John Grebble is Gone

John Grebble Is Gone is a standalone Amazon Original short thriller by Peter James, published August 1, 2026. It is separate from the Roy Grace series and doesn’t need any previous reading of the series.
John Grebble wakes to discover that every official system now records him as dead. His bank account has been frozen, his car repossessed, and his workplace will no longer let him in. The changes are too coordinated to be an ordinary clerk mistake. The more he tries to find out, the more it seems that someone appears to know enough about his life to erase it piece by piece. John has to prove that he is alive while working out who took so much trouble to arrange his disappearance and above all, why they want him gone.

John Grebble wakes up to discover he’s been declared dead. His bank account is frozen, his car repossessed, and his entire existence erased. Someone wants him gone—permanently.

Within hours, his world unravels. His debit card is declined. His car is towed away. His office locks him out. The police treat him like a criminal. According to every system, every database, every official record—John Grebble is no more.

But John is very much alive. And as he tries to uncover who could have pulled off such an elaborate erasure of his identity, he realises this isn’t just a mistake—it’s personal. Someone with intimate knowledge of his life has gone to extraordinary lengths to scrub him out completely. And this is just the start…

In this gripping short thriller laced with dark humour, Number One Sunday Times bestselling author Peter James asks: can John Grebble uncover who would go this far to destroy him before it’s too late?

A short story – see all Peter James books on the Peter James Books in Order page.