Little Lamb by Tom Franks

 

⭐⭐⭐⭐

292 pages

• The Blurb...

DS Scott Harris was bored. A once celebrated, successful detective, he was responsible for the conclusion of several high profile cases, but action and excitement in his
profession had become few and far between. Scott needed a challenge, he craved it and without it,his cynicism grew by the minute. 

Little did he know, his greatest test was right around the corner and his disillusion
would lead to someone’s life hanging in the balance.When a girl goes missing, his scepticism leads to him dropping the ball early and by the time he becomes aware
of his blunder, it may already be too late. Scott would have to draw on all of his experience, resilience and cunning to rescue the girl and rectify his mistake in
what would truly become a matter of life and death.

• My Review...

This is an excellent debut thriller from Tom Franks. Mr Franks has a gift for storytelling.

It's not a police procedural in it's strictest sense as the story is centred on several disparate characters through out the book. Namely, the perpetrator, the victim, the victim's parents and the cop. The cop is interesting in that he doesn't seem to be a particularly warm human. He drives a BMW (fed flag right away there!), refuses to drink Irish whiskey, frequently ignores others and on occasion doesn't flush or wash his hands after going to the toilet 🤮. Wouldn't surprise me if he doesn't take the shopping trolley back and votes Tory 😉. 

One thing I did like about the book was it's raw and realistic approach. It's not a "rainbows and lollipops" book. It can be quite emotionally brutal at times. I particularly enjoyed (if enjoyed the is the right word) how the author described how the aftermath of the kidnapping affected the parents. It felt true to life, to what would really happen. A wound so tender it hurts just to read it. We don't often see that in crime fiction novels.

The author does employ a nice trick. He starts most chapters from a few minutes (in the time frame of the narrative) before the last chapter ended but from a different person's viewpoint. This serves to emphasise an episodic nature. So much so that I found myself mentally saying "previously on..L.A. Law"  before a new chapter. Giving my age away there. It's a nice sleight of hand and because the second retelling is from a different viewpoint it is not detrimental to the story, actually it's quite the opposite.

As some of you know I am conflicted about giving star rating for books. On one hand it's an easy reference for potential readers on the other it misses all the nuances in the narrative. I thought long and hard about giving this book 5 stars. The only reason I didn't is because the plot is a simple one. There aren't a myriad of mysterious clues to be deduced, that implicate our villain. It isn't Sherlock Holmes and a study in Scarlet. In fact the plot could be consigned to a short story rather than a full novel. However, this where the author's storytelling skill comes into play. He teases the short story into a novel with his thorough approach, with such skill that it doesn't feel like a short story being extended. He squeezes the story to get every ounce of narrative juice out. 

The author has a nice style. It feels like the literal equivalent of oral storytelling. You can imagine the author sat round a campfire telling his tale to an enthralled audience. See the first selected quote for an example.

All in all an excellent start to Tom Franks literary career.

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• Selected Quotes

"A powerful, brutal wind billowed around them, the occasional gust almost wiping them from their feet, the dense trees that reared above them were swaying back and forth almost like the crowd urging a marathon runner towards the finish line. Each creak of the timber that strained against the strength of the gale sounded like a disappointed groan."

"He was greeted by the strong scent of damp, that made him scrunch his nose up in disgust. The scent was mingled with something else, something chemical, a cleaning product perhaps. Sniffing the air a few times, he came to the horrifying realisation that it was bleach. Bleach! His stomach churned and sank in his career he only ever associated with bleach with one thing and it wasn't positive."

"Scott caught Lock staring at him. Don't look at me like that mate. I know I look like shit. I don't need you to tell me that I look like shit. He removed his jacket, placed it on the back of his chair and slumped down into it, behind the table where he had thrown his files.

Did you... sleep in your suit Sarge? Lock enquired cautiously."

"The barman placed his drink in front of him on a small napkin and walked away without taking payment - he knew it wouldn't be the only glass the detective would have. Scott frequented this place more often than he cared to admit, his dismal outlook on life causing him to habitually self medicate."

• About The Author...

Tom Franks is a former forestry worker turned crime fiction/ thriller writer. He was born and raised in Hampshire, England but now resides with his American wife in Colorado, USA. Tom is a keen rugby player and fan, lover of dogs and good whisky, He excelled in literature at school at school and college, especially creative writing. At the age of 16, he wrote a short-story, for a GCSE coursework piece,that received top marks and was used as a ‘perfect example’ of creative writing for several years after. 15 years later, while navigating the American green card process, which didn’t allow him to work, he had been given the gift of time. He used that time to turn that short-story into the prologue for his novel ‘Little Lamb’ and then built the story from there. His aim with his writing is to create suspenseful thrillers that are so gripping, so captivating, it can give you a complete break from the stresses of everyday life.