Sunday 9 September 2018

The Taken - Alice Clark-Platts


Regular readers of my blog might recall my resolution to use my local public library more frequently this year.If so you will even have noticed have a recent dearth of library book reviews! I have redressed the balance somewhat by selecting this worthy tome. I was lucky enough to receive a review copy of Bitter Fruits, Ms. Clark-Platt’s debut novel some years ago and I waxed quite lyrical about it (pre blog days if you were thinking of looking!). Her second DI Erica Martin book has been on my RWTR list (Really Want To Read) for nearly a couple of years! I was delighted to see this copy nestling on the library shelves just waiting for me to pluck it down.

It’s a credible follow up to the first and I found it to be a real page turner. Very dark and gritty with a twisty plot full of dubious characters who might or might not be on the straight and narrow. I don’t think it matters if you’ve read the first Erica Martin book or not. We get a clear picture of who she is and where she’s at in this book as well as her policing style.

It’s well written. A police procedural investigating a dysfunctional family with a complex plot and a fast paced narrative that barely gives you time to think. Insights into Erica and her personal life are interspersed amidst the meat of the action and there is plenty of action. There was one unexpected twist that quite shocked me, not to mention DI Martin, but I’m not going to tell you, of course! Questions are raised about the sincerity and integrity of religious organisations if you're looking for something more to think than just enjoying a gripping crime story.

I think the book firmly establishes the author as a laudable thriller writer and it has in no way dampened my enthusiasm for her work. Her next book, The Flower Girls, not a DI Martin as far as I can see, is scheduled for publication in January next year. I hope it doesn’t take me as long getting around to reading it!


I also include the link to my thoughts on libraries - https://nudge-book.com/blog/2018/03/libraries-a-reflection-by-gill-chedgey/

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