From The Bookshelf – Page 42

Huntress Moon – Alexandra Sokoloff

The Huntress/FBI Thrillers Book 1

FBI Special Agent Matthew Roarke is closing in on a bust of a major criminal organization in San Francisco when he witnesses an undercover member of his team killed right in front of him on a busy street, an accident Roarke can’t believe is coincidental. His suspicions put him on the trail of a mysterious young woman who appears to have been present at each scene of a years-long string of “accidents” and murders, and who may well be that most rare of killers: a female serial.

Roarke’s hunt for her takes him across three states…while in a small coastal town, a young father and his five-year old son, both wounded from a recent divorce, encounter a lost and compelling young woman on the beach and strike up an unlikely friendship without realizing how deadly she may be.

As Roarke uncovers the shocking truth of her background, he realizes she is on a mission of her own, and must race to capture her before more blood is shed.

My thanks to Alexandra Sokoloff for giving me the chance to read Huntress Moon.

I think I will need a thesaurus for this review. I would open it to the word ‘Brilliant’ and then apply a number of superlatives to Huntress Moon. It was that good!

FBI Special Agent Roarke is witness to a colleague’s sudden and unexpected death. The deceased agent had been working undercover and was due to rendezvous with Roarke but was killed by a speeding vehicle. Just before the incident Roarke spotted a woman standing beside his colleague she vanished when Roarke’s line of sight was broken but her presence unsettled him.

The reader then gets to join the woman. She is on the run, not that she fears capture – she is escaping a crime scene and has a code to follow. She has clearly done this many times in the past. At a truck stop the woman is confronted by a trucker, it ends badly for him but the woman leaves an unavoidable mess.

We now have a fabulous set up. We follow Roarke and his investigations into the mystery woman. We follow the killer as she tries to blend in and establish a cover story. As the story develops we learn more about our mysterious killer and see how she constantly lives on the fine edge between fight and flight. The FBI investigations also progress and it becomes clear that the mystery woman will not be able to remain a mystery for long.

I found Huntress Moon to be a compelling read. I enjoy reading FBI ‘manhunt’ novels and the added bonus of seeing how the hunt unfolded from the point of view of the killer was a nice twist. By the time the story was entering the Endgame I was genuinely torn as to how I wanted events to unfold.

There are moral implications to consider in Huntress Moon. If a killer is targeting victims who they perceive as immoral, or if the victim was engaging in criminal activities, can their death be justified? One for the reader to consider and one of the reasons I was torn over how I wanted the book to end. I don’t have an answer to that question.

Huntress Moon is a stand out book for me. I liked Roarke and his FBI colleagues (who were all well developed and made to feel real). I found the killer to be fascinating, her motives are clear to her but what triggered her obsession was disturbing.

Huntress Moon is the best crime thriller I have read for many months and it easily scoops a review score of 5/5. I am now lining up the next book: Blood Moon

Huntress Moon is just £1 on Kindle through April 2015.

Alexandra Sokoloff recently visited the blog to discuss Serial Killers. The interview can be found here: https://grabthisbook.net/?p=696

Visit the author’s website at AlexandraSokoloff.com

Follow Alexandra on Twitter at @alexsokoloff

Huntress Moon: http://amzn.to/1wEwxZo

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April 18

Black Wood – SJI Holliday

Something happened to Claire and Jo in Black Wood: something that left Claire paralysed and Jo with deep mental scars. But with Claire suffering memory loss and no evidence to be found, nobody believes Jo’s story.

Twenty-three years later, a familiar face walks into the bookshop where Jo works, dredging up painful memories and rekindling her desire for vengeance. And at the same time, Sergeant Davie Gray is investigating a balaclava-clad man who is attacking women on a disused railway, shocking the sleepy village of Banktoun. But what is the connection between Jo’s visitor and the masked man? To catch the assailant, and to give Jo her long-awaited justice, Gray must unravel a tangled web of past secrets, broken friendship and tainted love. But can he crack the case before Jo finds herself with blood on her hands?

