
Book Description
When the naked, battered body of an unidentified teenager is found dumped in an alleyway, post-mortem finds evidence of a harrowing series of events.
Another teenage death with the same MO pushes DI Hannah Robbins and her team in the Nottingham City division Major Crimes Unit, to their limits, and across county borders. In a race against the clock, they attempt to unpick a thick web of lies and deceit to uncover the truth behind the deaths.
But it doesn't stop there.
When catching a killer isn't enough, just how far are the team willing to push themselves to save the next girl?
My review
I would like to thank THE Book Club on facebook for sending me a copy of this book to read and review.
In this disturbing police procedural, teenage girls are being raped, beaten and murdered. Their bodies dumped in dark alleyways. Is this the work of a serial killer? What monster is capable of such a vile act? A full scale investigation headed by DI Hannah Robbins of Nottingham City Major Crimes Unit is launched to track down the killer.
Hannah, the main character, is quite interesting. Hot-headed, she has frequent bouts of anger and frustrations which are very realistically described. While having good management skills and strong character at work, in her personal life she's very weak, preferring to avoid discussions rather than confronting people. Being in a precarious relationship, she has issues in trusting people.
In my opinion, this book is far too serious. The atmosphere too grim. Okay it deals with the worst kind of crimes and has some pretty nasty scenes but I think these should have been balanced with some lighter ones. Hannah has no sense of humour at all and there's none of the friendly banter we usually read about between colleagues. There's no warmth between the team members.
To tell the truth, I found it difficult to rate this book. Reading the first half I had no more than a 3* rating in mind. The prose was not as flowy as I would have liked. Certain dialogue was awkward and some quotes far too long. But then in the second half, the story rapidly gained momentum and held my interest. I began to enjoy it much more. This, together with the short chapter style and the fact that I really liked the heart-pounding albeit sad ending made me raise my rating to 4*.