Kerry Wilkinson (born 4 November 1980) is a British author and sports journalist born in Bath, Somerset. In 2018, his book Ten Birthdays won the Romantic Novelists' Association award for Young Adult Novel of the Year. Along with Marius Gabriel, he was the first man to win a RoNA Award in the organisation's 58-year history.^[1][2] He is also an International Thriller Writers Awards winner, with Close To You, for best ebook original.

In March 2023, he wrote an article for The Bookseller, entitled 'Autism can be a huge publishing strength—and challenge'^[3] about how he was an adult when he discovered he was autistic.

Work

Kerry Wilkinson is an author who has had bestselling ebooks in the UK, Canada, Australia and South Africa.

In 2011, he became one of the United Kingdom's most-successful self-published authors, but has since worked with 'traditional' publishers. In the final quarter of 2011, Amazon UK announced he was their top-selling author for their Amazon Kindle chart - and that he had sold over 250,000 ebooks.^[4]

His first novel, Locked In, went to number one on the Amazon Kindle chart^[5] and Apple's iTunes crime books chart.^[6] At one point in November 2011, he had the top three books in the crime chart.^[7]

He signed a six-book deal with Pan Books in February 2012 to publish his Jessica Daniel series of novels.^[8]

In March 2012, it was announced he was one of Amazon's top-10 bestselling UK-born authors worldwide for 2011.^[9] In August 2012, it was reported he was one of Amazon's top-10 bestselling Kindle authors in 2012.^[10][11]

In September 2012, Pan Macmillan announced they had acquired a "fantasy trilogy for young adults",^[12] the Silver Blackthorn series.

The fourth Jessica Daniel book, Think of the Children, became Amazon UK's no.1 ebook pre-order,^[13] in February 2013, with the paperback peaking at number 19 on the UK chart.^[14]

In August 2013, The Bookseller reported that Pan Macmillan had bought two more books^[15] from Wilkinson, including a standalone crime novel, Down Among The Dead Men; and Something Wicked, a spin-off from Playing With Fire, book five of the Jessica Daniel series.

Watched: When Road Rage Follows You Home (Dec 2013) and Crossing The Line (January 2014) became Wilkinson's seventh and eighth successive novels to appear in Amazon's top 20 crime chart.

A further deal followed in 2014 for another book in the Jessica Daniel series, another Andrew Hunter book, and a standalone crime thriller entitled, No Place Like Home. In 2015, the Bookseller reported his sales were "fast approaching the one million mark".^[16]

With the Jessica Daniel series continuing through Pan Books in the UK, publisher Bookouture secured the rights to publish the series in the United States,^[17] as well as global rights for "two psychological thrillers".^[18]

In 2017, the first of those thrillers, Two Sisters, peaked at No.1 in the Canada Kindle chart^[19] and the iBooks chart.^[20] It also reached No.14 in the UK Kindle chart and No.20 in the United States.^[21]

The second, The Girl Who Came Back, reached No.1 in the UK Kobo chart^[22] and No.2 in the UK Kindle chart.^[21] It also became his second No.1 in Canada.^[21]

In 2018, his coming-of-age novel, Ten Birthdays, won Young Adult romance novel of the year at the Romantic Novelists' Association Awards.^[23][24][1]

In 2020, his novel, Close To You, won Best Ebook Original Novel at the International Thriller Writers Awards.^[25]

In 2021, publisher Bookouture announced Wilkinson's novel, The Blame, was his "30th book with us: the most titles Bookouture has ever released from one author".^[26] It also acquired "World All Languages rights for two more addictive psychological thrillers, plus the coming-of-age novel Truly, Madly, Amy"^[27]

In 2022, Bookouture said they had "signed a four-book mystery series with bestselling author Kerry Wilkinson".^[28] The Whitecliff series was then released in 2023.

That same year, Bookouture announced they had signed "a pair of linked books, about a girl who goes to a teenage sleepover: but when she wakes up, her friends have vanished."^[29] The Night Of The Sleepover and After The Sleepover were due for release in October and December 2023.

