Newest Thrillers Reviews

	Exit Day: Brexit; An Assassin Stalks the Prime Minister by David Laws Thrillers At the time of my writing this, there is one thing uniting Britain, and this is hatred of 'Brexit'. Not just Brexit, but use of the word 'Brexit'. Yes, people hate the people that instigated it then disappeared, and/or the people who just can't seem to get their fingers out and complete it, but they also hate the use of the word. This biggest turn-off has made people who have never so much as tutted in their life slam down their tea-cups in high dudgeon and leave the room until it's safe to return, when all mention of it has subsided. I mention this in relation to this book because it is partly about Brexit, but because it too seems to get to the actual Brexiting in a very protracted manner. Just as we have to wade through dirges from Europe to get anywhere, it seems, so the reader of this book has to get through a lot from Europe before the title's theme really arises. Here, at least though, the author's delaying tactics are much more forgiveable. Full Review
	Never Tell by Lisa Gardner Crime, Thrillers Evie Carter's husband was shot dead in his own home and she was found with the gun in her hands. Was this a domestic dispute which had got out of hand? Was it pregnancy hormones running rampant? Detective D D Warren recognised Evie immediately. It might have been sixteen years ago, but there's no mistaking the teenager who had accidentally shot and killed her father: 'a tragic accident' everyone said, as there was no doubt about the love the two had for each other. D D had no worries at the time, but just how many gun accidents can one woman have - or is Evie about to get away with murder again? Full Review
	55 by James Delargy Crime, Thrillers Two men enter a police station, both tell the same story; they were kidnapped and narrowly escaped the clutches of a man who intended to kill them. As they escaped they ran through a graveyard and they were not the first victim. The stories match, the evidence is compelling and each man blames the other. Now the question is, who is guilty? Full Review
	Marked for Death by Tony Kent Crime, Thrillers The death of a retired Lord Chief Justice would have made the news: his crucifixion dominated it and Detective Chief Inspector Joelle Levy of the Met's Major Incident Team was the person whose job is was to find his killer. She never thought that it would be easy: the Lord Chief Justice had been making enemies in the course of his work for over half a century. It seems unreasonable to suggest that the crucifixion of retired solicitor Adam Blunt might have given her a ray of hope, but surely two such grisly killings cannot be random? All that's needed is to find out what connects the two cases. Full Review
	The Lost Night by Andrea Bartz Thrillers Andrea Bartz's debut novel tells you the eerie story of Lindsay's attempts to find out what exactly happened the night her friend Edie committed suicide. Set 10 years after the tragic event, you follow Lindsay as she pieces together clues and gets in touch with people from her past whom she hasn't spoken to since Edie's death. Convinced it wasn’t suicide, everyone is a suspect to Lindsay, even herself, as she can’t remember the events of that night. Did she witness what happened to Edie? Or worse, did she play a part in it? Full Review
	The Hunting Party by Lucy Foley Crime To begin with we don't know a great deal. We know that there's a body and before too long we know that Doug, the gamekeeper, doesn't think it was an accident. You get the feeling that Doug knows about these things. Three days earlier there had been nine travellers on the train: however you cut that one, the seating is going to be awkward. Someone is going to be left on their own. The highland lodge is stunning though, but these people who don't usually get outside the M25 find it difficult to realise exactly what isolated really means. In this case it means that it's an hour's drive to the road and that's when the weather's good. But this new year, the weather definitely isn't good. This is serious snow. Full Review
	Liberation Square by Gareth Rubin Thrillers, Historical Fiction, General Fiction In an alternate 1952, Soviet Troops control British Streets. After D-Day goes horribly wrong, Britain is first occupied by Nazi Germany – only to be rescued by Russian soldiers from the East, and Americans from the west. Dividing the nation between them, London soon finds itself split in two, a wall running through it like a scar. When Jane Cawson's husband is arrested for the murder of his former wife, Jane is determined to clear his name. In doing so, Jane follows a trail of corruption that leads her right to the highest levels of the state – and soon finds herself desperate to stay one step ahead of the murderous secret police… Full Review
	Bring Me Back by B A Paris Crime, Thrillers Returning from a skiing holiday Finn pulled in at one of those stops you wouldn't use if you weren't quite so desperate and didn't think you could last out to the next filling station. Finn went off to the toilet block leaving Layla in the car. When he returned Layla was missing, never to be found and Finn was lucky to escape being charged with murder. Twelve years on Finn has made a new life with Ellen, Layla's sister, but the police tell him that a former neighbour has reported seeing Layla near their old home. Is it her? Finn's worried about what she wants. Ellen worries that this is happening because she and Finn have announced that they're getting married. But what's happening with all the Russian dolls which are being left where Finn and Ellen can find them? Full Review
	Into the River by Mark Brandi Crime. Thrillers Two boys, Ben and Fab, are growing up in a small town in Northern Australia in the late 80's. They do all the normal things that boys of that age do - go yabbying (fishing), play cricket, fight their battles at school and think about girls. Their family lives are different; Ben comes from a happy home, whilst Fab is the son of Italian immigrants who clearly have little money, and has a father who is very violent. Yet despite their differences, they are fiercely loyal to each other. So far, so normal. But with the arrival of a new neighbour for Ben, a man called Ronnie, things begin to change. Ronnie wants Ben to come over to do some odd jobs for him, and both Ben and Fab are increasingly uncomfortable about this. Full Review
