I was so excited to read the follow up to the hugely successful Ragdoll - and Hangman, the second in the Detective William Fawkes series, definitely doesn't disappoint! Much like the first, it's a rollercoaster of a ride of tension, mystery and general craziness as the focus turns to Baxter this time, and a string of gory murders in the US which have worryingly familiar elements to them...

I have to say, at first I was a little worried that I wouldn't get to read about Fawkes, who I loved in the last book - however, Baxter more than makes up for it, truly shining with her cutting comments and no-nonsense attitude. I absolutely loved reading about her, and some new characters to add to the mix in Curtis and Rouche who, although very different to Baxter, is another brilliant character who kept me wanting to read on. The characters are really what makes this story such addictive reading; that mixed with brilliant humorous scenes (with a heavy dose of black humour, which I loved) and fantastic situations (some completely crazy and unbelievable, but who cares?) which kept me laughing throughout. It may have even beaten Ragdoll for me (no mean feat!), as I felt like I had more of a grasp on what was going on in this novel - well, to some extent - there was plenty to craziness to keep track of!

I'd forgotten how brilliantly entertaining Daniel Cole's writing is, and Hangman left me desperately wanting more - that ending too! Bring on book 3 (and quickly, please!).

Preview is amazing. I'm going to buy the book. i need to know more!!

This is the follow-up book to the amazing Ragdoll and, if I do have it right, is the middle book of the trilogy. Unlike series books, trilogies really need to be read in their entirety and in the right order so, if you haven't already, stop looking at this book and go check out Ragdoll first.
So, we don't follow on straight after the Ragdoll murders. Instead we revisit things some 18 months later. Emily Baxter is deemed to have been responsible for solving the Ragdoll murders and has welcomed a promotion on the back of it. We know the truth however (I told you, read Ragdoll first) and it is a truth that really doesn't sit well with Baxter herself. The other member of that successful team, Alex Edmunds, has bowed to the home/ work life pressure and is languishing in a 9-5 job in fraud. Luckily he still manages to inveigle himself into the mix.
So, one day, Emily is called into the boss's office and is met there by two US federal agents. There have been a few rather interesting murders stateside which, on face value, appear to have connections to the Ragdoll murders. As the number one expert on all things Ragdoll, they need Baxter's help. She's not too keen to be honest, especially when one of the things they want is to interview the Ragdoll killer himself. I mean, he knows the same truth as she does, a truth that has not yet come to light, a truth that if it came out, could bury her. But she has no choice in the matter and what happens next is the catalyst that brings the action back to this side of the pond. But, with things hotting up stateside, Baxter accompanies the agents home and what happens next is one heck of a ride!
Yes, it's well over the top in places, gruesome and macabre to say the least, but it's also so very funny in parts which redressed the balance somewhat, even if the humour at times is a little blacker than black. Apart from the spider scene, that was just downright farce, but you know what, it worked! Where book one was lead by Fawkes, he is notably absent in the majority of this book, and Baxter has to take up the mantel and she does so really rather well, albeit in a very different vein to Fawkes. Her inclusion is more acerbic, her humour more pointed rather than being clever but she takes the lead quite nicely throughout, despite all the adversity and initial exclusion she suffers at the hands of the agents.
The action flits between the UK and US and there are noticeable differences in the way that the two countries operate. Some delivered with more than a little tongue in cheek. But the main prize is the same, to get to the bottom of what exactly is going on with these Bait and Puppet murders. And the threesome eventually cotton on to the fact that they really need to work together. With some really rather interesting results!
I'm finding it quite hard to examine this book in its parts. Some rather gory, some just ridiculous, others quite poignant; it's difficult to define. But all put together, it really is more than just their sum. Anything I write here will in no way do justice to the amazing story and the clever way the author delivers it. And that ending. O.M.G. That had me reeling and left pretty much gagging for more. I don't remember needing a next book as much as I need this one's. And soon. Very soon. Please don't leave me hanging too long Mr Cole.
My thanks go to the Publisher and Netgalley for the chance to read this book.