Education

Kerry attended Oakfield Middle School and Frome Community College^[30] in Frome, Somerset. He has a degree in journalism from the University of Central Lancashire.^[31]

Support

Kerry sponsors the annual short story competition for young writers in his home town of Frome. This is part of the Frome Festival.^[32]

Bibliography

Miscellaneous

• Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe: Spider-Man (2005) (co-writer)

Jessica Daniel crime novels

• Locked In (2011), ISBN 978-1447225645 (German version: Eingesperrt - Jessica Daniel ermittelt, Translator: Olaf Knechten, 2013)
• Vigilante (2011) ISBN 978-1447225669
• The Woman In Black (2011) ISBN 978-1447225676
• As If By Magic (ebook exclusive, 2012)
• Think Of The Children (February 2013) ISBN 978-1447223405
• Playing With Fire (July 2013) ISBN 978-1447223412
• Thicker Than Water (October 2013) ISBN 978-1447223429
• Behind Closed Doors (January 2014) ISBN 978-1447247852
• Crossing The Line (September 2014) ISBN 978-1447247876
• Scarred For Life (January 2015) ISBN 978-1447247890
• For Richer, For Poorer (February 2016) ISBN 978-1447280927
• Nothing But Trouble (February 2017) ISBN 978-1447285441
• Eye For An Eye (January 2018) ISBN 978-1509806652
• Silent Suspect (January 2019) ISBN 978-0957016422
• The Unlucky Ones (July 2019) ISBN 978-0957016446
• A Cry In The Night (January 2020) ISBN 978-0957016453

The Jessica Daniel novels are also available as audiobooks, read by Becky Hindley.

Whitecliff mystery novels

• The One Who Fell (April 2023) ISBN 978-1837900527
• The One Who Was Taken (April 2023) ISBN 978-1837900985
• The Ones Who Are Buried (April 2023) ISBN 978-1837901388
• The Ones Who Are Hidden (May 2023) ISBN 978-1837903559

The Whitecliff mystery novels are also available as audiobooks, read by Helen Keeley.

Andrew Hunter crime novels

• Something Wicked (June 2014)
• Something Hidden (June 2015)
• Something Buried (February 2019)

The Andrew Hunter novels are also available as audiobooks, read by Nigel Patterson.

Silver Blackthorn novels

• Reckoning (May 2014) ISBN 978-1447235309 (UK, Pan Books); (July 2014) ISBN 978-1250053534 (USA, St. Martin's Press)
• Renegade (May 2015) ISBN 978-1447235316 (UK, Pan Books); (July 2015) ISBN 978-1250061331 (USA, St. Martin's Press)
• Resurgence (May 2016) ISBN 978-1250061331 (UK, Pan Books); (July 2016) ISBN 978-1250090799 (USA, St. Martin's Press)

Other crime novels

• Watched: When Road Rage Follows You Home (2013)
• Down Among The Dead Men (September 2015) ISBN 978-1447253303
• No Place Like Home (November 2016) ISBN 978-1509804443
• Two Sisters (June 2017) ISBN 978-1786812094
• The Girl Who Came Back (September 2017) ISBN 978-1786812667
• Last Night (March 2018) ISBN 978-1786814241
• The Wife's Secret (October 2018) ISBN 978-1786817075
• A Face In The Crowd (June 2019) ISBN 978-1786817648
• Close To You (October 2019) ISBN 978-1838881627
• After The Accident (March 2020) ISBN 978-1838885168
• The Child Across The Street (July 2020) ISBN 978-1838887490
• What My Husband Did (November 2020) ISBN 978-1838888602
• The Blame (February 2021) ISBN 978-1800195028
• The Child In The Photo (June 2021) ISBN 978-1800195042
• The Perfect Daughter (September 2021) ISBN 978-1800197299
• The Party At Number 12 (March 2022) ISBN 978-1803142777
• The Boyfriend (June 2022) ISBN 978-1803142753
• The Night Of The Sleepover (October 2023)
• After The Sleepover (December 2023)

Other novels

• Ten Birthdays (April 2017) ISBN 978-1786811837
• The Death And Life Of Eleanor Parker (July 2018) ISBN 978-1786812544
• Truly, Madly, Amy (July 2022) ISBN 978-1803142739

References

External links

• KerryWilkinson.com his personal website including his blog and bibliography.