Soho Honey – A W Rock

This contemporary crime story takes place over three weeks in November and unfolds against the multi-cultural backdrop of Soho, London.

Branen had to leave the UK six years before to escape his complex clandestine history and the consequences of a crime that achieved worldwide notoriety. When his daughter is brutally murdered in Soho he believes that he could be the reason. He returns to his old hunting grounds to find the killer.

His search brings him into conflict with the British Secret Service and Soho’s underworld. He is forced to flee Soho again after a tragic meeting with his ex-wife. His past has caught up with him and the hunter becomes the hunted.

Now forty years old Branen wants to stop running and to remove forever the continuing threat to his life. In an effort to get rid of his pursuers he is faced with the prospect that his only chance of survival could lead to his death.

 

My thanks to Kate at Authoright for my review copy and the chance to join the blog tour.

 

There is a lot going on in Soho Honey. As the book sets up the story you are bombarded with names, details, affiliations and character back story. I will admit to being slightly overwhelmed at first, but when Soho Honey settles down the various pieces start to fall into place and there is a frenetic and fantastic story spilling out.

Branen is a complex lead character – from the outset we learn of his involvement in one of the most high-profile events of the last 20 years. He has a young family but his behaviour drives them away and Branen leaves the country seeking a fresh start (and to put some distance between himself and his employers). Despite his less than pure past I liked Branen – he drops out of the story for a while, just enough time for AW Rock to set up a compelling reason for Branen to put his life at risk and return to the streets of Soho.

I really enjoyed the mix of characters that interact within the streets of London’s Soho. Through the bars and back-street hotels will pass drug dealers, gangsters, prostitutes, businessmen, models and a covert operative of the British Secret Service – their lives will overlap in spectacular fashion.

A story which switches from gritty street drama to a political thriller then a spy/espionage tale there is a lot to like about Soho Honey.  At times it is brutally graphic in depictions of violence, there is frequent drug use and the death count is high. If you like your thrillers unpredictable and action packed then you would do well to add this to your reading queue.

 

 

Soho Honey releases on 5 May 2016 and is published by Clink Street Publishing.

You can order a copy here: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Soho-Honey-W-Rock/dp/1911110241/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1462400607&sr=1-1&keywords=soho+honey