My thanks to Black & White Publishing for my review copy

Black Wood is set in Banktoun, a small village on the outskirts of Edinburgh. If you have ever lived in a small village you will understand that there is a community spirit, that everyone knows everyone else and there CAN be a feeling of claustrophobia (especially if you aspire to escape to pastures new). A small village is also a perfect setting for a tense thriller. A predator in our midst causing fear for the residents, a snake in the garden, one rotten apple in the barrel. Except that everyone has secrets and all is never as it seems.

Cut straight to the chase: I loved Black Wood. I loved the characters, the setting, the mystery and Susi Holliday teased out the secrets brilliantly over the course of the novel.

The story follows Jo. Some 20 years before the events in the story she and her friend Claire had a life changing incident on the edge of Banktoun. The impact of events still resonate for Jo and Claire and we learn that Jo has had a somewhat troubled time in the intervening years.

Elsewhere local policeman, Sergeant Davie Gray, is hunting for a balaclava wearing man who has been seen lurking around a disused railway line that runs beside the village. Unfortunately the lurking is escalating to more threatening behaviour and it is not long before an attack occurs.

Sergeant Gray is another star in the making for me and I want to read more about him. He knows Jo of old and promised Jo’s mother that he would help watch out for her daughter – this protective side creates an interesting dynamic between the two characters and the scenes with Jo and Davie Gray were high points.

One memorable moment for me was when Jo returned to her Grandmother’s house (the titular Black Wood). An unexpected incident appeared to be taking the story in a direction I had not expected. As I am avoiding any Spoilers I cannot elaborate but the sequence suddenly heightened the tension, added a new dimension to the story and made Jo appear significantly more vulnerable than I had initially envisaged. I love when an author can catch me unawares in this way.

Black Wood is one of my favourite books so far this year. A brilliant story in which the characters shine and the mysteries kept me hooked as I poured through the book desperate to find out how events would be resolved. More from Banktoun please, I feel we need to know it better.

All that remains is to reconfirm my love for Black Wood by scoring it 5/5 and urging you to read it.

Black Wood is published by Black and White Publishing and is available in both paperback and in digital format.

You can follow Susi Holliday on Twitter: @SJIHolliday

Or visit her website at http://sjiholliday.com

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April 14

The Ghost Fields – Elly Griffiths

Norfolk is experiencing a July heatwave when a construction crew unearths a macabre discovery – a buried WWII plane with the pilot still inside. Forensic archaeologist Ruth Galloway quickly realizes that the skeleton couldn’t possibly be the pilot, and DNA tests identify the man as Fred Blackstock, a local aristocrat who had been reported dead at sea. When the remaining members of the Blackstock family learn about the discovery, they seem strangely frightened by the news.

Events are further complicated by a TV company that wants to make a film about Norfolk’s deserted air force bases, the so-called Ghost Fields, which have been partially converted into a pig farm run by one of the younger Blackstocks. As production begins, Ruth notices a mysterious man lurking close to the Blackstocks’ family home.

Then human bones are found on the family’s pig farm. Can the team outrace a looming flood to find a killer?

My thanks to Quercus Books for providing a review copy through Netgalley.

Last year I was introduced to the books of Elly Griffiths when @BookaddictShaun asked if I would like to do a guest review of The Zig Zag Girl for his blog. I jumped at the chance to read about The Magic Men in The Zig Zag Girl and my review can be found on Shaun’s blog here: Zig Zag Girl

I was aware that Elly Griffiths wrote a series of books featuring forensic archaeologist Ruth Galloway but The Zig Zag Girl was a stand-alone novel so for me it was a great introduction to a new author. By the time I had finished reading I knew it was just a matter of time before Ms Galloway and I would become acquainted.

