Newest Thrillers Reviews
A Dancer in the Dust by Thomas H Cook
A man that risk management consultant Ray Campbell knew a lifetime ago is found dead on the streets of New York. It's not just the fact that Ray knew him that's intriguing, it's where Ray knew him from: the African country of Lubanda where Ray once worked for an NGO. This death reminds him of another that happened out in Africa: that of a native Lubandan named Martine Aubert whom Ray loved and still loves. There must be a connection and Ray will investigate till he finds it, no matter what he finds or what he remembers along the way. Full review...
The Piper by Danny Weston
Peter and Daisy are evacuated on the eve of World War Two to The Grange at Romney Marsh. Something seems wrong from the moment they get there: there are children dancing in the garden and strange music that plays at night. When Peter realises that Daisy might be in danger he’s willing to do anything he can to fill the promise he made to his mother, keep his sister safe. Full review...
Believe No One by A D Garrett
Scottish forensic science expert Professor Nick Fennimore, and English DCI Kate Simms are both, for various reasons in St Louis, just as Nick planned. Fennimore and Simms have worked together in the UK when Nick's wife was murdered and daughter kidnapped. In fact they were together the night they first went missing having a less than professional dinner. Nick's daughter is still missing but while he follows new leads, he and Kate have other things to work on. St Louis has a serial killer to contend with: the victims are all mothers and their children are taken at the same time. Not so pure coincidence? Nick sees connections so will try to make everyone else see them. Whether his tactics work or not remains to be seen. Full review...
Blazing Obsession by Dai Henley
When our story starts we know that events are going to be cruel to James Hamilton. We might be envious of his high-end car business, with multiple dealerships and (as we later find out) a home in one of the nicer parts of Blackheath, but a couple of years down the line he'll be visited in his office by two policemen who tell him that his holiday cottage went up in flames the previous night and there are three bodies in the shell of the building. James won't believe that he's lost his wife, Lynne, stepson Georgie and daughter Emily. He was going to leave shortly to join them, so obviously there had been a mistake... Full review...
The Moon Pool by Sophie Littlefield
Comfortably off Colleen Mitchell is loath to let her 20 year old son go to North Dakota to work on the oil rigs but he's made up his mind. Unfortunately her worst nightmares begin to materialise when he vanishes soon after starting work. So, leaving her lawyer husband at home, she follows her maternal instinct to where he was last seen. His big corporate employers and the local police don’t seem that concerned. However, in her suffering there is another person who knows exactly how Colleen feels: Shay, the mother of another lad who went missing at the same time. Hoping it's not too late they join forces and start their own investigation. Full review...
Don't Stand So Close by Luana Lewis
It’s cold outside. Dark. Snow is falling. You're safe inside. Of course you are, you've not left the house in months. You're alone, but you feel safe inside. You do. It’s ok. You can do this. Full review...
A Most Wanted Man by John le Carre
Melik is a Turkish heavy-weight boxing champion. He lives with his widowed mother in Hamburg and they are both doing their very best to keep below the radar. Since his father died they don’t even go to the mosque on a regular basis. But this particular weekend Leyla wants to go. Her daughter, still in Turkey, is getting married, and a special prayer seems to be in order. It is a visit that might well end up costing them the eight years good behaviour needed to finally get beyond their tolerated status to enable full German citizenship. Full review...
Your Beautiful Lies by Louise Douglas
South Yorkshire 1984: Annie Howarth comes from a mining family and is married to William, a police superintendent. Although she and their daughter have all the societal and financial status they could need, Annie's life is becoming very uncomfortable as the miners begin a strike that will become violent on both sides of the divide. It's either an illegal strike or assertion of rights depending on the side you're on but unfortunately Annie isn't permitted to choose. However this is only the start of her problems. Tom Greenwood, a former boyfriend, is back on the streets after serving a prison sentence for manslaughter and he has unfinished business. The problem for Annie is that the unfinished business is with her, eventually threatening her world and possibly even her life. Full review...
Daughter by Jane Shemilt
Jenny has a busy life – GP, wife of Ted, a successful surgeon, mother to twin teenage lads Ed and Theo and a teenage daughter (Naomi) to name but some of the roles. Now she tells herself that she should have realised Naomi's mood swings and higher heels signified more than a phase. If she had, Jenny may have prevented her beloved child's disappearance; at least looking back on it that's what she tells herself. As the police investigate, Jenny and her remaining family have to come to terms with not only what has happened, but what it reveals about each of them. Full review...
