Charlie Gallagher (1)

When Danny Evans is approached by a stranger claiming that he knows why Danny's teenage daughter attempted suicide, Danny grasps desperately at the chance to find answers he's been long searching for. Unfortunately, he doesn't know that what he is committing to isn't a solution to his problems but a thrilling new game for the so-called "friend". And thus begins a long series of lies, deceptions, and murders.

The book has a great storyline and many twists. Unfortunately, not all the twists show more serve well to keep the tempo maintained, something so crucial in a thriller. I was engrossed in the book till about 22% because until then, it kept the momentum going. After that point, there were just periodic thrills and lulls in the reading experience. Towards the end, I was just waiting for the book to be over because the climax really dragged a lot. At 400 pages and 62 chapters (leading to a 12.5 hours long audiobook), the book becomes quite clunky in its plot and could have worked better if the narrative had been tightened a bit more.

I loved the police procedural parts of the story. The author is a long-serving UK police officer, and his knowledge of being in the frontline of crime serves him well. All the crime-related and police-related segments of the book are quite interesting. DI Joel Norris, the main police character in the book, seems much like an actual police officer and I liked that character portrayal a lot. He showed the human side of the police force.

The narrator, Alexis Rodney, does his best to liven up the characters and keep us invested throughout the long listening journey. However, I couldn’t connect much with his narration, especially after the halfway mark. A narrator can boost a lengthy book only to a certain extent; beyond that, it is entirely dependent on the plot to sustain the listener. On the other hand, if this were an e-book, I might just have DNFed it. So I guess Rodney’s narration did benefit the book.

On an aside, I had loved the cover of the book when I had requested the ARC but now I feel that it doesn’t represent the book accurately.

I would give “The Friend” 3.5 stars, rounding up to 4.

Thank you, NetGalley and HarperCollins UK Audio, for the Advanced Audio Review Copy of the book in exchange for an honest review.

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thriller, law-enforcement, series, serial-murder, due-diligence, torture, child, home-invasion, real-horror, family-drama, angst, procedural, relationships, relationship-issues, friendship, drugs-issues, psychological, psychopath, siblings, intense, England, teamwork,*****

Too real.
Policing has never been easy and the ones with traumatized children are the hardest. Then there's the personal home life and the other problems that can't be controlled. The publisher's blurb covers the basics of show more the story well. The writing invades the reader's mind and brings out all the bogey men. An excellent read, but I found it necessary to read it in increments for the sake of what passes for sanity in my case.
I requested and received an EARC from Joffe Books via NetGalley. Thank you! show less

He Will Get You by Charlie Gallagher
Detective Madde Ives #5

A policeman dead
A father who wants his son’s death avenged
A fiendish killer who loves his job
Detectives called to a murder scene
Hints about who will be next
Looking through the eyes of the murderer
Imagining “What IF”

This book was intense, dark and gritty as it told of death, destruction of lives and how the police went about trying to find the killer. It kept me interested from beginning to end.

What I liked:
* Maddie: She was show more focused, smart and capable – would like to learn more about her in the past and future books
* The plotting, pace and writing of the story
* That the story was believable
* Police procedural aspects of the story
* Glimpses of the lives of the police officers and how they were not free of personal worries – also their camaraderie and ability to care for one another on and off of the job
* How Maddie dealt with her parents – I don’t know that entire part of her past but what I heard sounded ugly
* The way I cared about the characters
* Reading a new author that I hope to read again in the future
* All of it except…

What I did not like:
* The loss of innocent lives
* Alexander Mason and his need for revenge
* Lance Askew – evil fiend without any redeeming traits
* Having to wait to see what will happen next.

Coming into this series on book five was fine. I probably missed some information on Maddie, Vince, Harry and some others but it did not impact my enjoyment of this book. And, I did enjoy it and look forward to reading more by this author.

Thank you to NetGalley and Joffe Books for the ARC – This is my honest review.

5 Stars show less

Six Hours to Live by Charlie Gallagher
Abigail Morton #1

~ Five women woke up to the longest day of the year – the Solstice – not all would see it rise again ~

What I liked:
* Abigail Morton: young, police constable, wants to make a difference, disillusioned, gifted interviewer, under pressure, difficult to get to know & connect with
* Starting a new series with the first book
* The plot, setting, and potential for the series
* That some, if not all, potential murder victims were saved
* The show more glimpse into what a “source handler” is, how difficult it might be, and deciding it would not be easy for the handler or the source
* The police procedural aspects of the case and the tension felt as the clock was ticking
* Wondering if DCI Paul Cotterill and Source Officer Nixon were as committed and caring as they should be
* Feeling for the people who had to deal with the murder of a loved one
* Being able to dislike the bad guys and hope that Karma would find them
* Not seeing who was really pulling the strings till the end
* Knowing that there will be another book in the series and wondering what Abi will do next

What I didn’t like:
* Who and what I was meant not to like
* The loss of innocent lives
* Thinking about how warped a few of the characters were and what might have caused them to be as they were
* That I had trouble getting into the story

Did I like this book? Yes
Would I read more in this series? Probably

Thank you to NetGalley and Joffe Books for the ARC – This is my honest review.
3-4 Stars show less