Fourth in the DI Tom Thorne British police procedural in which a cold case that retired cop Carol Chamberlain is working on ties together with a current one featuring rival crime gangs. Twenty years ago, Gordon Rooker attempted to set the daughter of a local crime boss on fire—but he got the wrong girl, instead igniting her best friend Jessica who was horribly burned and committed suicide a couple of years later. Carol worked on that case and now she’s getting phone calls saying “I burned her.” The problem is, Rooker is still in prison. Upon being questioned by Thorne, he says he didn’t really do it, though he confessed at the time because being in prison was safer than outside where the crime boss who hired him would have easier access to kill him for botching the job. A sudden string of dead gang members between Billy Ryan’s gang and a new Turkish group sets up a task force throwing Thorne into the fray with a DCI he’s crossed swords with before. I really enjoyed this one—hard to put down, with a few twists and turns to the plot though nothing really surprising as I did anticipate what was going to happen before it did. ( )

The best word to describe this book is "meh". I found the story mildly interesting but not as great as the blurb on the jacket led me to believe. It was adequate entertainment but overall a waste of my listening time. Not something I would recommend either unless you are desperate for some sort of thriller. ( )

I know for some fans, this entry in the Tom Thorne series was a disappointment; I really liked it. It's a daring book, and a departure, and it really made me think, though if you're looking for the express to
Happy Endings, you'd better wait for another train. ( )

Bought this book in London-July 2005-signed copy. ( )