Research by Philip Kerr
John Houston is a multimillionaire with a beautiful wife, a number of mistresses, countless extravagances and an apartment in Monaco, for tax reasons. He made his fortune by creating a formula for a series of best-selling novels designed specifically to appeal to the average man on the street. John has a team of four ghost-writers to do all the writing, meaning that he can produce an average of six bestsellers per year. John calls his group of ghost-writers his atelier', his ‘workshop’, perfectly reflecting his views of them. Full review...
The Rain-Soaked Bride by Guy Adams
The last thing that the afflicted people see before their death is a wet woman in white. The last thing they feel is their own personal rain cloud soaking them while everywhere else remains dry. All also happen to be in top government jobs. What's happening? British Intelligence Department 37 (in the form of August Shining and Toby Greene) is there to find out. This may not be the full extent of the problems facing them though; not with a South Korean delegation coming to the UK for talks and August's sister April wanting to get in on the act. Full review...
The Phoenix Year by David L Blond
I was really looking forward to reading this, marketed as a thriller that spans the globe and centres on rich, powerful individuals trying to change the world. The cover is reminiscent of the opening titles of House of Cards and Damages and the fact that each chapter bears a title was appealing to me as well. Full review...
The Clown Service by Guy Adams
If British Secret Intelligence Service operative Toby Greene worked for MacDonald's he'd be sacked for ineptitude. Unfortunately for the nation he cost thousands of pounds more to train than your average burger-flipper so he's off to Section 37 instead. The Section's label mentions anti-terrorism but, as his former boss told Toby If the security service is the circus, then Section 37 us where we keep the clowns. Meanwhile an old school Russian spy is coming to the UK with enough power to destroy London. This may only be Toby's first job for 37 and will include a touch of astral projection but what could possibly go wrong? Full review...
Acts of Omission by Terry Stiastny
In 1998 Mark Lucas was a recently-appointed minister in the Foreign Office, determined to do his best, but not yet long enough in the job to have abandoned his principles and beliefs. It's these that are tested when a disc containing the names of British informants to the Stasi has fallen into government hands. Understandably the Germans want the information back so that they can complete their opening up of the Stasi's archive. Lucas believes that the Germans should be accommodated on this: he was elected on a platform of transparency and openness - handing the information back seems right to him - but there are those within the government, both politicians and civil servants, who are determined that this should not happen. Full review...
A Kill in the Morning by Graeme Shimmin
The Nazis are amongst the most infamous group that has ever walked the planet. They may have been evil, but there was something pantomime about them that has made them the perfect foil for countless cheesy action films and pulp fiction. To enjoy these you have to disengage yourself from the history and see the Nazis of fiction as separate from those of real life. Can I enjoy a book like A Kill in the Morning set in an alternative 1950s were the Nazis have taken over mainland Europe and are building an ultimate weapon? Can a maverick secret agent take out SS Commander Reinhard Heydrich and change the tide of history? Full review...
The Spring of Kasper Meier by Ben Fergusson
Germany may be defeated as the embers of World War II grow cold but Kasper Meier is making the most of it. His trade in black market goods and casual private investigation work augment the meagre rations for him and his dying father. When a woman asks him to find a missing British airman he refuses – it's not really his line. She blackmails Kasper and still he refuses but then the note arrives: This is bigger than you. You don't have a choice. Queers still die in Berlin. Find the pilot. It seems that he's been seen with another man and now he has a decision to make that will either cost or save his life. Full review...
The Professionals by Owen Laukkanen
The professional criminal is the type of person who gets in, does the job and then gets out again. Sounds like the perfect way to stay undetected as a lifelong miscreant, but does not sound like the most exciting narrative for a story. Instead, take a bunch of young kidnappers who are drunk on their own success, whose racket goes wrong one day when they pick up the wrong mark. Watching their lives spiral out of control would be a much more thrilling read. A read just like The Professionals. Full review...
The Axeman's Jazz by Ray Celestin
Based on a true story, The Axeman's Jazz is scriptwriter Ray Celestin's debut novel. It tells of a serial killer in New Orleans in 1919 - the Axeman - who torments the city and has everyone talking; it seems that everyone has their theories and yet no meaningful leads are presenting themselves, as the police and citizens of New Orleans begin to despair of ever catching the killer. Full review...
