21 Apr 2025
St Albans crime author Heather Critchlow is taking a look into a grim future in her first dystopian novel.
Before concluding her acclaimed Cal Lovett detective series, she is time-travelling into the 2050s for her new book The Tomorrow Project.
Once again the world finds itself in the grip of a deadly virus, and the British Prime Minister tells her people to remain calm. A vaccine will be available soon, but as a precautionary measure children will be whisked away to undisclosed locations, kept safe until the storm passes.
But Downing Street press secretary Marianne doesn’t realise the futility until it’s too late, and when the truth hits her, Marianne is forced to choose: stay with her family, or do whatever she can to help the doomed survive…
Heather explained her sideways step into speculative fiction: “This is a novel I started working on when I was trying and failing to find a publisher for my crime fiction. I didn’t think anyone would ever read it, so I was free to let my imagination go!
“By the time it was finished, I had a three book deal for the Cal Lovett series so shared it with my agent and we submitted it to my editor.
“Luckily she wanted to take it, so I signed two more contracts with [my publishers] Canelo – one to finish the Cal Lovett books and one for The Tomorrow Project and another book in this genre.
“I love dystopian and post-apocalyptic fiction and the idea for this book came to me years ago when explaining WWII evacuation to my young children.
“They were horrified at the idea of being sent away on trains and it was also the first time I’d actually pictured evacuation from the perspective of a parent.
“In The Tomorrow Project, parents are faced with heart wrenching decisions about how to protect their children. Political adviser Marianne is also faced with the realisation that the Government she has believed in and championed is corrupt.
“She starts smuggling children who would otherwise be left to die onto trains to the camps. In the chaos as London falls, she manages to get one last child out – Maia. The novel then follows Maia’s fate.”
The Tomorrow Project is billed as a powerful work of speculative fiction for fans of The Last of Us and The End We Start From, and is available from May 15. You can meet Heather that evening at Waterstones in St Albans, where she will be in conversation with Dominic Nolan. His latest book White City was named one of The Times’ crime novels of the year in 2024.