Spin forward a few months and I have the new Elly Griffiths novel to read: The Ghost Fields and I get to meet Ruth Galloway. As I have not read the preceding novels featuring this character I need to address the issue of whether jumping in at The Ghost Fields without knowing the back story will impair enjoyment. In a word – NOPE. The author positioned the characters perfectly. No prior knowledge (it appeared) was assumed and everything that I needed to know was made clear for me. For returning fans the characters you will already love are back and The Ghost Fields does appear to bring on personal stories in a way that I suspect you will enjoy.

The Ghost Fields was a fun read for me. The lead character is likeable and very believable, the murder mystery element was fascinating and with the historic linking back to events of the Second World War it added a dimension that set The Ghost Fields apart from many of my recent reads. There were lots of light hearted moments through the book which kept me amused too which I always welcome in a book.

The central focus of the investigation was the Blackstock family. Much of the action takes place in their ancestral home and on surrounding lands. The old fashioned feel of the local aristocratic family, several generations living together in the family house gave the book a real Agatha Christie feel. As you read you cannot help but feel that a murder is about to occur and that the finale will involve all the cast assembling in the drawing room. No spoilers so you will have to read for yourself to find out if any of these things happen!

Ruth Galloway and Elly Griffiths have a new fan here at Grab This Book. Elly Griffiths writes with a very readable style and the book was well paced. Ruth Galloway has just the right amount of neurosis to be engaging and I warmed to her very quickly.

Visit Elly Griffiths at: http://www.ellygriffiths.co.uk

Elly is also on Twitter as @ellygriffiths

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April 8

A Place Called Winter – Patrick Gale

A privileged elder son, and stammeringly shy, Harry Cane has followed convention at every step. Even the beginnings of an illicit, dangerous affair do little to shake the foundations of his muted existence – until the shock of discovery and the threat of arrest cost him everything.

Forced to abandon his wife and child, Harry signs up for emigration to the newly colonised Canadian prairies. Remote and unforgiving, his allotted homestead in a place called Winter is a world away from the golden suburbs of turn-of-the-century Edwardian England. And yet it is here, isolated in a seemingly harsh landscape, under the threat of war, madness and an evil man of undeniable magnetism that the fight for survival will reveal in Harry an inner strength and capacity for love beyond anything he has ever known before.

In this exquisite journey of self-discovery, loosely based on a real life family mystery, Patrick Gale has created an epic, intimate human drama, both brutal and breathtaking. It is a novel of secrets, sexuality and, ultimately, of great love.

Thanks to Georgina Moore @publicitybooks for sending me an advance copy.

I was very fortunate to receive a review copy of A Place Called Winter earlier this year. For the last few weeks I have delighted in seeing the steady stream of support and adulation for Patrick Gale’s extraordinary story. The praise is richly deserved too as this is a compelling read and I defy anyone that joins Harry Cane on his journey not to be moved by the events that define his life.

Patrick Gale has done a phenomenal job of capturing the spirit of Edwardian England. I loved his depiction of Harry’s home life and then his awkward courtship. There was a real sense of history leaking off the pages as I read and it was easy to imagine Harry travelling around old London and finding his way in the world.

As I was reading with my ‘21^st Century Head’ on it took me a while to grasp that I was reading about something scandalous. But the penny soon dropped and Harry’s story was heading in a new direction – to Canada and a life overseas. To avoid arrest and a public humiliation for his family Harry elects to leave London to strike up a new life for himself on the wild frontiers.

Once he leaves London Harry makes new acquaintances and forms essential alliances. These encounters will give him the opportunity to learn the skills he will need to establish a new life working the land to survive. However, not everyone is acting in Harry’s best interests and there are adversaries to overcome too. I loved reading how this shy character was able to overcome the obstacles to forge new friendships and force himself to meet the people he needs to rely upon – Patrick Gale created a charming hero for his tale and gave him all too real traits which give Harry a constant air of vulnerability.

