Sam Blake

I enjoyed this, but would have preferred less of Cat's musings about her surprise pregnancy and more of a sense of urgency about the case. The Emily/Tony/Mary strand, while it was eventually worked into the main narrative, also slowed the pace of the main story. I was firmly in Tony's camp - Emily's actions were unreasonable, unprofessional, and unsafe, but I suppose if she hadn't invited a confused stranger into her home and smuggled her across an international border, the case might never show more have been solved. show less

Oh dear. Ok…..deep breath…..

So here’s the deal. This is a new author for me since I haven’t read book #1 of the Cat Connolly series & if that affected my enjoyment of this one, mea culpa. I’ll give a brief rundown of the plot then try to explain why we’re just not a good match.

Cathy “Cat” Connolly has recently returned to Dublin’s An Garda Síochána following a close brush with death on her last case (book #1). Now she’s fighting fit thanks to long hours of physio & show more rehab. She’s a national kick boxing champ & when her usual sparring partner doesn’t turn up one day, Cat knows it’s time to get worried.

Sarah Jane is a hard working journalism student, Cat’s best friend & training buddy. She’s also known for her punctuality & an anxious Cat is soon on her way to Sarah’s house. There, she finds Sarah’s room has been broken into & completely tossed.

Cat wastes no time getting her colleagues on board including potential romantic interest DI Dawson O’Rourke. From there the plot takes off & as Cat & her crew search for Sarah, they’ll encounter violent creeps & woman preyed on by human traffickers.

Whether or not you enjoy the book will depend mostly on 2 things: your opinion of the MC & how believable you need a story to be. Let’s start with Cat. She’s a very young copper who’s already been promoted out of uniform. We’re repeatedly told it’s because of her intelligence, cool head & skills. But I’m afraid her actions tell a different story. She’s prone to reckless decisions that endanger others & has a tendency to go haring off on her own, despite being surrounded by experienced cops who actually pay attention to procedure. Sorry, but I have to believe some of her actions would end up with her having her ass handed to her by a superior officer in the real world. Also, the lone wolf approach is tough to swallow & usually has more credibility when ascribed to older characters with more miles under their belts.

We also spend a lot of time in her head as she dissects every thought & emotion, a real pace killer. Case in point: during the opening sequence when Cat decides to check on her friend, we’re meant to feel a mounting sense of dread. You’d assume Cat would hightail it to Sarah’s. Well, it takes 21 pages (I counted) for her to reach her destination during which we share Cat’s every memory, historical anecdotes & emotion plus Sarah’s complete life story. They’re best friends & Cat’s worried…I get it. But there is waaay more back story than I need to understand them or their relationship & any sense of urgency has long since died by the time Cat arrives. And immediately contaminates a potential crime scene. Sigh…..

As for the investigative aspect of the plot, I think my problem (besides the credibility issues) is I’ve read a lot of books in this genre & the sex slave/human trafficking angle is one that’s been done many times. In this case, that’s actually a minor point because although it’s ostensibly a police procedural, it’s really all about Cat. Peripheral characters & events are constructed to showcase the MC. The result is we know her really, really well but other characters suffer from lack of development.

But you know what? At the end of the day, this is just one person’s opinion. The points above are MY pet peeves & it’s very likely there’s a horde of readers out there who aren’t bothered by them. My Gramma used to shrug & say “Not every hat fits” (although I think she was referring to dating…) & that holds for any art form be it book, film or music. If you read & enjoyed the first book, by all means get out there & grab this. show less

