Time to do some catching up. I have spent a large part of July reading and a tiny part of July writing reviews so it’s time to redress the balance. I finished over a dozen books during my summer break and that is too many to fit into a single catch-up post so I shall break these down into double headers.

Black and Blue – David Rosenfelt

Doug Brock hasn’t had it easy since his getting shot in the line of duty as a New Jersey state police officer. Between the amnesia and having to solve two murder cases, it hasn’t been the most restful recovery. Now, the cold case department is checking evidence from a murder case Doug was investigating before the accident, but the DNA points to a man Doug eliminated as a suspect and he remembers none of it. Doug begins to reinvestigate what turns out to be a series of unsolved killings and must retrace his steps to discover why he would have let the suspect go free. What he uncovers may be more dangerous than any case he’s faced yet.

My thanks to Minotaur Books for my review copy

David Rosenfelt has written a lot of books but this is my introduction to his work.  David has released 19 books in the Andy Carpenter series, all with a distinctly canine theme, I shall be turning my attention to those very soon.  However, it should be noted that Black and Blue does not feature Andy Carpenter (and I don’t recall many dogs) this one is a Doug Brock thriller – I inhaled it in just two sittings.

Brock is a cop in New Jersey.  He was shot in the line of duty and lost a lot of his memories – not them all but enough that he cannot remember much of his life over the last few years prior to the shooting.  This has created issues with his fiancee and means some cases he worked are a total mystery to him.

In Black and Blue one of Brock’s older cases may have become pertinent to an active investigation and he will need to revisit his original case notes to try and identify who may be responsible for a shooting. Did Brock let a killer walk free?

As Brock and his colleagues review likely suspects the body count increases.  The most elusive of killers, a sniper, seems to be working through a list of intended victims whilst taunting the police about their lack of progress in stopping his “work”.

The dynamic between Brock and his colleagues was engaging and gave some lighter moments away from the murder scenes.  Pacy, action packed and with a good number of twists to keep me reading.  Perfect holiday reading.

Black and Blue is published by Minotaur Books and can be ordered here: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Black-Blue-Doug-Brock-Thriller/dp/1250133149/ref=sr_1_8?keywords=david+rosenfelt&qid=1565117369&s=gateway&sr=8-8

Exit Wounds – edited by Paul B Kane and Marie O’Regan

This was perfect reading for a summer vacation.  I was able to pick up and set down the book for short reading bursts between activities and day trips. While stop/start bursts is frustrating when working my way through a novel, these bite sized, unsettling tales were ideal.

I don’t read many short story anthologies so I am not sure what the correct etiquette may be for a review.  As such I don’t plan to discuss each story individually (there are nineteen) but as I go along I will highlight a few which stood out.

First I need to highlight the quality of the collection.  Val McDermid shares a Tony Hill and Carol Jordan story, James Oswald treats us to a Tony McLean chiller (one of my favourites in the collection), Lee Child, Dean Koontz and Dennis Lehane are joined by Steph Broadribb, Sarah Hilary and AK Benedict and I still haven’t mentioned more than half of the authors!

Two of the stories which stuck with me long after I put the book down were Dead Weight by Fiona Cummins and Disciplined by Martyn Waites. Some voices across the book just strike a chord with me or I found the twist was unexpected (and possibly nasty). It has been almost 3 weeks since I finished the last story in the collection but these two stories were the ones I thought of first when I sat down to prepare my review.

This is a cracking collection from Titan Books.  The stories are dark and disturbing and the quality of tales assembled in a single volume is terrific.

Exit Wounds is available to order here: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Exit-Wounds-K-Benedict/dp/1785659189/ref=sr_1_1?keywords=exit+wounds&qid=1565123235&s=digital-skills&sr=8-1