In most crime and thriller novels you spend the whole book trying to find out who did it. Not in Breakneck Point! We know who did it. It’s about proving it. Very clever little twist on the conventional crime story and I enjoyed reading this book immensely. And I was amazed to find that this is a debut thriller novel for it reads like the work of an experienced crime author.
CSI Ally Dymond’s commitment to justice has cost her a place on the major investigations team. After exposing corruption in the ranks, she’s stuck working petty crimes on the sleepy North Devon coast.
Then the body of nineteen -year-old Janie Warren turns up in the seaside town of Bidecombe and Ally’s expert skills are suddenly back in demand.
But when the evidence she discovers contradicts the lead detective’s theory, nobody wants to listen to the CSI who landed their colleagues in prison.
Time is running out to catch a killer no one is looking for – no one except Ally. What she doesn’t know is that he’s watching her, from her side of the crime scene tape, waiting for the moment to strike.
I hope this isn’t the last we hear of Ally. She’s a formidable character. There is a backstory that has left her flawed and as the blurb tells us her professional progress has been curtailed by her honesty. But her zeal and desire to seek out the truth seems indefatigable.
A dual narrative with first person from Ally and third person from the bad guy the story hurtles along at a cracking pace sending the reader this way and that as the snakes and ladders confrontation between Ali and the perp continues.
The north Devon location is as palpable a backdrop in the same way that William Shaw used Dungeness in his novels about the policewoman, Alex Cupidi. I was reminded of those stories with Ally and the relationship with her daughter, Megan and I’m hoping that we’re going to get a similar series here.
Ally is an interesting character because there are times when you want to criticise her behaviour but not her motivation. In a strange way I never completely warmed to her but I wanted her to succeed. In fact the story is populated with numerous characters who I struggled to actually like but in a way I think it was quite important to feel that way in order to maintain an objectivity about the events and the crimes.
The killer is obnoxious and it was quite uncomfortable reading about him. I wanted to get up and shout and shake the people who were taken in by him, especially his wife Jackie. It wasn’t their fault though! He was so plausible and persuasive.
The author has a wide experience as a CSI so you know that the details are spot-on. But the book also throws the spotlight on the threat that the Internet can pose for youngsters. Those aspects are quite chilling and hopefully will wave red flags for parents to monitor their teens cyber activities.
My thanks to HQ stories for a proof of this book. I’m looking forward to the next Ally Dymond novel.
No comments:
Post a Comment