Alex Grecian

LaVoy deftly handles this thriller’s dual timelines, concealing then revealing elements increasing the breathtaking tension. In the 1950s, Paradise Flats, Kansas became a haven for escaping Nazis including the Mengele-esque “Rudy Goodman”. Present day State Trooper Skottie Foster is surprised “Nazi hunters” like Travis Roan with his impressive dog Bear still exist. As Roan investigates, the Purity Church, founded by Rudy, threatens Trooper Foster’s family. LaVoy's voice acting is show more masterfully displayed as she believably creates the psychopathic Rudy, a coldly reserved Roan, and the invested, dedicated Foster. LaVoy varies cadence, pitch, and accent to create unique voices for the entire town, most eloquently displayed during a communal faith healing. Grecian crafted a complex political conspiracy to rival le Carré, with two heroes struck from the molds of Child's mysterious stranger Reacher and Connelly's Bosch, a good cop who’s willing to bend the rules. Listeners will hope Roan and Foster team up for further adventures!

The improved review was published in Booklist July 2018 issue. show less

"Get back, Jack, do it again." A secret society of self-serving professional men do not believe that the justice of the court system goes far enough. Hidden in the dungeon-like underground of the prison complex, they have conspired to abuse and torture criminals, meting out justice of the "eye for an eye" variety. What a criminal did to his victims, so would be done to him. The big name that they are hiding is Jack the Ripper who escapes from the prison in a botched train wreck, planned by show more the secret society. And then the blood begins to drip. Warning! if you cannot handle gore and sadistic torture in the vein of the Silence of the Lambs, there will be some nightmares heading your way, Clarice. Tongues nailed to the mantelpiece! You have been warned. This is my first read of this series, but it was not necessary to have read the two earlier volumes. Do the Scotland Yard force have a bit of the Clouseau blunderbuss in them? Can there be any humor in a tale of serial murder? Jack the Ripper=Jack Nicholson in The Shining. That's what my mind's eye was imagining. Scarylicious, just read it. And then ask for another helping. Thanks, Mr. Grecian, well done. My thanks to the Penguin First-to-Read Program for a complimentary copy. show less

First Line: It was an unusual egg.


The little girl who discovers a human eyeball in a bird's nest sparks fear in a small mining village in the black country of the English Midlands due in no small part to the fact that three members of a prominent family have disappeared. The local constable knows that he's in over his head, so he sends for help to Scotland Yard's new Murder Squad. Inspector Walter Day, Sergeant Nevil Hammersmith, and Dr. Bernard Kingsley have two days to solve the case, but show more they have no earthly clue what they're getting themselves into. Everyone has a secret in this tiny community, and most of the villagers' lives seem to be subsumed by superstition.

Alex Grecian's The Yard was one of the few books I purchased during my recent trip to the UK, and when I'd read it and turned the last page, all I could say was "Wow!" I'm thrilled to say that The Black Country has now firmly placed this author on my Must Buy list.

Grecian has a very visual style of writing that makes me feel as though I'm right in the thick of things. His setting of a small mining village that's virtually cut off from the rest of the world adds the perfect Gothic atmosphere-- especially since the mine has tunneled underneath most of the buildings, and the town has been slowly sinking into the shafts for years.

Taking these three out of London gives them a chance to bond and form a relationship away from all the other characters-- in particular Day and Hammersmith-- and although I did miss some of the cast from The Yard, this element worked very well. The villagers add just the right touch of helpfulness and obstinacy and are brilliant at showing how people's histories intertwine in such a remote place. In fact their closely woven lives add all sorts of complications to the detectives' investigation.

My mother once told me that she believed I must have been a miner in a previous life (one that died in a cave-in) because I refuse to go underground. If you see me at someplace like Carlsbad Caverns, rest assured that I'll be camped out in the parking lot. With my fanatical passion for these Murder Squad books, and with a character like Nevil Hammersmith who literally grew up in a coal mine, I think I shall have to resign myself to having the heebie jeebies when I read parts of these books because they do go down into the earth from time to time. In this case, however, these sections heighten the suspense and sense of danger... a delicious way of scaring myself, I suppose you would say.

Creepy atmosphere, wonderful characters, a convoluted mystery, all wrapped up in the Victorian Era's conflict between science and superstition. What a marvelous reading experience Alex Grecian has created! Do I recommend his Murder Squad series? You bet I do! show less

I'm actually a little uncertain how to rate this, because if I try to hold the book up against what it was purported to be--a horror novel--then I don't think it hit its mark well. There was certainly paranormal content, gore, evil forces, etc., but there wasn't really ever a sense of dread transmitted to the reader. If, on the other hand, I look at this as a dark comedy paranormal adventure novel (a cross-genre amalgamation I just invented), forgoing my previous expectations, then I can show more relax and say just how very much I enjoyed this story in full. The characters! The way the author wasn't afraid to kill his darlings, but at the same time he was happy to give them all semi-happy endings anyway! The lore, presented gradually enough to let it sink in and immerse the reader in that fantastic world! I loved it all, and I'm not ashamed to say that I was shouting out loud to the characters more than once during the course of reading it. show less