A Place Called Winter has an appealing charm and tells an absorbing story. Personally I found the elements of the story recanting how Harry learned to work the land and build his home the most interesting. I suspect, however, that the majority of readers will be entranced by the compelling drama surrounding Harry and his evolving relationships with his family and friends. Quite simply, A Place Called Winter is a beautiful story and reading it will enrich your life.

A Place Called Winter is published by Tinder Press and is available now in Hardback and digital formats.

Patrick Gale is on Twitter as: @PNovelistGale
The author’s website is here at: http://galewarning.org/

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April 7

The Doll’s House – M.J. Arlidge

A young woman wakes in a cold, dark cellar, with no idea how she got there or who kidnapped her. So begins her terrible nightmare.

The body of another young woman is discovered buried on a remote beach. But the dead girl was never reported missing – her estranged family having received regular texts from her over the years.

For DI Helen Grace it’s chilling evidence that she’s chasing a twisted monster who is clever and resourceful – a predator who’s killed before.

As Helen struggles to understand the killer’s motivation, she realises she’s in a desperate race against time…

My thanks to Penguin/Michael Joseph and Netgalley for my review copy.

M.J. Arlidge’s third DI Helen Grace novel – my introduction to the character. As there is a back story from the first two books (Eeny Meeny and Pop Goes The Weasel) that plays a significant element of The Doll’s House then I would suggest that it would be beneficial to read the books in order. However, I had not read books one and two and I still really enjoyed The Doll’s House – I just had to accept that I was reading spoilers from two books that I know I will read in the future!

In The Doll’s House we are introduced to Ruby. She wakes to find herself locked in a cellar and at the mercy of a shadowy figure who seems intent to keep her entrapped – his objective for capturing her are unclear and Ruby is left pondering her fate.

Meanwhile on a nearby beach the body of a young woman has been uncovered. She has been in the sand for some time yet her family are still receiving text messages from her. A really clever twist from the author – we are in ‘communication’ with people on a daily basis but is anyone really who we think they are? How do we know the person we are texting is actually our spouse/friend/lover or parent? Using digital communications as ‘proof of life’ shows that we start from a flawed misconception and allows a killer to fabricate a life – chilling and brilliant.

As The Doll’s House progresses we learn more about why Ruby may have been singled out and we discover how the body on the beach relates to her predicament.

DI Grace has a murder investigation to conduct, however, she finds she is facing a challenge to her position from within her own station. Police politics are a nasty business and if not everyone is pulling in the same direction will Ruby become a pawn that is sacrificed to allow someone’s career to advance?

In summary: The Doll’s House is highly recommended. A girl in peril. A body in the beach that is still ‘talking’ to her family and a lead character fighting to retain her professional credibility. For M.J. Arlidge fans this is likely to be a gripping read. If, like me, you are new to the series there is a great story here – but it would be even better if you take the time to read the first two books before entering The Doll’s House. Review score of 4/5.

About the Author

M.J. Arlidge has worked in television for the last fifteen years specializing in high-end drama production, including Torn, The Little House and, most recently, Undeniable, broadcast in spring 2015. His debut thriller, Eeny Meeny has sold to publishers around the world and was the UK’s bestselling crime debut of 2014. It was followed by the bestselling Pop Goes the Weasel. The Doll’s House is the third DI Helen Grace thriller.

Follow M.J. Arlidge at @mjarlidge

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March 21

An American Caddie in St Andrews

St Andrews, known around the world as ‘the home of golf’, is legendary, and its history and traditions are deeply embedded in the local community that has kept it going for centuries. The caddies on the Old Course are a font of knowledge and an institution in their own right.

Into this venerable institution steps Oliver Horovitz, a young American Harvard student – and keen golfer – on a gap year at the University of St Andrews. During this year, his most important discovery – by far – is that everyone at St Andrews plays golf – including very cute girls. When term ends, Ollie joins the St Andrews caddie trainee program and spends the summer awaking at 4.30am to line up at the caddie shack, looping two, sometimes three, rounds a day. After months of struggling to gain acceptance from the notoriously gruff, perpetually hungover veteran caddies, he finally earns his full caddie stripes.