Orla and Conor Quinn are a highly successful, powerful and glamorous couple whose lives are torn apart when their only child, nineteen-year-old university student Tom, is found dead, the victim of a deliberate hit-and run. Then, as Detective Garda Cat Connolly is leaving his parents’ home she is called to the discovery of another body, found on the rocks, not far from where Tom was killed. This victim is Lauren O’Reilly, a friend and fellow student of Tom who had, apparently, committed show more suicide. Is it just a coincidence that both young people died on the same night or are their deaths in some way linked? As Cat and the team of detectives investigate both deaths they uncover various strands which point to links with the Dark Web, as well as with some cold cases.
I found this an immediately engaging police procedural story and thought that the slow build up to the complexity of the plot was handled well. It seemed that most of the characters had secrets which led the detectives down many blind alleys, leading to multiple twists and turns as the story progressed. However, these were exposed in ways which felt, for the most part, reasonably convincing. Although I did guess the outcome quite early on, there was an interesting twist at the end which did catch me by surprise! I think that the slow-burn of the early stages of the investigation, followed by a quite dramatic acceleration in the later stages, was probably a reasonably accurate reflection of how many crimes are eventually solved. The Dark Web and computer hacking were central to the developing story and the exposure of the insidious nature of these themes made for some disturbing reading – I defy anyone who reads this book not to become paranoid about covering their webcam when they aren’t using it!
I thought that the characters, even the more minor ones, were mostly well developed and credible. I found Cat, a determined and passionate investigator, quite an endearing character and loved the fact that she was also a champion kick-boxer in her spare time! Her relationship with Detective Inspector Dawson O’Rourke, her married boss and mentor, was a complex one because it included a powerful romantic element which led to a certain tension in most of their interactions. The “will they, won’t they” scenarios certainly added an extra dimension to the development of the story, although I must admit that there were moments when I found it hard to reconcile Cat’s confident, rather feisty persona with her apparent dependence on her attachment to her boss!
Another character I found particularly appealing was Anna Lockharte, the university professor who was course tutor to Tom and Lauren but was also suffering from PTSD following her sister’s death during a terrorist attack in Paris. Some of the narrative is presented from her perspective, a device which certainly added interest as well as introducing some links to the complex, ongoing investigation. A rather more disturbing strand to the narrative were the occasional, italicised chapters which offered insights into the psychology and motives of the amoral computer hacker, whose activities are central to the story.
Most of the action takes place in Ireland but the move to London for the dramatic conclusion, as well as strands which included France and America, added an interesting extra dimension to the story-telling.
This is the third book in the Cat Connolly series and, although it would probably have felt more satisfying had I read the previous two, if only to gain more insight into how the close personal, as well as professional, relationship between Cat and Dawson had come about, there were certainly enough clues about the back story to make it easy and enjoyable to read as a stand-alone story. The strength of the character development and the quality of the writing are certainly factors which would encourage me to read the next book in the series.
With thanks to Readers First and Zaffre for providing a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. show less

When Brioni O’Brien returns to Heathrow after time away travelling in Asia, she has not had the best of times. A traumatic experience has soured her trip and whilst waiting at the carousel, she realises that her suitcase has gone missing. Another concern is her sister Marissa. She has had no response to her messages to let her sister know she was coming home. Since Marissa’s marriage to American businessman Steve, their relationship had changed, but why would Marissa be ignoring her.

Set show more over three locations, London, New York and Ireland, High Pressure is a thrilling read with the main arc of the story being the aftermath of a bomb attack in London. Marissa’s bag has been found at the bomb site but where is Marissa? Brioni teams up with a visiting expert from Dublin, Professor Anna Lockharte, to try and discover what has happened to her sister.

A story involving New Scotland Yard and the American security services, Marissa’s disappearance is just one, albeit a fairly major, part of the puzzle. In addition to the investigation of the terror attacks and the numerous hoaxes intended to cause maximum disruption, there are other strands which add to the intrigue and tension – to say exactly what might be going into spoiler territory!

There are so many twists and turns and red herrings in the story, I veered from one suspect to another. At one stage I smugly thought it was obvious who was responsible for one particular crime but no, I had to later accept I had got it wrong.

It starts off a little slowly but the pace soon builds up and then the story has the speed of an express train. It’s part crime thriller but also a story about family and relationships – Anna has suffered a traumatic past and loss and Brioni is devastated by the thought that her sister that had been such a crucial part of her life could be gone.

I only had one minor niggle, and whilst it didn’t detract from my overall enjoyment, I thought the conclusion a little abrupt and I would have liked just a bit more character interaction towards the end on certain aspects. I believe that we may not have seen the end of Brioni so possibly my questions will be answered.

I don’t know why I haven’t read a Sam Blake book before but I certainly enjoyed this experience and this book won’t be my last. It had an exciting and well plotted story together with characters that you can engage with – Anna was a fabulous creation and with her cool head was great to have on your side in a crisis especially as she knew people in all the right places and Brioni was fearless when those she cared about were under threat. A recommended read. show less