The Payback

Ok I admit, I am hooked after reading only two books from this author, I have been drawn from the start into the excitement of Mr. Kernick’s fast moving action packed dramas. “The Payback” drags you into the gory and mystery filled action right from the first murder and with each new victim the suspense intensifies, the constant twists and turns make it a hard novel to put aside.

This latest caper set in the Philippines highlights two of Mr. Kernick’s most popular protagonists: Tina Boyd, the exciting and feisty police office and Dennis Milne, a former cop who is now earning his living by accepting contract killings. A third player is Paul Wise a recurring villain, he is well known as an international crime boss and cruel pedophile.

It opens when Dennis is sent to Manila to carry out an “assignment” for his employer Bertie Schagel (Paul Wise’s right hand man), his target is a journalist. Tina is also in the city, on leave from the force with the hope of settling accounts. She has scheduled a meeting with the same journalist to gather information as to the whereabouts of Paul Wise, the man who left her for dead and killed her ex-lover. When Paul realises he is targeted by Tina, he gives the order to have Dennis eliminate her also. When Dennis realises his second target is a beautiful, innocent woman and a police officer he is unable to fulfill his boss’ wishes and knows by doing this he has put an even bigger target on himself. His only alternative is to join forces with Tina and go after the head of the snake. Their encounter is completely explosive and when you add to the mix a notorious villain you have a fast-paced and action-packed plot that is guaranteed to put boredom at bay for another day.

Mr. Kernick’s characterization is outstanding, Dennis, for one is portrayed as a cold-blooded murderer but he has so much depth and heart it is hard not to empathize with him at times, the others characters are equally well developed in their own roles. The author has provided a lot of Dennis’ back history to make this novel exciting on its own and has brought to light some loose ends from previous installments. However my gut feeling is I should have started with “The Business of Dying " , all of his novels are definitely on my TBR list, time will tell. ( )

Really brilliant ( )

Three Cheers – Simon Kernick is back! It’s not so much his new book that elicits the Huzzahs as the fact that he is back on magnificent form with one his best characters, assassin and former policeman Dennis Milne.
It’s not necessary to have read The Business of Dying or A Good Day to Die to enjoy The Payback, but they are recommended reads telling the back-story of Milne and penned before Kernick had his falling off, serving up substandard gimmicky race-against-time potboilers such as Deadline and Severed.
Kernick’s other series hero is Detective Inspector Tina Boyd and, inevitably, she and Milne meet and end up working together, despite the fact he was hired to kill her.
Paul Wise, the sadistic drug dealer and paedophile who murdered Tina’s boyfriend, wants her dead but she is determined to bring him to justice no matter what the cost – even if it means conspiring with wanted killer Dennis Milne, who has his own reasons for wanting to find Wise.
Much of the action takes place in the Philippines as the unlikely couple follows leads and put past ghosts to rest: they track down Tomboy Darke, Milne’s treacherous former business partner, and a lot of loose ends are tidied away.
The story is told from various points of view, including a first person narrator: in the past, readers were usually assured the first person narrator would survive but recently writers have been killing them off with impunity and Kernick, I regret to say, is no exception.
The Payback is a thoroughly enjoyable read, exciting, pacey and satisfying: flawed heroes and unspeakably vile villains alike get their come-uppance. As Tina Boyd concludes “Those who sin always end up paying… And Tina had sinned as well. One day, it would be her turn to pay.” ( )