Leah Giarratano

Newly promoted Detective Sergeant Jill Jackson of the New South Wales Police force has a deep hatred of pedophiles. When Jill was twelve years old she was abducted, held in a basement for three days, and abused by men who were never caught. Now, over twenty years later, she has recurrent nightmares and panic attacks. She is very security conscious and has also developed techniques for dealing with unwanted memories.

When several men are bludgeoned to death, law enforcement discover the men have all been accused of child molestation at some point. The somewhat reluctant investigation uncovers an entire club of such men who swap photographs, movies and children amongst themselves.

There are some parts of this book that many readers will find disturbing. It is a very dark, with extremely unpleasant subject matter. The plot is tightly constructed, and the action violent. But I really liked the main character and the atmospheric setting of Sydney, Australia. I plan to give the next book in the series a look.… (more)

It took me very little time to read this book, yet I started it the best part of three weeks ago. So many interruptions yet this book has kept me rapt.

I met Leah at the Perth Writers Festival where she was holding a class on writing nasty villains. In fairness it didn't matter which character it was in the book, every single one felt real. But this book wasn't just about the characters, it was also crime fiction with a brisk pace and a lot more going on than an arsonist causing trouble and mayhem.

So I really enjoyed this book and it stands as one of the better crime thrillers I've read. I'm really going to have to email Leah and find out when the next one is due for release.… (more)