Killing Evil by John Nicholl

 

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You can buy Killing Evil....Here

You can find more about John Nicholl......Here

You can find out more about Bloodhound books...Here

The Blurb...

Alice Granger is no ordinary survivor. She has a tale to tell, a story of revenge.

Alice feels driven to protect the innocent from dangerous men. Men like her father. Men who hurt children. Predators who prey on the innocent. And there’s nothing Alice won’t do to make them pay.

Alice wants to make them suffer as their victims did. But the police are one step behind. And as the net closes, Alice’s life spirals out of control, the lines between good and evil becoming ever more blurred as she attempts to escape capture.

When the hunted becomes the hunter, is anyone innocent?

My Review...

In this book Alice tells the story of her life as if in a journal as prescribed by her therapist. It charts her journey from being a victim of childhood abuse to her current state of avenging vigilante angel/devil.

 Should sadistic known paedophiles be free to walk among us? What the law says about this probably conflicts with what most of us feel about this question. That question is the whole crux of this novel.

 Sometimes justice isn't legal and what's legal sometimes isn't justice. 

So Alice starts her serial killings. Known nonces only. Justice? 

But she relies on alcohol and prescription drugs . Addict? 

The voices in her head become louder. Mentally ill? 

As the net closes in, she must attack non-paedophiles to stay free.? Violent criminal Or?

Or perhaps a subtle combination of all of the above?

The author is a one time senior social worker with responsibility for abused children. He suffered PTSD and writing was a form of therapy for him also. One cannot help but speculate that, after years of frustration with a system that cannot cope, he was living vicariously when writing as Alice in dealing with the scum of the earth.

The language is basic and simple there is no colourful and witty prose or hidden foreshadowing of quirky plot twists which I often enjoy in a novel. However the style suits the story, indeed it has a true-life documentary vibe to it all. 

It does succeed in making you see the world from Alice's point of view. Any book that changes your frame and lets you inhabit someone else for even a short time is a good book. 

what happens in the end to Alice? It's worth reading the book to find out.

Selected Quotes...

"I’m sure the multi-agency professionals involved are well-meaning. But they can’t guarantee a child’s safety as I can. Death is final, and supervision is not."

"I hope they’re suffering still, burning for eternity. If there is a netherworld somewhere in infinity, it’s full of monster men like them, destroyers of innocence. I’m on the side of the angels."

"‘At least our killer only murders nonces. Would it really matter if he killed a few more?’"

"I picked up the blow torch next, lighting it and burning his bare chest for a minute or two as his whimpering became an agonised wail. There was a smell of charred meat that stimulated my appetite."

About the author...

John Nicholl, an ex-police officer, social worker and lecturer, is the award-winning, Amazon bestselling author of 11 darkly psychological suspense thrillers. John’s books are set in the UK and have a Welsh flavour. He began writing after leaving his job heading up child protection services.

John's English language books are published by leading crime and thriller publisher - Bloodhound Books 

One Year Anniversary Reflection

This year by the numbers..

I have reviewed 55 books (Check the full list Here)

Times site visited 6372. Average monthly visits 531

Most visits Fatal Solution by Leslie Scase

Well that went quickly didn't it? Yes it's a full twelve months since the Grumpy Old Man Book Review (GOMBR) launched into the abyss of the InterWeb thingee. Time to look back and reflect, I think. 

I didn't really plan to be a book blogger (I mean, I'm a 53year old steelworker FFS!) It just sort of organically, morphed into being without any thought at all reaully. I have always read books.

 A few years ago I joined Goodreads as a way to browse for books before buying. Then I kept seeing things like "Thanks to NetGalley for my advanced copy" and thought oooh that's alright free books before they come on the market. Being a bit tight as well as grumpy I thought I'll have a bit of that! the latest Stephen King/Anthony Horrowitz/ Robert Harris before they come on the market.

 Sadly it doesn't really work like that. You have to build a score up like a credit rating. Now this was the game changer because there are a few ways to build your rating. 

One is to start reading unknown authors. This I did and found my breadth of reading widening from peephole to cinemascope. My pallet took on new flavours to the extent that I don't really crave the latest blockbuster fashionable title. I enjoyed a vast variety of books instead of the usual same old, same old. My reading is all the more better for it too. I may find the odd thing not to my pallet but usually the colours, textures, tastes, of my new world is brighter, more colourful, and juicier than before. Although I still enjoy the odd blockbuster now and again.

Another way to gain a better rating is to gain followers. To enable this NetGalley suggest starting your own site. This I did reluctantly as I'm not the most gifted when it comes to IT and cant stand the whole facebook/insta/Love Island nonesense but I found that I enjoyed the process of stopping to think (sometimes in great depth) about the books I had read.

