“For the young woman kidnapped on her way home from the pub, the nightmare is about to begin…”

 

NO MAJOR SPOILERS

Caitlin Kinnear goes missing after a night out with friends. The problem is nobody knows she is missing for a good while. When D.I. Damen Brook starts looking into the case at the behest of his colleague D.S. John Noble he begins to see similarities with other missing women.

This is a dark, gritty tale set in Derby’s murky underworld. But there is so much more going on here than just a possible kidnapping, this book has depth, layers, twists, suspense and more.

At its heart there are themes of morals and loyalties; many of the characters are stuck in a moral maze but the rights and wrongs depend entirely on your own beliefs. How far you take those beliefs is one of the questions posed by this book.

The characters include three duos all of which have great loyalty to each other. D.I. Brook and D.S. Noble are colleagues, Brook is the one with the experience of cold cases and a man of great intelligence, he uses his experience to help Noble, but the loyalty isn’t all one way; Brook has his issues and Noble helps him out in social situations. The two sets of brothers, Grzegorz & max and Jake & Nick, both have bonds between them that are more than merely fraternal.

All the characters are so well-drawn, this is my first D.I. Noble novel but I feel like I have known him for years. He stole my heart with his loathing of Americanisms: him and me both. There are other great characters as well, Angie, who unwittingly plays a starring role and Superintendent Charlton who is a great foil for Brook’s dry humour and sarcasm.

This is a fantastic read, it starts off at a pace and is relentless throughout. If you like your thrillers dark and deep you’ll love this. I have no idea how this author is not more widely known, on this showing he is right up there with Jo Nesbo and Stuart MacBride.

 

Reviewed by:

Sandra Foy

Added 12th June 2015

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Sandra Foy