Vendetta – Dreda Say Mitchell

 

Two murders. Two different crime scenes. One killer?

Mac wakes in a smashed-up hotel room with no recollection of what has happened. With his lover’s corpse in the bathroom and the evidence suggesting that he killed her, Mac is on a mission to uncover the truth and find the real killer.

But he’s in a race against time with less than a day to unravel the mystery. Still reeling from a personal tragedy Mac isn’t afraid of pain. Hot on his heels is tenacious Detective Inspector Rio Wray. Double-crossed and in the line of fire, Mac has to swim through a sea of lies to get to the truth.

But only Mac knows he’s been living a double life. Can he be sure he doesn’t have the blood of a dead woman on his hands.

Thank you to Hodder and the Bookbridgr team for my review copy.

 

 

Before I start my Vendetta review in full there is something that I need to get off my chest…

VENDETTA IS MAGNIFICENT!

Thank you – I have been holding that in for a couple of weeks.

No point in my being coy about this review, I loved Vendetta! It is a roller-coaster of adventure with undercover cops, Russian gangsters, nasty murders and has many unsavoury characters popping up all over the place. I have wanted to shout about how much I enjoyed reading it but had been holding off so I could time my review to coincide with Dreda Say Mitchell’s Blog Tour visit.

There is a cover quote from Lee Child ‘Breathless from the first word and thrilling to the last.’ Top author nails a review in one line. That is exactly how I found Vendetta. In the opening scenes our hero, Mac, wakes in a hotel room with a gunshot wound to his head and his girlfriend’s mutilated corpse in the bath. Did Mac kill her? He can’t remember but the police are outside and Mac does not want to stick around to answer awkward questions.

What comes next is a frenetic thriller as we follow Mac through the back streets and dark alleys of London while he tries to keep one step ahead of Detective Inspector Rio Wray and tries to catch up with a killer (assuming that killer is not Mac himself).

Short yet punchy chapters, fast paced narrative and an engaging story make Vendetta very readable and extremely enjoyable. I loved Dreda Say Mitchell’s characterisation of Mac and DI Wray, she puts her cast through the wringer and how they contend with their respective trauma and loss defines their actions through the book. Characters pushed to their limits take reckless chances which, in turn, leads to great entertainment for a reader.

I have read some great books this year but Vendetta stands out as one of the best. I tore through it and grudged any time that I had to tear myself away from Mac’s world. Also, I am glad the book was published this week as my review copy (and I) got soaked in an October downpour so it needs replaced. I want Vendetta sitting pretty on by bookshelf as it has earned its place as a ‘keeper’. Unsurprisingly I have awarded Vendetta a five star review.

 

VENDETTA by Dreda Say Mitchell is out now in paperback and eBook, published by Hodder, £6.99. For more information visit www.dredasaymitchell.com and follow Dreda on twitter @DredaMitchell