He first came to prominence with the publication, in 2004, of 'The blood of strangers,' a wonderful collection of 28 short stories - all of them involving the day to night, life and death work of an A and E doctor. Subsequent novels have attempted to grapple with larger themes; whilst still retaining and maintaining a consistent thread of consideration and humanity - all 3 however unwaveringly focus on the singular disparities between life and death and the immediacy with which the former can so quickly, so unrelentingly, become the latter.