Haven't read the 2nd book. Not nearly as good as the first. Not even in the same league. East European women in servitude and then a serial killer!! shoehorned in? Too cliché. Became a std lame detective story. Perhaps the title is self-referential. Looks like a money grab. ( )

Again not as good as the first book in the series The Ghosts Of Belfast, but still quite an adrenaline ride, as was the second book Collusion. The whole book takes place in the span of a few days including Christmas, and has Policeman Jack Lennon in the crosshairs again this time with some well connected Lithuanians. I only wish all of the loose ends of this series were finally tied up in this book- I don't want to give away anything. If you read one set of books make it this series; The Ghosts Of Belfast, Collusion, Stolen Souls. Books are seldom better than this series. ( )

After his successful initial two (political) thrillers (The twelve, Collusion), this thriller reads a bit formulaic and definitely does not carry the same smart political suspense, despite featuring our hero Jack Lennon again.

Basically a spree of murders involving two Lithuanian and two local tugs, creates the impetus for a hunt on a Ukrainian immigrant girl, who has been pressed into prostitution. Both bad forces (Lithuanian maffioso and his driver Herkus) and good forces (Jack Lennon) start a goose chase to locate the missing girl. Add a cranky, God-squad serial killer and a bent Detective Chief Inspector into the mix, and you have all the ingredients for another breakneck thriller with several twists at the end.

Unfortunately, the intricate political landscape of Northern Ireland which dominated his first two thrillers has been relegated to the background, while an old fetish of crime writers (serial killer) has been added to the mix. Both trends take away the unique selling point of Stuart Neville’s thrillers and make him less interesting to read, according to me. Why? Because quirky madmen with serious but rare psychological afflictions on a serial killing spree make thrillers less ‘real’ (at least I can’t identify with such an environment – it simply does not occur in my day to day life). The charged political climate of Belfast and its concomitant family feuds and opportunities for illicit activities provided us with so much insight in his previous two thrillers that this thriller simply disappoints. The intricate political tension has been replaced by a bland atmosphere of ubiquitous violence, drab weather and empty streets in an ugly city. Pity. ( )

This is an average solid offering from Stuart Neville but not as good as the brilliant DCI Serena Flanagan...."Those we left behind" and "So say the fallen". DI Lennon is a typical over worked detective, the sole parent to his 6 year old daughter Ellen, mum having tragically passed away in a fire. He is helped in this endeavour by his one and only admirer Susan. It's almost Christmas on the streets of Belfast and a body has been discovered. Soon Lennon will be embroiled in the hunt for a killer and an investigation into the illegal importation of young girls from Europe for the purposes of prostitution. If we add to this a demented lonely killer then it is highly unlikely the dutiful detective will be sitting down to his turkey roast anytime soon....A book to pass away the time but instantly forgotten. ( )

'Stolen Souls', Stuart Neville's 3rd in his Jack Lennon series, is a competently written, well plotted police procedural/mystery novel of a victim of white slavery crossing paths with a serial killer. It's OK, but nothing special.

Detective Inspector Lennon, the star of the series, just doesn't get and hold my attention throughout this series. As with every law enforcer/detective in the genre, he has a shtick (or in his case, several), which is that he's a Catholic working for a mostly Protestant police force in Belfast, Northern Ireland. That's a big deal; his family hates him for it, as do most of the other Catholics he knows. Therefore he works, and mostly lives his life, solo. He's also a single father as a result of something that happened in a previous book. And, oh yeah, he's a nice guy at heart. The problem is that his shtick(s) just isn't all that exciting.

Neville's books are well done and he clearly knows police procedures. Dialogue is usually solid and the stories are realistic. I like the setting in Northern Ireland- it's a place with a history of violence, it's 'Irish' yet is part of Great Britain, and it's a big city (for over there, anyway) with big city problems.

Stolen Souls begins with a young lady from Eastern Europe, who'd been 'tricked' into entering the sex-slave trade, killing one of her captors, escaping on foot, and then crossing paths with Belfast's very first serial killer. The dead guy's family is unhappy with his demise and begin an all-out effort to locate the young lady, while the serial killer begins his preparations for what sounds like a really nasty end for his victim. Lennon catches the case, and the remainder of the novel takes us through his efforts to connect the dots. The conclusion is the best part, as a number of aspects of the investigation intersect and it's all wrapped up in a surprising way.

Stolen Souls is a nice addition to a relatively unexciting series. Other readers may find it extremely well done, but for me the main character, although sympathetic, is just a bit too bland. ( )