Susan Gates was born in 1950, in Grimsby on the Lincolnshire coast. At 18 she went to Africa to teach in a school in Malawi, before returning to England to study English and American literature at Warwick University. She then spent ten years as a teacher, in comprehensive schools and on youth training schemes, before becoming a full-time writer.

Susan is a prolific writer of fiction for all ages. RAIDER was Highly Commended for the Carnegie Medal and Susan has twice been the overall winner of the Sheffield Children’s Book Award, for BEWARE OF THE KILLER COAT and CRY WOLF. IRONHEADS also won the Stockport Children’s Book Award. Her recent work includes a series of schlock horror novels for 8-11s published by Puffin and two picture books, also for Puffin: WOLF CHILD, illustrated by Liz Pichon, and RUN! RUN! IT'S SCARY POO!, illustrated by Charles Fuge. Puffin have also published two novels for older readers, DUSK and FIREBIRD.

Susan is married with a daughter and two sons, and lives in County Durham. Her favourite relaxations are going to live music gigs, reading good journalism, drinking good wine and taking long walks on beaches in Northumberland.

When expert tracker Ellis is sent to investigate stories of greyhound poisoning, he is shocked to come face-to-face with a strange feral boy, and a pack of what seem to be ghostly dogs. Returning to the forest with his animal-mind-reading partner Meriel, he is plunged into danger by the wild boy's lethal supernatural powers, which can freeze a man to death. Ellis' only chance of rescue is Meriel, but she is caught up in reliving her own secret past as a feral child.