Last reviews of 2018...

As another year closes, it’s time to see 2018 out with the last of this year’s reviews, starting with books 3 & 4 of Ed Mcbain’s 87th Precint series.

The Pusher is the third book in this highly popular series of police procedurals and as the novel opens, winter has fallen across the whole of the city, bringing with it yet another mystery for the boys from the ‘87 to solve.

In a semi-abandoned basement, the body of a junkie is found in what very much at first looks like a suicide, but as Detective Steve Carella and his rookie partner, Bert Kling, begin to investigate further, they soon find themselves questioning this verdict.
And as they slowly draw closer to narrowing down their list of suspects, so too does the case suddenly start getting a little too close to home for their boss, Lieutenant Byrnes...

Once again this is yet another cracking little mystery thriller from veteran crime author, Ed McBain and is another fine example of why his books are so highly regarded. One of this author’s strengths with this series was always in his ability to make you care about his characters, and here he manages to pull this off seamlessly with a rare insight into the family life of Lieutenant Byrnes - so often regarded as something of a secondary character as opposed to the Detectives under his command who  much more frequently take centre stage.

Overall I found this book very refreshing, and I absolutely loved the focus on Pete Byrnes for a change - so much so that I have little choice but to award this book another 5/5 stars.


The con man is the 4th book in the series and this time sees Spring arriving in the city, but with it the season brings a whole new breed of criminal in the guise of the con man.

Someone is ripping off the citizens of the city and it is up to the boys from the ‘87 to stop them, but then a body turns up, floating in the river, with a curious tattoo and suddenly Carella and his fellow Detectives find themselves investigating a murder.

Once again, this is another brilliant thriller with plenty of callbacks to earlier books in the series. I love the way the reader is so often not given any more clues than the Detectives themselves -  keeping us guessing along with those actually investigating right up until the final page.

Ed McBain is a brilliant storyteller and so far, every book in this series has not failed to impress and The Con Man is no exception.


Another 5/5 stars.

                                                                    ***

Regular readers of this Blog will know I am a big fan of fellow author, Roma Gray, and so when I was given a chance to preview the long awaited second book in The Hunted Tribe series of course I jumped at the chance.
Book 2 continues where book 1 left off, with Sean questioning the true motives of his grandma in light of the revelation that she might just be mentally ill and making up everything she has previously told him about The Grishla. Rather than confront her however, Sean decides to continue to humour her, but does take steps to stop her from secretly drugging him with her secret blend of herbs which she believes are helping to protect him.

This book is less of a horror and more of an ongoing mystery.
Once again, it leaves the reader with more questions than answers but nonetheless is a gripping and enthralling read.
Is The Grishla really real?
And if so, what are its true motives?
Not all of these answers will be revealed, but if you enjoyed Book 1 then you will certainly find much to love in Book 2, subtitled Rocket’s Red Glare.

The Tribe 2: Rocket’s Red Glare is due to be available for purchase mid-January and if I was you, I would certainly check it out!!!!