All roads in the fascinating world of super recognisers lead to Dr Josh P. Davis, Reader in Applied Psychology at the University of Greenwich, who has helped police forces around the world screen people for their preternatural ability to remember faces. He was very generous with his time and considerable expertise (and looks uncannily like the Olympic swimmer Duncan Goodhew…). For more information about super recognisers, visit superrecognisersinternational.com.

Dr Chris Solomon is Managing Director of Visionmetric, which specialises in intelligent facial composition software. I’m grateful to him for explaining the P3 brainwave (and for Justin Morshead for introducing me to Chris).

And thank you to Emma Mitchell, a former police officer who works as a super recogniser, for shedding light on her enviable ability to remember faces, as well as some of the nicknames she gives people.

Hannah Fry’s Hello World: How to be Human in the Age of the Machine is essential reading for anyone wanting to know more about the shortcomings of facial recognition software.

Thanks also to Detective Superintendent Jeremy Carter of Wiltshire Police, who once again answered all my procedural questions. Any mistakes are, of course, mine. Wiltshire Police doesn’t yet have its own super recogniser unit but it can only be a matter of time…

Andrew Nason kindly took me out in his Tesla Model S with his son Ben, who shared his extensive knowledge of the car. Some liberties have been taken with the vehicle’s remote access features but not many. It’s an extraordinary vehicle.

Other people who have helped: Jake Farman, for his knowledge of boats and engines; Rob Pender, who first told me about the ‘frozen addicts’ of California; Freddie, Lily and Jess Thomson for sharing the nuances of Lancashire lingo; Margaret Hewinson for being a good sounding board; Toby Ashworth for his continuing encouragement and support; Gordon Morrison for the police anecdotes; Mark Hatwood for agreeing to appear as a version of himself; Peter Evans and National Coastwatch Portscatho for all the voluntary work they do; Tatams for the wonderful coffee; Bruce Mason and Jason Welland for telling me about life on the canal; and Abigail Dent for being an early reader.

Finally, thank you to my family, Felix, Maya and Jago, and most of all my wife Hilary, whose love and support continues to make everything possible.

About the author

J.S. Monroe read English at Cambridge, worked as a foreign correspondent in Delhi, and was Weekend editor of the Daily Telegraph in London before becoming a full-time writer. Monroe is the author of eight novels, including the international bestsellers, Find Me and Forget My Name, both published by Head of Zeus. He also writes under the name Jon Stock.

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