Hangman had been burning a hole in my kindle for about three months and it was SO worth the wait! I almost didn’t care what the synopsis was: after Ragdoll, I would practically read the phone book if Daniel Cole had re-written it in his particular style.

“Freaks be freakin’”

The first few pages drop you straight into the story and it was brilliant just to be back in the dramatic, twisted and darkly comic Ragdoll universe. Cole wastes literally zero time before dropping in a couple of surprises and the pace rarely slows down from there.

I’m not going to say anything more about the plot than can be seen from the blurb because I don’t want to spoil even the tiniest of the book’s surprises. Suffice to say that nothing is ever quite what it appears but it is great fun trying to put all the clues together.

“I think we need to be more concerned about whoever it is who’s holding the strings”

Cole’s style is pretty unique and Hangman is another great combination of murder mystery, action thriller, gruesome horror and black comedy. It is brutal, clever, tense, witty and shocking.

The story is brilliantly plotted, the characters are three-dimensional and believable and the book is full of twists and turns. Cole also has his tongue knowingly planted in one very self-aware cheek throughout:

“She finally decided on Home Alone 2…The first movie was, secretly, one of her all-time favourites, but she found the second an uninspiring imitation, falling into the age-old trap of believing that by relocating the same story to New York City, they would create a bigger and better sequel”

I strongly recommend that you do not read this as a standalone book, because a) why miss out on the wonder that is Ragdoll, and b) the events of this book are so very closely related to the outcomes of the first; you could probably follow it ok but you would definitely be spoiling Ragdoll for yourself in the process.

Hangman is an excellent sequel and I highly recommend it to anyone with a strong stomach, a dark sense of humour and a detailed knowledge of the first book! Is it gory? Yes. Is it disturbing? Hell yes! Will you ever trust a complete stranger again?? No! Was I left with any questions? Actually yes, but I don’t care. This is a spectacularly warped and entertaining ride and I loved it – there’d just better be a third book coming round the corner soon!

Thank you to NetGalley, Orion and Trapeze for the ARC of Hangman.

I read Ragdoll last year and thoroughly enjoyed it so I was a bit nervous that Hangman wouldn’t live up to that bar which had been set high. I needn’t have worried, Hangman is another great book. I like the fact that the female protagonist is flawed, it brings realism to the story. I can’t wait to read No 3

Having read and thoroughly enjoyed Ragdoll I couldn't wait to get my hands on Hangman which is book 2 in the Detective William Fawkes trilogy. Like book one, Hangman is gory and shocking, fast paced and well written.
Oh why do I have to wait for part 3? I want it now!

If you liked Ragdoll, then you will love Hangman. It’s non stop from start to finish and a fantastic read.

The story begins 18 months after the Ragdoll murders, and Chief Inspector Emily Baxter is called upon to join forces with both the FBI and CIA as it appears there is a copycat killer on the loose. With incidents happening on both sides of the Atlantic and bodies turning up with either the words PUPPET or BAIT carved into them, they must act as quickly as possible to work out who is pulling the strings.

I was enthralled with this book from the first page and I would give this book 4.5 stars. I look forward to reading more from this author. Thank you to NetGalley, Orion Publishing Group and the author for the chance to review this book.

A brilliant second installment, I was relieved that it lived up to the first book. A great mixture of dark humour and inventive gore. Definitely becoming one of my favourite crime authors, I love reading about the dark depths of mankind whilst chuckling at the well balanced levity.

The main character, Detective Chief Inspector Emily Baxter is like no detective you've read about. She appears to be lazy, outspoken, does not suffer fools gladly and certainly does things her own way.
The story involves American special agents, a serial killer and snippets of Baxter's personal life. I found it a little unbelievable and therefore a little hard going. As this was a brief sampler, maybe reading the whole novel would have helped me.