Full of life and drama, this is a warm and insightful view of the vibrant characters who inhabit this world, along with all their idiosyncrasies; it is also a tale of growing up and finding one’s place in the world, against the brilliant green backdrop of the Old Course, and will appeal to golfers up and down the UK.

My thanks to Elliott & Thompson for my review copy.

Check through my blog for non-fiction titles, you will not find many! This is not my genre of choice and it takes something pretty special to drag me away from my thrillers and crime books. An American Caddie in St Andrews is one of those special books – a story of a life and a young man living the dream.

Oliver Horovitz had a gap year prior to beginning his studies at Harvard. He travelled from America to the St Andrews, Scotland – the Home of Golf – with a view to joining the team of caddies that work on the many courses around the ancient Fife town.

We follow Oliver’s journey from his days learning the ropes as a rookie in the caddie pool; through to eventually becoming an accepted member of the team. He introduces us to the characters that he works alongside, his friends, the golfers and his family – in particular Oliver’s Uncle Ken who is a St Andrews resident and seemingly Oliver’s best friend.

I loved reading Oliver’s stories of the time he spent with Uncle Ken during his time living in St Andrews. Despite the highs and lows that Oliver endures through the telling of his story it is his Uncle Ken that is his constant reliable companion.

The important thing to understand about An American Caddie…you do not have to be a golf fan to enjoy this book. Obviously there is a fair bit of golfing chat going to crop up in a story set on golf courses but Oliver’s narration guides you through the detail you need to know. The beauty of this book is the rich diversity of characters we encounter – this is a book about people not a book about golf.

Reading An American Caddie in St Andrews was a delight. At the end of each season when Oliver returned to America you felt the heart wrench that Oliver did. You also share the elation on his return trips. We fear encounters with the fearsome St Andrews Caddie Master and we despair at the embarrassing antics of some of the OTT golfers that grace the famous Old Course.

I cannot recommend this book highly enough it is funny, heart-warming, compelling and (sadly) heart-breaking too. I doubt you will find a better narrator than Oliver Horovitz in any book you read this year.

If you have a golf fan in your family then An American Caddie in St Andrews should top your list of gift ideas – this is not a book to overlook and I would score it 5/5.

An American Caddie in St Andrews is published by Elliott & Thompson and is available in paperback and digital format.

http://eandtbooks.com/book/american-caddie-st-andrews

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March 20

After The Storm – Jane Lythell

Some secrets destroy you.

Rob and Anna have only just met Owen and Kim. Now they’ve boarded their handsome old boat to travel to a far off island in the Caribbean.

With only the four of them on board, it should be paradise: lazy afternoons spent snorkelling; long nights enjoying the silence and solitude of the sea.

But why does Owen never sleep? Why is he so secretive about his past? And why does Kim keep a knife zipped into her money-belt? Anna can usually get people to talk… but this time, does she want to?

Many thanks to Head of Zeus for my review copy.

Two couples on a boat in the Caribbean. They all have their emotional baggage, they do not all get on and at least two of the four characters do not want to be on the boat. Clearly there are going to be conflicts and clashes in After The Storm.

Having read the book over the last couple of days I think that this one may split the crowd. There are a lot of positive elements, however, I am not sure it will float everyone’s boat (sorry, sorry – terrible pun).

From the outset of the story Jane Lythell is building up the tension between her four key characters (Owen, Kim, Rob and Anna). For the majority of the book she places the two couples in the close confines of a dilapidated boat which is sailing around Caribbean Islands. Living in each other’s pockets for several days at sea places a strain on these four relative strangers and it is interesting to see how the author changed the group dynamics as the story progresses.

