November 18

Wasp Latitudes – Allan Watson

Against a background of brutal attacks on people and property by a rag-tag group of homeless men whom the media quickly dub Berserkers, DI Will Harlan is juggling with a head-in-a-bucket patricide, a lethal wife-swapping session, a sex-tape scandal involving the Royal Scottish National Orchestra – and perhaps most discomfiting of all – a spate of late night phone calls from his favourite serial killer, Howie Danks.

As the wife-swapping investigation spirals into a glut of cold-blooded slayings carried out by a mysterious pair of killers known as the Wasp Queen and the Priest, Harlan has to look into the past where a cold case may contain uncomfortable answers. But it’s in the present where the real danger lies as he follows a twisted path of mind control and madness leading to a cruel land some call the Wasp Latitudes.

 

My thanks to Sarah Hardy for the chance to join the blog tour

 

My introduction to DI Will Harlan was Wasp Latitudes – the second book to feature Harlan.  It was clear as I was reading that there had been an earlier book but it didn’t stop me from enjoying Wasp Latitudes.

Harlan is having a busy old time of it – multiple incidents are commanding his attention and it seems his colleagues are not the cohesive and united team which he may hope them to be. Of course disruption in the masses and professional rivalries (along with hopeless careerists) make for entertaining reading.

Entertainment is high if you are not after a genteel story.  A wife-swapping party goes horribly wrong for one couple. Just down the road a man is found dead with his head in a bucket and a foreign object inserted into his…erm, well lets just say, into him.  A gang is terrorizing Glasgow with random violent acts and a young woman has been publicly shamed when a video recorded while she was enjoying a drunken evening in company goes viral.

With dogged determination and a great deal of people manipulation Harlan will split his attention to each of these crimes. His input is not welcomed and attempts will be made to ensure he does not look into the “bucket man” investigation – other forces are interested in that death and Harlan is warned to keep away.  Of course that is not how Harlan works and, if anything, he becomes more determined to uncover the truth.

Police politics, fascinating investigations, dark murders and lots of dry Glasgow humour – this was a cracking read and I thoroughly enjoyed it. Another series I will enjoy following and that can only be a good thing.

 

Wasp Latitudes is available as a digital download here: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Wasp-Latitudes-Will-Harlan-Book-ebook/dp/B07GZYY6D1/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1542541330&sr=8-1&keywords=wasp+latitudes

 

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July 2

The Dali Deception – Adam Maxwell (audiobook)

Five criminals. Two forgeries. And one masterpiece of a heist.

Violet Winters—a professional thief born of a good, honest thief-and-con-artist stock— has been offered the heist of a lifetime. Steal a priceless Salvador Dali from the security-obsessed chairman of the Kilchester Bank and replace it with a forgery.

The fact that the “painting” is a signed, blank canvas doesn’t matter. It’s the challenge that gives Violet that familiar, addicting rush of adrenaline. Her quarry rests in a converted underground Cold War bunker. One way in, one way out. No margin for error.

But the reason Violet fled Kilchester is waiting right where she left him—an ex-lover with a murderous method for dumping a girlfriend. If her heist is to be a success, there will have to be a reckoning, or everything could go spinning out of control.

Her team of talented misfits assembled, Violet sets out to re-stake her claim on her reputation, exorcise some demons, and claim the prize. That is, if her masterpiece of a plan isn’t derailed by a pissed-off crime boss—or betrayal from within her own ranks.

 

In theory this should be one of the easier reviews to write. I could just proclaim “I LOVED THIS BOOK” and whack a 5 star comment onto Twitter.  Job done.

Not quite…that would be criminally understating how much I enjoyed Adam Maxwell’s fantastically fun crime caper The Dali Deception.  I hope “crime caper” is an acceptable description but I cannot find a more apt snappy description.  It was shades of Oceans 11 (though Violet’s crew are fewer than eleven), it had the gangster pizzazz of Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels and the humour of Hot Fuzz.  I can only apologise that all my movie references are so out of date…I don’t see many films these days!

Violet is a crook (one of the nice ones).  She was forced to leave Kilchester after a planned robbery went wrong – well when her boyfriend sabotaged her plan. Now she is back and it does not take long before a new opportunity presents its-self – steal an original Dali and replace it with a replica so the crime goes undetected. Tricky, but Violet has a plan oh and if she should happen to cross paths with her treacherous ex then there may be the chance to put a few things straight there too.

This was an audiobook listen and I grudged the time that my commute ended and I had to pause the story.  Violet’s plan to steal an original (and most unusual) Dali from a heavily guarded underground location was brilliantly kept under wraps by the author who teased out clues as to how the heist would play out as the story unfolded.

She recruits a wheel-man, a computer expert, a con man and her muscle – all are wonderfully depicted in the story and they all clash, then bond and fall foul of calamity.  You cannot help but love them.

Every good story also needs a villain and Kilchester’s criminal underworld is certainly ruled by a big personality (even if that personality is not contained within a big body).

Always important for an audiobook – the narrator.  Big shout to RJ Alldred at this point, she was perfect and I hope to hear her narrate more stories soon – by far the clearest (and most pleasant) voice I have enjoyed listening to on my daily commute.

Did I mention that I loved this story?  It’s true – an easy 5 star read (or listen in this case).

 

The Dali Deception is available in digital, paperback and audio format. You can order a copy here: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Dali-Deception-Kilchester-Book-ebook/dp/B01G3VAEIW/ref=sr_1_1?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1530549957&sr=1-1&keywords=the+dali+deception

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