Daniel Cole has taken a pretty massive risk with this one, because although it is billed as the second in the William Fawkes series, in fact Fawkes hardly figures in it at all. This book features Emily Baxter, newly promoted from D.S. to D.I. for her work on the Ragdoll case. She feels like a fraud, since the really inspired work on that case was done by her colleague, Alex Edmunds. Ever since Ragdoll, Emily has had major trust issues and lives in fear that someone in authority will find her out.

Emily is a fantastic character, full of flaws, completely unable to kow-tow to authority and entirely unsuited to her new position. When she is teamed up with the seemingly insouciant Damien Rouche of the FBI and his colleague, po-faced, straight laced, Special Agent Elliot Curtis to investigate a killing in NYC that has links to Ragdoll, she feels like she has been dragged across the Atlantic for nothing more than PR reasons.

It’s not wise to cross Emily Baxter, as the NYPD soon realise. She is acidic and cutting when she is thwarted and very, very funny with it. Though she feels her Special Agent colleagues are not telling her the whole truth, as the hugely gory and very inventive murders stack up, the three have no choice but to work together closely on both sides of the Atlantic.

These are highly staged, orchestrated killings and the killers and their victims have their chests carved with either Puppet or Bait. The hunt for the maniac behind this mass killing initiative can only be successful if the team understand what links the killings – what do all these people have in common?

I really enjoyed this book, but it is only possible to do that if you are prepared to go with the flow, suspend your disbelief and revel in the wit and black humour that abounds and helps to distract the mind while the gory descriptions puncture any sense of wellbeing you might have found within the pages.

Hangman clatters along at a rip roaring pace and there’s no shortage of character revelations to keep you utterly engrossed as the body count rises. As thrillers go, this one is utterly thrilling!

I couldn’t help but love Emily Baxter even more in this book and Cole’s risk has paid off. More Baxter for me, please – and soon!

Another brilliant book by Cole. Thrilling and an absolute page turner.

The book has the feel of the writer spreading his wings, but whereas the first book had the social context of fear and panic of unknown attackers on the streets of London, with the media spinning people into a frenzy for their health and safety; this novel though has the feel of being a lost love child of Dan Brown. Extensive plotting with twists aplenty, by the book characters with little in the way of emotional connection and elaborate set-pieces of action and gore being given precedence over telegraphed dialogue.

This reader feels that following the high-octane, gasping intensity of Ragdoll this is a step backwards although the (very) late introduction of someone means that another book is in the offing and this return to the mean may hopefully incite a return to form.

Just another sampler that appears to be a full book when readers are viewing it on NetGalley. Shame on the author and publisher for being so deceptive. It leaves a bad taste in my mouth, and I have completely lost interest in the book due to their intent to mislead the reader.

Set eighteen months after the end of Ragdoll, police in the US are investigating a body found hanging from Brooklyn Bridge, the word 'BAIT' carved into the chest. The potential connection to the Ragdoll murders brings an FBI and a CIA agent to DCI Emily Baxter's desk, they want to interview Lethaniel Masse. And there starts a fast-paced, action-packed rollercoaster of an investigation. The action moves backwards and forwards across the Atlantic as more and more related crimes occur. The body count ramps up at a rate of knots and the scenarios become ever more shocking.

If Ragdoll was Wolf's book then this is Baxter's. I loved Wolf in Ragdoll and I think Emily Baxter may be my new favourite police woman. I picture her as Suranne Jones playing Bailey in 'Scott and Bailey'. She's smart as can be (underneath it all) and has (some) principles but she's a bit of a drinker, bit of a control freak, secretive and trusts no-one. And did I say she drinks?

As with Ragdoll this is a pretty gruesome, no holds barred, book and the author certainly has  a warped imagination. There are some dark issues at the heart of the story and an interesting contrast in how different characters have dealt with them. The counterbalance to this is the humour, which is dry and sarcastic and lifts the mood in the right places.

