It’s a far cry from “Jane Eyre”. When I picked it up at the charity shop, although I’d never heard of the author, it was easy to deduce that I had a racy crime thriller in my hands. The opening sentence prepared me for a high body count:
“Richard Blacklip wanted to kill someone.”
It turned out that Blacklip was to be disappointed as the main character, an ex London cop called Dennis Milne, had other plans for him. Some 3 years before, Milne, whilst still in the London Met., had ended up killing an undisclosed number of ‘bad’ people as part of his unorthodox approach to crime solving. As the book opens Milne is on the run living in hiding in the Philippines. He learns of the unsolved murder in London of his best mate in the met who was still a cop until his unexpected demise. Our (super?) hero decides to return to London to avenge the killing and all hell breaks loose. I must admit that the term gratuitous violence crossed my mind. Here’s a taster where some drunks were being less than kind to a stripper in a sleazy pub:
“…snarling and cursing she launched a ferocious surprise attack …with the heal of one of her shoes…. The nearest drunk got the heal right in the top of his head, the blow landing with such force that I swear it penetrated bone… She had to work hard to get it out again.”
As the plot unfolds a paedophile ring with connections in high places, a sexy female reporter and, of course, a collection of ruthless villains come into the frame. The plot does hold water and unfolds with some gripping twists. This book is Simon Kernick's second Dennis Milne story and the author is planning a third, so this news may help you to decide whether or not, against all the odds, our hero manages to survive his many scrapes in "A good Day to Die".
I recommend this thriller. There’s a good intro from the author, written in June 2008, and it’s clear that he’s strong on background research and the plot keeps the reader guessing to the end. I'll close with a bit of street philosophy from our thoughful killer/hero describing life in our glorious capital city:
“Richard Blacklip wanted to kill someone.”
It turned out that Blacklip was to be disappointed as the main character, an ex London cop called Dennis Milne, had other plans for him. Some 3 years before, Milne, whilst still in the London Met., had ended up killing an undisclosed number of ‘bad’ people as part of his unorthodox approach to crime solving. As the book opens Milne is on the run living in hiding in the Philippines. He learns of the unsolved murder in London of his best mate in the met who was still a cop until his unexpected demise. Our (super?) hero decides to return to London to avenge the killing and all hell breaks loose. I must admit that the term gratuitous violence crossed my mind. Here’s a taster where some drunks were being less than kind to a stripper in a sleazy pub:
“…snarling and cursing she launched a ferocious surprise attack …with the heal of one of her shoes…. The nearest drunk got the heal right in the top of his head, the blow landing with such force that I swear it penetrated bone… She had to work hard to get it out again.”
As the plot unfolds a paedophile ring with connections in high places, a sexy female reporter and, of course, a collection of ruthless villains come into the frame. The plot does hold water and unfolds with some gripping twists. This book is Simon Kernick's second Dennis Milne story and the author is planning a third, so this news may help you to decide whether or not, against all the odds, our hero manages to survive his many scrapes in "A good Day to Die".
I recommend this thriller. There’s a good intro from the author, written in June 2008, and it’s clear that he’s strong on background research and the plot keeps the reader guessing to the end. I'll close with a bit of street philosophy from our thoughful killer/hero describing life in our glorious capital city:
“A never ending conflict between the haves and the would-haves-if they could-get-their-hands-on-it, and the people meant to keep them apart – the coppers.”
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