April 17

Blood Runs Cold – Neil Lancaster

She was taken against her will.

On her fifteenth birthday, trafficking victim Affi Smith goes for a run and never returns. With a new identity and secure home in the Scottish Highlands, she was supposed to be safe…

She escaped once.

With personal ties to Affi’s case, DS Max Craigie joins the investigation. When he discovers other trafficking victims have disappeared in exactly the same circumstances, he knows one thing for certain – there’s a leak somewhere within law enforcement.

She won’t outrun them again.

The clock is ticking… Max must catch Affi’s kidnappers and expose the mole before anyone else goes missing. Even it if means turning suspicions onto his own team…

 

I received a review copy from the publishers through Netgalley

 

This blog is nine years old. Therefore I can confidently state that ten years ago I had little awareness of books which were approaching publication. I would make time to find out when the next new book by Terry Pratchett or Lee Child would be published but, other than that, I relied upon spotting new books on the tables at Waterstones or if my friends at my local library gave me the heads-up about new books I should be reading. Support your local library people!

Now I follow my favourite authors on Twitter. I rely upon other bloggers flagging up books I need to be looking out for and I am actively tracking the next publication date of several authors so I can get my next fix of some of my favourite characters. One of the authors I make no secret of tracking is Neil Lancaster. His Tom Novak thrillers were (and still are) brilliant reads but then Neil introduced DS Max Craigie to the world and I was an immediate fan.

Craigie works within Police Scotland and his remit can take him all around the country which gives the author scope to showcase the best, the busiest or the remotest corners of Scotland. Alongside partner Janie Calder, their foul-mouthed boss (Ross) and and Norma their computer and data whizz, the four are working slightly under the radar within the police to identify and remove corruption within the force. The nature of the crimes they investigate and the fact they can’t always trust the personnel they are working with on any given investigation means in every book there is a constant tension that their plans may be scuppered at any moment.

Turning my focus to Blood Runs Cold – terrific. Again. It’s another Neil Lancaster crime thriller which is perfectly paced, delivers on the entertainment, makes you care about the characters (and not just those recurring faces) and I didn’t want the book to end. As a reader I don’t think I could be asking for more.

Particularly enjoyable was the lead in to this investigation and how Craigie becomes involved. In the Scottish Highlands a young Albanian girl is heading out for a run. She’s run before – fleeing from the Albanian gang who had asked her to carry drugs for them. Now she has been placed in the Highlands with a family and a support network and she has been thriving, her natural athletic ability has given her a chance to compete in the national running trials but it has also put her on the radar for the gang she escaped and they want her back. For Affi, going for a run is going to be a terrible mistake.

When Affi fails to return home at the planned time her parents are frantic. They tell Affi’s care worker who, in turn, tells her husband – Max Craigie. Craigie initially doesn’t know what he can do to assist but when he does reach out to the local police they are happy to have some assistance. Soon Craigie and Janie are discovering some unusual activity and making a little progress. Their enquiries will see them pitted against Albanian gangsters and traffikers. These are dangerous criminals and the stakes are high. Higher still when it becomes apparent the gangs are relying upon some members of the police force to keep their activites running.

I really don’t want to post spoilers so I will simply say this story kicks ass. I don’t always enjoy reading about the bad guys in crime stories but in Blood Runs Cold I found both the heroes and the villains to be hugely entertaining. The author makes excellent use of humor to keep some of the more intense and bleak moments on the right side of enjoyable and it makes the story shine. Four books in to this series and it is going from strength to strength.

 

Blood Runs Cold is published in hardback, digital and audiobook format on 13 April 2023. You can order a copy here: https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B0BF76PZV8/ref=dbs_a_def_rwt_bibl_vppi_i0

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July 22

The Art of Fear – Pamela Crane

A life no girl should endure. A father no daughter could love. A twist no one would predict.

From award-winning author Pamela Crane comes a terrifying tale of small-town secrets and murder.

Ari Wilburn’s life ended long ago–the day she watched her little sister die in a tragic accident and did nothing to stop it. Crippled with self-blame and resented by her parents, she stumbles through life … and onto an unexpected clue that casts doubt on whether the death was accidental.

Now a psychological wreck, Ari joins a suicide support group where she meets Tina, a sex-enslaved escapee who finds her long-lost father dead. Suicide, police ruled it. But Tina suspects foul play. As a bond develops between the women in their shared loss, they’re dragged into playing a dangerous game with a killer.

Faced with a murderous wake-up call and two possibly linked deaths, Ari’s investigation puts her next on the killer’s list. But she’s never been one to back down from a fight.

Needing closure, Ari must face her demons and the killer behind them … or lose everything she loves.

 

My thanks to Kate at Thick as Thieves for the opportunity to join the blog tour

 

At a suicide support group Ari meets Tina Alvarez.  Ari is struggling to contend with the guilt associated with the death of her younger sister ten years earlier, however, Tina comes to her group fresh from learning of the suicide of her father. Ari and Tina bond and Tina tells Ari that she does not believe that her father took his own life – the two women begin to investigate the suicide.

As the story develops it becomes clear to Ari that Tina’s father did not take his own life. Yet as Ari becomes drawn deeper into Tina’s life we learn more of the horrific ordeals she has had to suffer. Sold to a sex trafficker by her father, subjected to the worst abuse over a number of years Tina has managed to escape from her captor but he is looking to take her back – claiming that she has not yet earned back the money he paid for her.

Meanwhile Ari is spurred on to reconsider the events surrounding the death of her sister.  Her family firmly placed the blame onto Ari and it drove a wedge between Ari and her parents which could never be broken down.  However, as Ari reconsiders the events which led to her sister’s death she begins to question whether the blame was entirely her own.

As you can tell there are some dark topics holding the narrative together during The Art of Fear; but full credit to Pamela Crane for keeping it engrossing and tacking these difficult subjects with compassion and sympathy. She also writes a cracking story which features some very nasty people and you will get drawn into the lives of Ari and Tina.

One of the most disturbing elements of the story is that Ari has a countdown to her death in the chapter headings. As you read the story will switch timelines to show current events, circumstances from the time Ari’s sister dies and other key points in her (and Tina’s) life. However, when the narrative returns to the current time there are chapters which begin with the number of days that Ari has to live – and it is not many!  The deeper you get into the story and the more you come to like Ari the more worrying the death-clock is – lovely wee touch to keep me hooked.

So in summary – dark themes which are woven into a thrilling and engaging story that I thoroughly enjoyed.

 

The Art of Fear is published by Tabella House and is available in paperback and digital format.  You can order a copy here: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Fear-Little-Things-That-Kill-ebook/dp/B071R3M2J5/ref=asap_bc?ie=UTF8

 

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