For the last ten years Sam Enthoven worked as a part-time bookseller, living largely on a diet of instant noodles and parsnips while honing his skills as a writer of thrillers for young people. He is passionately – possibly 'certifiably' – committed to the ideal of "books that make kids want to read." His writing desk is made out of a squashed wardrobe. His favourite pastimes include playing lead guitar with the band Sour Mash Daddy And His Sixty Wives and practising tai chi while listening to skull-cracking drum-and-bass. "Hey," he says, "it works for me." He lives in London.