 The process of writing reviews actually helped to crystalise the thoughts and feelings in my head about what I was reading. So much so that even if no-one was to read my reviews, I would still write them, for my own sake. So much so that I don't do NetGalley anymore. This site was meant to be a means to an end. It was meant to be a journey to a destination so I could get free stuff but I have no need to get to the destination. Now I journey for the enjoyment of journeying. 

I was reluctant to start this site. Who am I to discuss the writings of authors. I am not from that world. It would be akin to a Sunday league footballer commentating on professional players. I aired these thoughts to the long suffering Mrs Grumpy (not her real name obvs!😁) It was her reply that finally gave me mental permission to start. She said "You are exactly the sort of person, that should do it. You love reading, always have. God knows you buy enough books! You are their target audience."

So I started. It was rudimentary at first but I think it has improved and developed over time. I now include the blurb, selected quotes and about the author sections as well as links to buy the book and where possible follow the author. In addition I have started an occasional Author Q&A section as well.

 I particularly enjoy reading debut novels now. It's always fun to try and spot the next Stephen King! It would be nice to think that one day when one gets to the top to think "I gave him/her their first review"

So back to last October and the site is up and running. Imagine my delight when an author messaged  me for the first time via twitface and asked would I be interested in reviewing her book. Alison Layland did me a huge favour that day (Riverflow is very good by the way!) It was through her that I found Crime Cymru. A collective of Wales based crime writers.

 I have read 13 Crime Cymru (CC) novels this last year and spoken (online) to many of their authors and like to think have made quite a few friends. All the CC books I have read have been very good and I have been amazed at the quality of writing outside the box of the usual, select few, blockbuster authors in general but in particular have been really impressed by the writers in CC. So much so that I became an associate member. 

I comment on authors so thought it was only fair to walk a mile in their shoes. I wrote a book and it was like surfing I enjoyed the experience but it was harder than it looked! I have even more admiration for authors now. It was a bit of a slog and in general ATM I think I prefer reading a book to writing but who knows what the future holds.

So in summary I started this blog not really planning it, yet because of it I have read good books and met good people. It is an experience that I have really enjoyed and continue to do so.

Thank you to all the authors I have reviewed, not one has given me grief yet! I'll count that as a win! 

East of England by Eamonn Griffin

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You can buy East Of England....Here

You can follow Eamonn Griffin....Here

The Blurb....

Dan Matlock is out of jail. He’s got a choice. Stay or leave. Go back to where it all went wrong, or just get out of the county. Disappear. Start again as someone else. But it’s not as simple as that. 

There’s the matter of the man he killed. It wasn’t murder, but even so. You tell that to the family. Especially when that family is the Mintons, who own half of what’s profitable and two-thirds of what’s crooked between the Wolds and the coast. Who could have got to Matlock as easy as you like in prison, but who haven’t touched him. Not yet.

Like Matlock found out in prison, there’s no getting away from yourself. So what’s the point in not facing up to other people?

It’s time to go home.

My Review....

Matlock has served his sentence for manslaughter. The man he killed was a member of the gangland family that runs "The East of England." Does he run or go back to face the Minton family head on. He decides there is no point in running because you just cant run from yourself. Besides he still has family there. Each land blows on the other before heading for the final climatic confrontation.

East of England is set in Lincolnshire, somewhere with which I am not familiar at all, so its was interesting to discover somewhere new in a literal sense.

The author gives us a down and dirty, gritty violent British gangster novel. Think Get Carter in Skegness or The Long Good Friday in Mablethorpe and you get the picture. And what a vivid picture he paints. Low level violent crime in the bottom rungs of society. This is a strength of the book, you really feel the everyday routine, slow seaside economic decline and banality of life.

Before prison Matlock was a hard as nails enforcer for loan shark Big Chris. Big Chris is an agrophobic, overweight, asthmatic middle aged mother who just happens to carry a shotgun but even his former boss doesn't want him to come home.

The narrative doesn't have two things. One was police involvement. Despite the violence, robbery and death, there is no police involvement at all. This is explained away as wrong un's sorting it out in house. The other is touchy, feely emotions. The only female of note is Big Chris and, great character that she is, she is not one for deep meaningful conversations, long walks in the snow and everlasting emotional commitment. That said, it is not a criticism. This book knows it's genre and does it bloody well. 

Selected Quotes....

"The cupboards told the same tale; someone with perhaps limited cash flow but with what they considered to be good taste. Living the echo of a finer life. Baked beans and saffron."