But as I read I kept waiting for something to happen. More tension was built up but still no trigger events. The boat docks on an island and the couples part for a while only to reunite when the tension level between them has simmered back down. Repeat the slow build towards an inevitable explosion.

As the reader reaches the end of the novel we get the payoff. All the doubts and suspicions come to the fore, unexpected external factors suddenly play a significant role and everything kicks off. There are revelations which will shock and there are others which were clearly signposted from early in the book. It will either grab you and keep you flicking the pages to find what happens to our couples – or you will plod to the end just to see where the payoff was coming from.

I am afraid that I was not wowed by After The Storm and I only kept going as I was interested to see what would finally trigger the finale. In contrast (and I HAVE to mention this) I spoke with a friend who has also read the book and she thought it was magnificent – loved the characters, was distressed by some developments and was devastated when the book ended. As I said – a crowd splitter.

Not for me but I loved the Caribbean setting and I thought the author captured the setting and majesty of the islands brilliantly.

Twitter: @janelythell
Facebook: Jane Lythell Author
Jane’s blog: http://chroniclesofchloegreene.blogspot.co.uk/

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March 18

The Death House – Sarah Pinborough

Toby’s life was perfectly normal… until it was unravelled by something as simple as a blood test.

Taken from his family, Toby now lives in the Death House: an out-of-time existence far from the modern world, where he, and the others who live there, are studied by Matron and her team of nurses. They’re looking for any sign of sickness. Any sign of their wards changing. Any sign that it’s time to take them to the sanatorium.

No one returns from the sanatorium.

Where to start with this haunting story?

We have a world very similar to our own – yet very different. Children appear to be susceptible to a mysterious ‘defective’ gene. They are all tested for the deficiency and for those that are identified as having the deficiency are shipped off to a remote island to live in virtual isolation in The Death House. There they will remain until their (undefined) illness triggers and they are taken to the sanatorium. They never return.

The main focus of The Death House is very much the children – nurses and teachers are peripheral characters. We are guided through the story by Toby, he is one of the older children in residence and holds a degree of influence over the younger kids. As is the way of any group factions and friendships are formed and, for the most part, the kids get on with life in their unusual out of time existence. I say out of time as there are references to old books, record players and old games – no videogames, mobiles or modern tech on show here.

There is the constant threat of illness and a trip to the sanatorium lurking over the whole story, however, for the majority of the reading you could be mistaken into believing you were reading a coming of age story or an updated take on the boarding school tales of our childhood. Imagine Jennings or Mallory Towers with the children boarding in The Shining’s Overlook Hotel.

The Death House is not the longest of books, however, Sarah Pinborough makes every page count. You care about all the characters, you fear the sounds in the night when children are removed from their dorms and taken to the sanatorium and you will love Toby’s story…right until the point where Sarah Pinborough hits you with a sucker punch that will leave you reeling.

There are so many unanswered questions in The Death House but it doesn’t matter – this is masterful writing, just go with it.

The Death House is published by Gollancz and is available now in Hardback and digital format.

http://sarahpinborough.com/

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March 11

The A-Z of You and Me – James Hannah

Ivo fell for her.

He fell for a girl he can’t get back.

Now he’s hoping for something.

While he waits he plays a game:

He chooses a body part and tells us its link to the past he threw away.

He tells us the story of how she found him, and how he lost her.

But he doesn’t have long.

And he still has one thing left to do …

The A-Z of You and Me is published by Doubleday. My thanks to Alison Barrow of Transworld Books for the opportunity to review this title.

Normally when I read a novel and a character is dying the focus of the book is to have the principle character track down a murderer. However, in James Hannah’s emotive novel The A-Z of You and Me it is the central character that is dying and the story follows his final days.

The central character is Ivo. When we first meet him he is in a hospice and is resigned to the fact he is here to see out the last days of his life. His carer (Sheila) has suggested that he try to identify a part of his body for each letter of the alphabet and asks Ivo can share a story or recollection about each. So beginning with ‘Adams Apple’ we embark on the narrative of Ivo’s life.

