YOU could say it’s a novel that’s been more than 40 years in the making.

But Max Manning’s years working as a journalist, including time on the Essex County Standard and Colchester Gazette, have really paid off as his debut crime thriller is about to soar up the charts.

The buzz around Now You See has been so great already, his publisher has already sold the rights to the book in America, Germany and Hungary.

“It’s all been slightly crazy,” he smiles. “Just getting the book a publisher was incredible but all this attention has left me in a bit of a daze. In Germany it went to auction after two publishers were interested in it.”

While some of it has to be down to the way Max has crafted his writing skills working for the likes of the Daily Express and the Daily Telegraph, he suggests it might also have something to do with the subject matter, that being the darker side of social media.

In Now You See there’s a murderer on the lose. Calling themselves I, Killer they’ve posted two photos of their first victim on-line - Before Death and After Death, and now they’ve gone viral before DCI Fenton’s team even discovers the body.

Soon, another victim’s photo is similarly posted...and so begins the killer’s following.

DCI Fenton is determined to discover the identity of I, Killer. Then the murderer makes the hunt personal, and Fenton’s search becomes a matter of life or death for him and his daughter.

But as I, Killer’s body-count rises, his number of online followers is growing - and he loves to give his fans what they want.

“It started with the story,” Max continues, “and the characters came from there. I set it in East London, around Docklands and Canary Wharf, because I knew the area from my newspaper days but I think what really sealed it for the publishers was the subject matter, in particular a serial killer that uses social media. They liked the fact it was a gripping crime thriller but also that it had a bit of social commentary on the dark side of social media.”

Now living in Ingatestone, Max was born and brought up in Colchester, first attending St Benedict’s School before going to the Gilberd Grammar on North Hill.

After leaving school he went to work on the Essex County Standard before moving over to the Evening Gazette in 1978.

“Writing is something I always wanted to do,” he tells me, “but at that age I knew I could never write a novel and so I went to get some experience.

“After the Gazette, I went to work at the Argus in Brighton before moving to Fleet Street, where I worked on the first national colour newspaper Today before moving to the Daily Telegraph. Eventually I ended up sub-editing, gradually working from home and then decided to step back from it all. I loved being a journalist and I definitely wasn’t pining to be a novelist but when the time came I knew it was what I wanted to do.”

Now You See is out in April but available now on-line.