Nick Louth's debut thriller breaks into Amazon's top 100 selling e-books

Bite, a thriller written by former Reuters journalist Nick Louth (photo), has made it into the top 100-selling e-books on Amazon. First published as a paperback in 2007, Bite is the tale of a British scientist who finds a revolutionary way to beat a deadly tropical disease, saving millions of lives. But the day before she is due to present her findings to a conference in Amsterdam, she disappears.

The Guardian described the debut thriller as: “Fast, smart and terrifyingly plausible. Bite is a thoroughly assured thriller with an unusual and alarming setting - it sinks its hooks into the reader from the first chapter and does not let go.”

Louth, who joined Reuters in 1987, worked in London, Amsterdam and New York before leaving to pursue a freelance career in 1998. He subsequently was a columnist for the Financial Times and a regular contributor to the Investors Chronicle and MSN Money.

The book’s success comes many years after its beginnings. “I was originally inspired to write Bite in the 1990s when I worked as a journalist for Reuters,” Louth said. “I attended a conference in Amsterdam about tropical diseases like malaria which kill millions every year in the developing world, yet there were few journalists there to cover it. The interest of major pharmaceutical companies in treating the diseases of the poverty-stricken back then was virtually nil. Since then, I’m glad to say, things have improved, and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation particularly has funded many laudable initiatives. Much more, however, remains to be done.”

A video trailer to publicise Bite can be seen on YouTube. Louth’s next thriller, Heartbreaker, is due to be published in the summer.

The timing of the sales increase is a mystery. “The paperback was originally self-published in 2007, and the e-book came out in January,” Louth said. “I’m a little baffled why is has happened now - but obviously happy.” ■