Voyage into Limbo by Patricia Watkins
Colwyn Yeats, veteran of the war in Afghanistan and top-class sailor found himself at a loose end over the summer months. A planned research trip fell through when he'd already rented out his apartment. It seemed fortuitous when an acquaintance approached him to skipper himself and two friends across the Atlantic, in aid of a charity. Yeats had his doubts when he realised that his 'crew' weren't kitted out for the trip (flip flops? I mean, honestly!), they didn't appear to get on with each other particularly well and despite what he'd been told they didn't seem to know much about sailing. But - it was only a few weeks, when he'd nothing else to do, wasn't it? Full review...
DYFED ODYSSEY: Connell O'Keeffe and The Spider's Web by Patricia Watkins
Connell O'Keeffe looked to be settled. His stud was prospering. He was deeply, enduringly happy with his wife who was expecting their second child and despite the loss of his arm some years before which had put an end to his acting career, life was good. Then one morning Morgan, his manservant brought bad news before he was even out of bed. Khayri, one of his brood mares, was missing from her stable and there was a ransom demand. Reluctant to lose the mare - or to be beaten - O'Keeffe and Morgan set off to retrieve Khayri, hoping to be back that night, or - at the worst - the next day. Little did O'Keeffe know that it would be many months before he saw his home again. Full review...
Children of War: A Bruno Courreges Thriller by Martin Walker
Rafiq had phoned Bruno Courreges for help just a few hours before his tortured and mutilated body was found in the woods, but despite his being a policeman the Brigadier didn't see the case as a priority. He sees the wider picture, whilst Bruno is only the chief of police in a small French country town. A young Muslim by the name of Sami has turned up at a French army base in Afghanistan and he's keen to get home to St Denis and although it's possible to smuggle him back into the country, the FBI are not far behind him. It seems that Sami has been involved in bomb making in Afghanistan and has quite possibly been indirectly responsible for the deaths of soldiers of all nationalities. Full review...
The Truth about the Harry Quebert Affair by Joel Dicker and Sam Taylor (translator)
Confession - when I chose to review this book, I had no idea it had made such huge waves worldwide. I chose it because I hadn’t read a thriller for a while and this looked like a good one. Before the book arrived, I heard all about it – and it was just as well as I had heard so much positivity, as I also hadn’t realised it was such a hefty tome. (I’m not intimidated by hefty tomes, but experience has taught me that they don’t always justify themselves). Full review...
The Ties That Bind by Erin Kelly
When writer Luke falls in love with Jeremy, the fact that Jem (to his friends) offers to support Luke, allowing him to write a book, is a bonus. As soon as Luke discovers an unsolved murder from around 50 years ago, the book's subject is assured. However both the subject matter and Jem's endless support will present Luke with problems (and not a little danger) that he couldn't have foreseen. Full review...
Vortex by Matt Carrell
Andy Duncan's father offered him the money to travel the world for a year, but first he must do a three-month internship with Berwick Archer, an investment company based in Hong Kong. It would be decent experience to put on his CV. But when Andy got to Berwick Archer he liked what he saw - and stayed. Before long he was second in command at the firm's new Bangkok office and had a talent for what he did. There was even a girlfriend, Caroline Chan, who seemed more permanent than those who had gone before her. Caroline was a dealer, but not in a big way - although she was well connected to a very influential businessman. Full review...
Can Anybody Help Me? by Sinead Crowley
Yvonne and Gerry are proud new parents. However, as they've only recently moved to Gerry's native Dublin, Yvonne mourns the lack of a support network. This all changes when she turns to Mammynet, a web-based online forum and chat room for new and soon-to-be mums. It works too - Yvonne quickly makes a local online friend but then the friend disappears without warning. Meanwhile Garda Sergeant Claire Boyle is investigating the murder of a young woman. There may be a connection but will Claire discover it before the killer strikes again? Full review...
The Abduction by Jonathan Holt
The teenage daughter of a US Army Major is kidnapped when off basecamp at a Venetian nightclub. She is abducted by a masked team during the carnevale celebrations, when people not wearing masks are more conspicuous than those whose identities are hidden. Everything about the abduction seems perfectly orchestrated leaving very little in the way of clues apart from the very fact that it is carried out with such military precision. Full review...
Solo by William Boyd
Like Sherlock Holmes, Alice, or even the characters from the Bible, James Bond is no longer just the property of its original author. Ian Fleming may have had the imagination to create Bond, but since Casino Royale rolled onto the scene Bond has been a changing man who mimics the times he currently finds himself in. William Boyd’s Solo reverts back to Fleming’s original timeline and continues the story of that Bond, but is this a reflection of the past or today? Full review...