No worries about 'second  novel syndrome' with this - it's a cracking read with great characters - very few clear heroes and villains, lots of shades in between. If you're tempted to pick this book up then do try to read Ragdoll - there are lots of references and it will make more sense to have read it first.

Thank you to the publisher for the Netgalley.

This is the second novel in the series featuring Wolf, Baxter and Edmunds and I think it really helps to have read the first book which was called Ragdoll.
Yet again, it is a tense, action packed thriller, quite gory but never boring. However, I was not a huge fan of starting at the end of the story and working back through the preceding year.
I look forward to reading the next book in the series.

Having read the first five chapters of Hangman I have to say I can’t wait to get my hands on the complete book. The crimes cross both New York and the UK and Emily Baxter has to work along-side the FBI in cases that seem to mirror each other. From the start the story gets you hooked as you are brought into what seems to be the end of the case. From there you are taken back to where it all starts. I did find myself chuckling at Baxter’s response to seeing the picture of someone on the back of a bus. I found that I liked the fast pace that things seemed to happen and am sure that it will keep any reader hooked right until the end.

I was lucky enough to get my sticky paws on a sampler of The Hangman, the follow on novel to The Ragdoll and golly gosh I can’t wait to read the whole book.
I loved the Ragdoll, it was an exceptionally clever, well written book and The Hangman looks to be following in the same footsteps...gripped already.

This is a review of the first five chapters of the book. It appears that it will be fast-paced, and violent. The prologue occurs five weeks before the story begins. Detective Chief Inspector Emily Baxter is being interviewed by Special Agent Sinclair, and American policeman, and Atkins, a Metropolitan Police Liaison Officer, with Dr. Preston-Hall, a consultant psychiatrist present as an observer. Baxter is still recovering from terrible injuries she received in the line of duty. It is a very bad-tempered interview, Baxter and Sinclair needling each other. Baxter is insisting that Special Agent Rouche of the CIA is dead, and it appears that Sinclair does not believe it.

Baxter and her team had caught a violent and sadistic serial killer, who is now a resident of Bellmarsh prison, high security wing. She had been badly injured in the capture of Lethaniel Masse, and her dear friend and colleague Wolf, William Fawkes, was killed. Now an FBI agent, Elliot Curtis, and CIA agent Damian Rouche have come to see her because they want her help back in New York. A copy-cat murder has occurred, a banker by the name of William Fawkes was killed and strung up on Brooklyn Bridge. The word BAIT had been carved into his chest. His apparent killer had been seen falling into the river, and his body was dragged out the next day. Into his chest is carved the word PUPPET. So, has the serial killer actually been arrested? Curtis and Rouche want to interview Masse,, and they want Baxter to accompany them.

They go to Bellmarsh. They need an interpreter as Masse's jaw had been badly damaged in the arrest, and he can only be understood using sign language. It is not a satisfactory interview, afterwards they have to search his cell. Before they manage to leave there is a violent incident on the wing, and they get attacked by prisoners on a rampage, but are rescued in the nick of time. Masse has been killed by another prisoner, and he too has BAIT carved into his chest. The man who killed him has apparently committed suicide - and he has PUPPET carved on his chest. The mystery deepens, how are identical murders taking place on both sides of the Atlantic? Has the real killer been caught?

This is clearly going to be fast-paced and action packed, and brutal. A high tension start. I think I should read Ragdoll, the previous story, before continuing, as it will provide a background to the events in this story.

I;m intrigued by this sampler.

I haven't read Cole's earlier book, Ragdoll and reading the first 5 chapters of Hangman there are so many references to that book it is clear that it would help enormously if I had read it. But even so I do want to know what happens next. The number of characters introduced quickly and working out their relationships is a bit confusing.

“18 months after the 'Ragdoll' murders, a body is found hanging from Brooklyn Bridge, the word 'BAIT' carved into the chest.”
This is just a sampler and I can’t wait to read the full story.
I’m intrigued by what ya going to happen and looking forward to March 22.