Summoned to a crime scene in Liverpool, former undercover officer DS Nathan Cody is faced with a horrifying murder. But with few clues and nothing to go on but a sinister ‘calling card’, it’s only when another body turns up that Cody and his colleagues realise what the killer is doing. But then a third attack throws their theories out the window and while the police struggle to deal with the fallout, Cody must deal with his own issues – and he has plenty of those.
This is the first time I’ve sampled David Jackson’s crime thrillers and it won’t be the last. In Nathan Cody, Jackson has created the stereotypical flawed copper, but this hero’s issues are a long way from the usual assortment we get with clichéd coppers. The plot blasts along like an out-of-control steam train and I loved the way Jackson kept notching up the tension, keeping his hero on his toes and throwing plenty of obstacles in his path.
This a cracking good read that’ll have crime fans (and me), begging for more.
Colin Garrow 