"There’s a point when time stops. Your clothes don’t get renewed. The house stays the same. Meals become a weekly rotating ritual. Your life runs on tracks"

"‘I’ll tell you over breakfast,’ Matlock said. He tried to hang up fast, but still caught Chris murmur ‘Twat’ down the line."

"There she was now, a placid smile on her face, straw-laid wicker basket laden with farm bounty in hand. In the background, fat hens pecked at handfuls of grain. A cartoon wolf’s wet dream."

"He left the book open, face down on the countertop. Edged Weapons of the Third Reich. Cropped hair, steel- rimmed aviator glasses. Maybe five foot five and ten stone when fully clothed and wet through. A fascistic jockey."

About the Author....

Eamonn Griffin was born and raised in Lincolnshire, though these days he lives in north-east Wales.

He's worked as a stonemason, a strawberry picker, in plastics factories (everything from packing those little bags for loose change you get from banks to production planning via transport manager via fork-lift driving), in agricultural and industrial laboratories, in a computer games shop, and latterly in further and higher education.

He doesn’t do any of that any more. Instead, he writes fulltime, either as a freelancer, or else on fiction.

Eamonn has collected a PhD, an MA, an assortment of teaching qualifications, and a BSc along the way. He really likes biltong, and has recently returned to learning to play piano, something he abandoned when he was about seven and has regretted since.

August Lost by R.G. Vaughan

 

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You can buy "August Lost".....Here

You can see my interview with RG Vaughan....Here

You can follow RG Vaughan.....Here

The Blurb....

Secrets, omissions, disingenuous greetings. What do people hide?
Even the most trustworthy have secrets. The neighbour who smiles when walking their dog, the delivery man who thanks you for a signature, even the police officer who takes your statement could all be hiding something dreadful.

DI Matt Bruce processes evidence with absolute clarity but with PTSD restricting his ability to empathise, he lives as a prisoner to a tragic history. Thankfully, DS Val Marsh is brought in to unseal his bottled feelings and help release him from himself. But when a simple murder case evolves into something more, the pair stumble upon haunting crimes of vengeance and hate, and a myth from the art underworld becomes a terrifying reality.

My Review...

DI Matt Bruce struggles with his people skills, he can be emotionless and suffers from a lack of empathy. DS Val Marsh is brought in to act as his assistant and also to help develop these more human skills. 

Together they stumble across a killer only spoken about in whispers. The Painter is the Kaiser SoSay (spelling?) of the art world. If you can find him you can offer him a contract to kill someone, the bonus being you receive a an art masterpiece. The painter however uses the human body to create his paint brushes and canvas, and uses human body fluid as paint. So basically you'll have a dead person (trophy?) hanging on your wall 😱.

This is a very good debut novel. The author does a good job of creating his DI Matt Bruce. He is keen but emotionally flawed investigator, still tortured by PTSD from an incident in his youth. As Bruce chases the Painter, Val is also working on random killings from around the country. Is there a pattern to these other deaths? Is there another killer at large?

Every Holmes needs a Moriarty and the author does a terrific job of creating a twisted villain, right up there with Hannibal Lector for cunning and evil. The Painter is cold and emotionless, except when it comes to his art. This is where the floodgates open and emotion overpowers him. As with Holmes and Moriarty, Doctor Who and the Master et al, the protagonist and antagonist have a lot of traits in common. It wouldn't take a lot for them to become mirror images of each other, would it?

As Bruce begins to track down the Painter, the serial killer in turn investigates Bruce and believes that Bruce has his own dark secret.

All in all cracking debut serial killer novel. Already looking forward to the sequel.

Selected Quotes....

"The house of three undomesticated men sat on his taste buds, and with every breath, a new flavour trickled down the back of his throat."

"And pressure was always added when he had to deal with people whose houses were named and not numbered."

"And although most things were still an enigma to him, he was able to measure the difference when he acted like he cared."

"A negative emotion would bleed through to the final piece, and like a lamb seeing the knife before slaughter, would ruin the flavour."

About the Author...

Beginning his writing career at 37, this Welsh author uses writing as a healthy way to handle stress. When the weight of the world is on his shoulders, he copes by putting pen to paper.

"Some people go jogging, some people read books. I like to make a world for people to lose themselves - a place to escape."

When he's not working or writing, he spends his time with his wife, son and family Dalmatian.

The Devil's Advocate by Steve Cavanagh

 

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You can buy the Devil's Advocate....Here

The Blurb...

A DEADLY PROSECUTOR
They call him the King of Death Row. Randal Korn has sent more men to their deaths than any district attorney in the history of the United States.