Through a series of flashbacks we share Ivo’s memories as he recollects significant events. We get to see how he recalls his interactions with his family and friends and how these friends reacted when Ivo met Mia who would become Ivo’s girlfriend. James Hannah has made Ivo a very real figure and we see how he makes mistakes, gets easily led astray by his friends and frequently how he seems to regret choices he made.

After each memory flashback we rejoin Ivo in the present day. His health deteriorates each time we return and (as we become more caught up within the story) it becomes hard to accept that this character we are travelling with and learning about, is going to die. He has Sheila for company in the hospice and she is a phenomenal character proving care, support and encouragement in Ivo’s dark times.

The strength of the story lies in the characters and how they behave. James Hannah has captured this brilliantly and it is impossible not to laugh through the fun times or despair when Ivo makes a decision that we know is the wrong one.

At one point I had to stop reading. I was on a train and I knew that something was about to happen in the story which I did not want to read – I particularly did not want to read it on a busy train! I waited till I was alone before pressing on and I was as traumatised as I had expected. Wonderful writing.

This may not be a story that everyone will ‘enjoy’ as the subject matter is tough reading. However, this IS as story that will stick with you. Especially the ending.

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March 5

Dark Country – Darren E Laws

Three related famous country and western singers are kidnapped over a period of 50 years. Only one body has ever been found.

Battling a debilitating illness, FBI agent Georgina O’Neil joins forces with newly licensed private investigator, Leroy La Portiere to find Susan Dark, the latest in the Dark family to go missing as she is on the verge of national stardom. But Georgina’s search for the truth is hampered by an illness which is affecting her judgement. Is there one perpetrator or is this a series of elaborate copycat crimes?

The hunt to find Susan leads them deep into a densely forested area as they follow a bloody trail and a deadly cat and mouse pursuit that will have fatal consequences for all.

Thanks to Caffeine Nights for my review copy

This is the second book from Darren E. Laws to feature Georgina O’Neil (the first was Turtle Island). In these circumstances I always like to give consideration within my review over whether the reader is disadvantaged if they have not read the previous story, in this case I would suggest you are not. There are clearly events from Turtle Island which are picked up again within Dark Country, however, they are introduced and explained at appropriate points in the story and you are given sufficient background to allow continuity and progression.

Dark Country has a great hook – three generations of one family are kidnapped over a 50 year period. Each of the abductees had established a successful career as a Country & Western singer and the latest kidnap victim (Susan Dark) was actually working on an album which would have featured her voice alongside that of her mother and grandmother.

The lead character is FBI Agent Georgina O’Neil. She has a debilitating medical condition which has impacted upon her ability to return to full active service with the FBI. Events in Dark Country find Georgina working with her friend Leroy La Portiere (a newly appointed Private Investigator) who has been enlisted by Susan Dark’s record producer to track down the missing singer.

One slight irk I had with Georgina’s illness is that she seemed to be in possession of recuperative powers only previously exhibited by Marvel Comics hero Wolverine – bouncing back from some major surgery to undertake a grueling cross country chase. Laws DOES acknowledge that Georgina is not in full health and IS suffering but this element of the story was a little too far a stretch at times.

All good crime stories need a bad guy and we certainly have that in Dark Country. Risk of Spoilers prevent too much detail at this stage, however, there are some nasty types to be found here. Descriptions of murders creep towards a horror feel at times (which is right up my street but may offend the more sensitive reader).

Events in Dark Country build to a really explosive conclusion with a mass standoff between the key players in a remote location. This played out really well and had me hooked as the end of the book approached. Just when I thought I had seen the story play out there was a nice wee twist to confound me further.

Dark Country is good fun but I wonder if killing off Country & Western singers may upset some potential readers? This is a good one for the horror loving crime fan. Review score of 3.5/5 – see it through to the excellent endgame!

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