麻豆约拍

A remote lighthouse, the top of a tower block and a long haul flight to Australia: Phil Rickman meets three authors whose books explore the heights - and depths - of fear.

'The Lamplighters' is the first novel by Emma Stonex. Its starting point is a lighthouse far offshore whose three crew have mysteriously disappeared. Yet the door is locked from the inside and the table is set for a meal. Emma tells Phil about a life-long fascination with lighthouses which inspired her - and how the sea and the lighthouse itself become characters in the book.

Louise Candlish's new novel draws on her experience of 'high place phenomenon' - a condition which creates an urge to jump from a high place. 'The Heights' tells the story of a teenage friendship which leads to tragedy and a mother's search for revenge.

Phil also meets Clare Mackintosh, a former police officer who switched to crime writing. Her novel 'Hostage' is set in an even higher place: a pioneering twenty hour airline flight bound for Sydney. She tells Phil how she was inspired by the way that long-haul flights draw together a very disparate group of people, each with their own agenda and story.