A TWISTED RITUALISTIC KILLING
When a young woman, Skylar Edwards, is found murdered in Buckstown, Alabama, a corrupt sheriff arrests the last person to see her alive, Andy Dubois. It doesn't seem to matter to anyone that Andy is innocent.

A SMALL TOWN BOILING WITH RAGE
Everyone in Buckstown believes Andy is guilty. He has no hope of a fair trial. And the local defense attorney assigned to represent him has disappeared.

A FORMER CON-ARTIST
Hot shot New York lawyer Eddie Flynn travels south to fight fire with fire. He plans to destroy the prosecutors case, find the real killer and save Andy from the electric chair.

But the murders are just beginning.

Is Eddie Flynn next?

My Review...

In this novel Steve Cavanagh steps right into John Grisham territory. Not afraid to take on the master in his home ground.

 Our hero Eddie Flynn and his ragtag gang of legal warriors step out of their cormfortable New York, liberal world to take on a death penalty case in the hot, sweaty and deeply racist southern state of Alabama.

Their opponent is a serial killer who just happens to kill people using a most deadly weapon i.e."the law." The local DA gets his kicks filling the electric chair, but he doesn't care who he puts in that chair. They don't even have to be guilty. 

Loved the character of the dodgy DA Randall Korn  who is an evil, disingenuous, sickly individual played in my head by John Redwood the former Welsh Sec John Redwood (yes the guy who mimed the wrong words to the Welsh national anthem and looked pissed off for having to do so) Sometimes my head does cast the strangest characters in books that I read, but this one is bang on. Anyway back to the book.

I have read some criticism of the white supremacist sub plot as being slightly cheesy, parody and over the top and I can definitely see where this is coming from but (and I've said this before and will probably say it again, if you want reality watch a documentary) I think it just within the bounds of artistic licence. Especially when you consider right wing groups did actually storm the Capitol in Jan.

A little niggle that bothers me is that Eddie is hired by Berlin. Berlin is vastly powerful black ops/CIA/Homeland security type who has access to practically unlimited financial and material resources. He is very powerful with the ability to kill without being held to account. While he does so for good there is absolutely nothing to stop him using his unbridled power for selfish or even evil reasons. Absolute power, unchecked can give way to corruption (as can be seen is the political arena in both U.K. and USA). I can't help feeling that Berlin would be Eddie's natural enemy and not his ally (possibly not Berlin per se but definitely the role he occupies) Anyway its a minor quibble and probably only in my head and no one else's. 

As always where Cavanagh shines is piling up the evidence and situation against the innocent on trial, backing him into such a corner that you fear he will never escape. However Eddie and the gang ingeniously and theatrically blow the evidence out of the water to provide their own evidence and unmask the real villain.

Two things I really like about this book (on top of the usual stuff that I like about Cavanagh's books). Its now more of an ensemble rather than just Eddie. Makes for multiple POV and character issues. I also like the fact that they are out of New York and are on the road, it really adds another dimension. I Would love to see Eddie and the gang really out of their comfort zone in the UK. Possibly even in Cavanagh's native Northern Ireland, now that would be a real culture clash.

I think Steve Cavanagh's books are great. The latest author in a great tradition of courtroom dramas from to kill a mocking bird, anatomy of a murder, 12 angry men, in cold blood, a time to kill, the rainmaker, a few good men et al. If you enjoyed any of them you'll love Steve Cavanagh.

Selected Quotes...

"It’s never about the first time evidence goes missing. It’s the efforts to cover up that original sin that will corrupt your soul, utterly."

"Only in the greatest country in the world would a working mother have to weigh up buying medication for herself or her son."

"In a capital-murder case, the jury has to be ‘death-qualified’. They have to be willing to impose the death penalty if the defendant is convicted."

"Doing the right thing has consequences, same as doing nothing. And it can be just as hard to look at yourself in the mirror."

‘When you see something that is not right, not just, not fair, you have a moral obligation to say something.’

About the author...

Steve Cavanagh is an Irish author from Belfast and at the age eighteen he studied law by mistake. He is now the international award-winning author of the Eddie Flynn novels. His debut novel, The Defense, was nominated for the Ian Fleming Steel Dagger Award for Thriller of the Year, and The Plea won the Prix Polar Award for Best International Novel. Steve is still a practicing lawyer (someday he’ll get the hang of it) and co-host ofthe chart-topping podcast Two Crime Writers And A Microphone. He has been involved in several high-profile civil rights cases, his Eddie Flynn novels have been published in over twenty countries, he’s married with two young children, and in his spare time he is mostly asleep.