Wednesday 9 July 2014

CRIME THRILLER REVIEW: Time to Die - Alex Howard

Release Date: 08/05/14
Publisher:  Head of Zeus

SYNOPSIS:

Detective Inspector Hanlon. She'll break but she won't bend. A woman with a habit of breaking the rules and a fierce loyalty to the few people she respects. Her boss, Corrigan. Looks like a street copper promoted above his ability. Underestimate him at your peril. Enver Demirel. Known in the boxing ring as Iron Hand. Now soft and gone to seed. But he would do anything for Hanlon. Now the kidnap of a 12-year-old diabetic boy has blown the case of some missing children wide apart and the finger is pointing at the heart of the Met. Corrigan sends in the only cop in his team who would care more about the life of a boy than about her own career. Hanlon. And then he sends Demirel to spy on her...


REVIEW:

What many people tend to forget is that within stories, are that there are more people within the story than just the principle character. They need fleshing out and have to feel real to the people in the background looking into this world. It’s a tricky line to tread and whilst you don’t have much time to get it done without it feeling like your bogging the story down with unnecessary baggage it is still something that has to be done in order to get the tale across.

Whilst I wasn’t a huge fan of the lead character here, I did love the way that Alex has managed to generate a whole host of supporting cast that feel as real as DI Hanlon. It also has great pace and whilst the subject is horrific within, its something that helps bring it all back to the reader as real world meets fiction in an intense investigation. It has some solid police work within, the reader is given a glimpse behind the curtain and all round with the dialogue it works very well for me as a reader. Back this up with a solid understanding of prose and all round it’s a cracking read.


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