Alex James Eccleston is a #1 bestselling British thriller and suspense author, best known for North Paradise, Forbidden Shores, and Hey, You. Alex loves to write emotionally charged stories that keep readers on the edge of their seats by combining elements of psychological tension, crime, and sometimes, even a bit of romance.

In his most recent work, Nineteen Minutes To Midnight, a teen time travel sci-fi adventure,  Alex dives deep into the furthest corners of imagination, uncovering a daring and exciting new side to his storytelling, complete with high-stakes, twists and turns, emotional resonance, and a world unlike any he’s ever created.

Alex knows how to hook you from the first line – and once he does, he doesn’t let go. His characters are messy, flawed, and real, the kind that stay with you long after the final page. His stories twist when you least expect them to, and just when you think you’ve caught your breath, he hits you right in the gut.

He’s been obsessed with books for as long as he can remember. Writers like Stephen King, Harlan Coben, Dan Simmons, and James Herbert opened the door – he still remembers the way Pet Sematary and The Rats made his skin crawl. Not just scary, but deeply unsettling in the best way. Those stories didn’t just entertain him; they inspired him, lighting a fresh, creative spark.

When he’s not writing, Alex is probably spending time with his family, lost in a book, or scribbling down the next idea that won’t leave him alone.

His novels take you on a ride – scary one minute, emotional the next – and once you’re in, there’s no getting off.

A Message from Alex

One of the most common questions I get is: What genre do you write?

Well, the simple answer is that I don’t write a genre. I write a story.

If I had to pin myself to a category, I’d probably say I sit somewhere between psychological thrillers and crime fiction. That’s where my heart tends to pull me: into the darker corners of human behaviour, the lies we tell ourselves, the consequences of buried secrets. That’s how the majority of my ideas take shape, at least.

But then there are the other ideas which pop into my head on a random wet Tuesday afternoon whilst I’m making a cup of tea or watching some mind-numbingly boring quiz show on daytime TV. These ideas are often what lead me into other genres. As well as thrillers and crime, I’ve also written love stories, romantic suspense,  even a bit of time-travel sci-fi, which became my first bestseller! Because for me, it’s never been about fitting into a box. I don’t give up on a love story because there’s no crime storyline – or bin an adventure story because no one has been murdered at the start.

What I’m trying to say is it all depends on the idea, the characters, what’s working, what’s sticking in my mind, refusing to stay quiet.

I always aim to write emotionally-driven fiction, whatever shape it takes. Stories that explore what happens when the past refuses to stay buried, when ordinary people are pushed to extraordinary decisions.

At the end of the day, I’m a storyteller. That’s all there is to it!