperCollins, 2011) and Dirty Little Secret (HarperCollins, 2012).
Warner Bros bought the film rights to the trilogy in 2009, hiring Oscar-winner Stephen Gaghan (Traffic, Syriana) to write the screenplay for Dead Spy Running, which went into development with McG (Terminator IV, Charlie’s Angels, This Means War) and Kevin McCormick (Gangster Squad) producing. Adam Wingard (Godzilla x Kong) was later attached to direct.
Forget My Name (Head of Zeus, 2018), was the first J.S.Monroe novel to feature DI Silas Hart and his sidekick DC Strover. It was published in the US as The Last Thing She Remembers (Park Row Books, 2019.) Translation rights have been sold to six countries.
The Other You (Head of Zeus, 2020), also features Hart and Strover, and translation rights have recently been sold to South Korea and Bulgaria. “I doubt many other psychological thrillers published this year will be as propulsive and fun,” said the Telegraph.
The Man on Hackpen Hill(Head of Zeus, 2021) was the third novel to feature Hart and Strover. “A kind of Wiltshire da Vinci code,” according to ITN’s Tom Bradby. “Impeccably researched,” said the Daily Mail.
The fifth J.S.Monroe thriller, No Place to Hide(Head of Zeus, 2023) was described by Mick Herron as “clever, convincing and wickedly twisty – highly recommended”. JP Delaney called it “an intelligent and inventive thriller that grips to the very last page”. “Compelling, relentless and genuinely frightening,” agreed Simon Russell Beale.
After reading English at Magdalene College, Cambridge, Jon worked as a freelance journalist in London, writing investigative, lifestyle and arts features for most of Britain’s national newspapers, as well as contributing to BBC Radio 4. In 1995 he lived in Kochi in Kerala, where he worked on the staff of India’s The Week magazine. Between 1998 and 2000, he was a foreign correspondent in Delhi, writing for the Daily Telegraph, South China Morning Post and the Singapore Straits Times. He also wrote the Last Word column in The Week magazine from 1995 to 2012.
On his return to Britain in 2000, he worked on various Saturday sections of the Telegraph before taking up a staff job as editor of its flagship Weekend section in 2005, which he oversaw for five years. He left Weekend and the Telegraph in 2010 to finish writing his Daniel Marchant trilogy and returned to the Telegraph in February 2013 to oversee the Telegraph‘s digital books channel. In May 2014 he was promoted to Executive Head of Weekend and Living, editing the paper’s Saturday and Sunday print supplements, as well as a range of digital lifestyle channels. He left the paper in October 2015 to resume his writing career.
His first novel, The Riot Act (Serpent’s Tail, 1997) was launched on the top floor of Canary Wharf tower. The book was shortlisted by the Crime Writers’ Association for its best first novel award and was subsequently published by Gallimard in France as part of its acclaimed Serie Noir. The Cardamom Club (Blackamber, 2003) was republished by Head of Zeus in 2018 as The India Spy.
In 2017, Jon was commissioned by The Nare, a luxury hotel in Cornwall, to write a spy novella set in and around the hotel, which is located on the Roseland Peninsula. To Snare A Spy is available to buy from the hotel.
J.S.Monroe/Jon Stock is represented by Will Francis at Janklow & Nesbit (+44 207-243-2975; queries@janklow.co.uk). For film and TV rights for all J.S. Monroe thrillers, please contact Emily Hayward Whitlock at The Artists Partnership (+44 207 439 1456).