	The Chemical Detective by Fiona Erskine Thrillers Dr Jaq Silver is a brilliant scientist with a healthy social life who loves her work and life. Whilst she is haunted by her past she won't let it define her. When she becomes entangled in a mystery, a mystery that could tie to some of the most horrific weapons on Earth, she doesn't hesitate and jumps straight in. We follow Jaq as she travels the world digging deeper and deeper into a rabbit-hole of intrigue and betrayal, never compromising and always seeking the truth. From the ski slopes of Eastern Europe, to the sunny climes of Portugal and even making a visit to that most glamourous of locations… rainy Teeside… this is a true thriller. Full Review
	Gone by Midnight by Candice Fox Thrillers In a hotel in Cairns, a group of 7 grown ups go for dinner, leaving their 4 children upstairs in a hotel room. When they return, only 3 children remain. Wow, that's all a bit…familiar. But the resemblance to the McCann case ends there, in many ways. Parents may be suspects and judgements may be made of their choice to leave the children unsupervised, but beyond that this is not the same story, not least because by the end of this book we do know once and for all what happened to Richie. Full Review
	It Should Have Been Me by Susan Wilkins Thrillers, Crime It's seventeen years since DC Jo Boden's sister, Sarah, was murdered and her life since has been lived in the shadow of what happened. Jo was only eleven at the time and her parents' marriage broke up in the aftermath: her brother Carl opted to go and live with his father but Jo stayed with her mother who was mentally frail and not coping with everyday life. She wasn't pleased when Jo decided to join the police, but the job satisfies Jo. She's passed her sergeant's exams but in the Met these days it's a case of dead men's shoes and no one seems inclined to make way for the younger generation. Still, being a detective is better than being a PC and when the opportunity to go undercover comes up, Jo grabs it. Full Review
	The Drop: A Slough House Novella by Mick Herron Thrillers When you've done a job for any length of time, the memory, the instincts of it stay with you and they're impossible to forget. It was the same with Solomon Dortmund, a retired spy: when he watches a woman making a drop he knows exactly what he's seeing and he passes this on John Batchelor, the man charged with looking after the retired spooks. Bachelor has problems of his own: the closest he comes to a home is the back seat of his car and he's run out of people whose sofas he can commandeer for the night. The best he can do with Solomon's problem is to pass it on the someone else and hope that they'll deal with it/solve the problem/quietly forget about it. Full Review
	To Catch a Killer by Emma Kavanagh Crime, Thrillers If you're a detective on a murder squad one of the first things you learn is detachment. You develop a distance from the victim: it allows you do do your job with the minimum amount of emotion. That's relatively easy when you encounter your victim when they're already dead but DS Alice Parr met the woman they would need to call Jane Doe when she was alive, albeit only just. She was being tended by an off-duty paramedic who was struggling to cope with the fact that the woman's throat had been cut and she'd been stabbed several times. The attack had been called in by a dog walker and Alice had been walking to work when the call came over her Airwave radio. Full Review
	A Clean Death by Adriaan Verheul Thrillers, Crime Three very different men meet in the jungle, led there by fate. Davey sees conspiracies everywhere, Oliver seeks answers about the death of his father, and Captain Christmas leads a community of armed men, women and children, hidden far from justice in the forest. As the three men are brought together, the events could cause each to lose something of consequence: maybe illusion, maybe conviction, and maybe, just maybe, life itself… Full Review
	Friends Like These by Sarah Alderson Thrillers Life in London isn’t always glam, especially if you’re young and underpaid. For Lizzie it’s all a bit of a balancing act. She has a nice home but it technically belongs to her room-mate’s parents. She works in the entertainment industry, but her job itself is probably not one you’d covet. She doesn’t have much spare time, but that’s because she’s been working through some self-improvement. If they could only see her now. And, well, actually, they can, although there’s a lot less of her to see than there once was. But yes, she doesn’t really have much time for the past and the people from it. Full Review
	Red Snow by Will Dean Thrillers, crime Life in the small town of Gavrik is trying to return to normal, following the grim events of Dark Pines. As Tuva prepares to move on from both the death of her mother and her small hometown, she is drawn into another dark investigation. One suicide, and one murder. Are they connected? With black liquorice coins covering the murdered man's eyes, the hashtag #ferryman starts trending, and the local people stocking up on ammunition. With only a fortnight to investigate before moving to the South, Tuva is further troubled by a blizzard that descends on the town, cutting Gavrik off from the larger world. Desperate to stop the killer, Tuva must go delve deep into the heart of the community – but who's to say the Ferryman will let her go? Full Review
	And So It Begins by Rachel Abbott Crime, Thrillers We know there's something very strange going on as soon as we join the story: we begin by hearing how it's going to end and that someone must die. But that's just a hint: for the time being we're with two police persons. Stephanie's the sergeant and she has Jason, the probationer with her in the squad car, but Stephanie doesn't like where they're heading. The house is stunning, but the last time she was here it was because there was a dead body at the bottom of the stairs to the pool. This time there's been a 999 call with a woman screaming for help: the omens are not good and when they enter the house they find two tangled, blood-soaked bodies in the bed. They both look dead, but one of them moves - it's Evie Clark and she confesses to killing her partner. Full Review
	The Syndicate by Guy Bolton Thrillers Set in Post War America, with a society finding its feet again, this thriller weaves its way through the glitz of Hollywood, the dirt of Mob rule and the birth of an American institution. Whilst most of this book is set in Hollywood the whole story sits in the shadow of the birth of Las Vegas. We open with the murder of a high level Mob boss and when the Police and FBI refuse to properly investigate, his associates decide to bring in their own detective. Retired legend, Jonathon Craine, only wanted a quiet life away from the Studios, the Police, and most of all The Mob but they wouldn't let him have that. From the shocking start to the dramatic conclusion this is a great and compelling read. Full Review