View source for The Slaughter Man by Tony Parsons

{{infobox1
|title=The Slaughter Man
|sort=Slaughter Man
|author=Tony Parsons
|reviewer=Rebecca Pearson
|genre= Crime
|summary=A relentless, fast paced, action packed crime novel guaranteed to keep you on the edge of your seat for your entire journey from start to finish.
|rating=4
|buy=Yes
|borrow=Yes
|pages=384
|publisher=Century
|date=May 2015
|isbn=978-1780892351
|cover=1780892357
|aznuk=1780892357
|aznus=1780892357
}}

This is the second novel by Tony Parsons, which features DC Max Wolfe, single parent to daughter Scout, who first appeared in, ''The Murder Bag''. This book is, without a doubt, a huge step up from the first in the series – an extremely fast paced, exciting crime novel, with a gripping plot and twisted characters. There is no guessing which turn the story will take as every page throws in another plot twist; it’s impossible to figure out who the killer is. On New Year’s Eve, a rich, well established family living in Highgate, London are brutally murdered and the four-year-old son has been abducted. Now it is up to Max to track down the child and figure out who was behind the murders. 

Max’s determination to find the missing child, and to solve the murders, leads him to Scotland Yard’s Black Museum, devoted to The Slaughter Man, a murderer who slaughtered a family using the same weapon, a cattle gun, thirty years prior. It looks quite likely that it is the same man behind the recent killings but when Max tracks him down and reopens the case from years before, it leads to devastation and destruction for all involved. 

Max’s daughter, Scout, is his main motivation for finding the missing child and solving the case, and it is the thought of his daughter that keeps him alive when things get tough and tricky. This novel is a compelling story that shows the ups and downs of family life, and when it comes to the family that have been murdered, the book shows that even the happiest of families hold the deepest, darkest secrets that someone would kill to protect.

The novel kept me on the edge of my seat the entire way through and not once did I find myself wanting to put the book down. Each page provided tension as I found myself completely immersed in the story from the start until the end.  Not only was the novel fast paced, it was also authentic and completely different from other crime novels that are out there at the moment. Compelling portraits of characters, evocative prose and an exceptional plot come together to make this novel a must read. 

Fortunately, there is more to come from such an exceptional writer, and Max Wolfe will return in 2016 to continue his fight on crime, but in the time being, I would suggest [[Angelica's Smile by Andrea Camilleri]] as the writing style is just as exciting and fast paced. 

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