February 28

The Killing Kind – Jane Casey

Ingrid will never forget what John did.
The people he hurt. The way he lied about it so easily. The way she defended him.

Now he’s back.
He says a murderer is after her. He says only he can protect her.

Would you trust him?
The clock is ticking for Ingrid to decide. Because the killer is ready to strike…

 

 

 

I received a review copy of The Killing Kind from the publishers. My thanks to Anne Cater of Random Things Blog Tours for the opportunity to join this tour.

 

The Killing Kind made me tense as I read. Properly unsettled and uncomfortable. Long before I reached the end of the book I knew I would be looking back on it favorably as The Killing Kind does achieve the tension you look for in a psychological thriller which some books just fail to achieve.

Ingrid is a formidable and confident lawyer. At the start of The Killing Kind we see her shred apart the defence put forward by a woman that claims she is a victim of a dominating and controlling man. Ingrid picks holes in her story and leaves enough doubt for the jury to believe John isn’t a controlling manipulator but she implies the woman is obsessed with him – he is attractive and charming and she has clearly shown feelings for him.

The case ends with success for Ingrid but the police officer that helped arrest John makes her aware he still thinks John is dangerous and tells Ingrid this may have been the best chance to put him in jail.

The timeline of the story does shift through over three years of Ingrid’s life and readers can see how her life pivots from the point she secures John’s freedom. He turns his attention to Ingrid and any feeling of “normal” she may have had is gone.

The Killing Kind shares chapters where Ingrid is experiencing pressure, where she is confronted by her predator, suspects a random incident may he his doing or when she returns home to find the most horrific of discoveries. There are also chapters which are just written logs of harassing telephone calls or a statement taken to support a claim she makes against John. It all becomes increasingly upsetting and you see Ingrid’s confidence whittled away.

I don’t want to dwell too much on events within the book as that takes us too far into spoiler territory. Suffice to say there may be more going on in Ingrid’s life than she realises. You may feel she is making some bad choices and when she talks with John it never seems a good idea. But when you hear his side of some stories you feel he believes there is a twisted logic in his thoughts but you also feel you cannot trust a single word he says. Clever writing and so frustrating when a character doesn’t say or do what you feel is “right”.

The Killing Kind was a terrific read (if uncomfortable at many points). Jane Casey nails the dilemma, terror and absolute vulnerability of Ingrid to make readers understand and sympathise with her predicament and root for her to get her life back on track. But how many will die before that can happen?

 

The Killing Kind is available in paperback, digital and audiobook format. You can order a copy here: https://www.waterstones.com/book/the-killing-kind/jane-casey/9780008404963

 

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July 28

Guest Post: Steve Cavanagh: Serial Heroes

It was October 2015 when Douglas Skelton told a gathering of readers in Motherwell Library that he really enjoyed Ed McBain novels.  That comment gave me the idea of a feature on my blog.  Could I find a couple of authors who would write a wee guest post on the books they like?  Not a single volume, but the ongoing stories by one author, characters they loved to follow. Could I maybe even stretch to 5 guests and get a feature week?

It turns out I could – authors are book fans too. WHO KNEW???

Today Steve Cavanagh joins me to close out the third week of my Serial Heroes feature.  Steve is my 15th guest yet he is the first that I have actually met that has also chosen a ‘Hero’ that I have met. It had never occurred to me that this may happen!

Steve, thank you!  An excellent choice…

 

Every Dead Thing 2Whilst working as a journalist for the Irish Times, Dublin born author John Connolly worked on what would become his debut novel, Every Dead Thing. The book is not an Irish novel. It’s set in the US, in Maine. It took five years to complete. Along with Michael Connelly’s The Black Echo, and The Friends of Eddie Coyle by George V. Higgins, Every Dead Thing stands as one of the finest debut crime novels of the last fifty years.

Charlie Parker’s wife and daughter are savagely murdered by a serial killer who continues to taunt Parker long after their deaths. The opening pages are harrowing, and we see Parker give up his career as a cop and descend into a painful, nightmarish world of grief and loss in his search for vengeance. This all sounds very bleak, and in parts it is suitably dark – but there is a lightness of touch and a wry humour that lifts Parker into your heart. From the first pages you are right behind Parker, willing him to survive and find the killer. Two men accompany Parker on his quest; the hitman Louis, and his lover – the dishevelled burglar Angel. The events in Every Dead Thing set Parker on a course which Connolly explores over the next 14 novels. Increasingly, that path brings Parker deeper into the “honeycomb world” where the supernatural meets our world.

Following this character over the course of the novels you see him change, and age. His relationships change, his values and outlook on the world also. At the beginning of the series Parker is a man who could easily have been destroyed by the loss of his family, but as we learn during the series, Parker’s dead family haven’t necessarily left him behind.

The supporting cast of the series increases as we move forward, and one character in particular, called The Collector, has a special significance. I may be wrong, but I see Collector as the character that Parker could have become, and may still yet become.

The Wolf In WinterEach book in the series features a fabulous villain and none more so than Mr. Pudd, who appeared in The Killing Kind. I won’t spoil it for you, but suffice to say that Mr. Pudd is perhaps my favourite villain in modern fiction.

I read series fiction because I am emotionally invested in the characters. I care about them and I want to know what happens to them. Over the course of the last three books beginning with The Wolf In Winter, Connolly has changed the series. It’s almost as if he knocked Parker off that path that he’d been on, and found him a new one. As a writer I found that incredibly brave, and as a reader I couldn’t be happier. Often with a series you get the impression that the quality of the books somehow diminishes as it moves on. Not so here. The books get better and better which is a marvellously rare accomplishment.

Just one word about the writing itself – it’s stunning. The great Michael J Malone posted recently about James Lee Burke and I think you could comfortably slot Connolly alongside Burke as equals in producing startlingly poetic prose.

When John Connolly publishes a new Charlie Parker book I go out and buy it, I put aside whatever else I’m reading and I open the book and read it straight through. I can’t say better than that.

 

Steve CavanaghSteve Cavanagh was born and raised in Belfast and is a practicing lawyer and holds a certificate in Advanced Advocacy. He writes fast-paced legal thrillers set in New York City featuring lead character Eddie Flynn. His first novel, The Defence , was chosen as one of Amazon’s great debuts for 2015, as part of their Amazon Rising Stars programme.
Find out more at www.stevecavanagh.com or you can find Steve on Twitter: @SSCav

You can buy Steve’s books by clicking through this link: http://www.amazon.co.uk/Steve-Cavanagh/e/B00OAGCA62/ref=sr_tc_2_0?qid=1469748794&sr=1-2-ent

Category: From The Bookshelf | Comments Off on Guest Post: Steve Cavanagh: Serial Heroes