I DNF'd this book 10% in.

I couldn't get into the story. I was sick of hearing about how attractive Inspector Wilson was and the very wordy and lengthy ways the author would explain something very simple. I just didn't care for the characters or the story line, unfortunately. However, thank you for the opportunity.

A decent beach side read that is full of action and requires very little thought. It’s easy enough to follow, but the characters can seem a little superficial.

Oh dear, this held such promise. It has an aggregate score of 4.48, but this is from a very small number of ratings, and some high star reviews, that may well come from the author’s friends and family? The premise sounded good, and I was ready for an action thriller after a run of police procedurals, but about 20% in, it became clear that all the things that were doing my head in, were going to continue throughout. My options were to abandon, which I am reluctant to do too often for a NetGalley book, or to speedread, which worked surprisingly well, completing the rest of the book in about 90 minutes, instead of the projected 4&1/2 hours.

Heroic DCI Jack Robson, still grieving the death of his wife in a helicopter accident, leaves his four year old daughter in London, to take over a complicated serial kidnapping case in Somerset. Ordinary families have been taken with no ransom demands or apparent connection between them. He is partnered with DI Emma Wilson and together they find links to an isolated island whose philanthropist owner is intent on turning it into a nature reserve, but who are the sinister white van men who keep appearing as the body count mounts...?

The basic plot here was straight out of James Bond, completely predictable and preposterous, with every classic action hero trope thrown in.
This would have been fine, if the writing hadn’t been so uncomfortably distracting. What I didn’t like:
- Completely unnecessary use of fancy words (cranium for skull, visage for face, orb for sun etc etc) that just felt forced and like the author needed to show off his vocabulary
- Overly verbose sentences
- the constant use of titles, inconsistently: Jack is DCI Robson and Emma is Inspector Wilson, right through the book.
- Emma Wilson’s appearance is referred to constantly, to remind us non-stop how attractive she is, and how no male character can keep his eyes off her.
- the heavy handed hints about what’s actually going on, then clumsy attempts to disguise the perpetrators

If these things wouldn’t bother you (and I may be an outlier as I have had similar criticisms of surprisingly popular authors) then you may enjoy this.
Thanks to NetGalley for the free copy in exchange for an honest review.
Arcam is available now.

Gripping and adventurous, Jason Minick shows us a sense of intrigue and grit. Rollicking, hell breaks loose kind of fiction.

Thank you NetGalley and BooksGoSocial for the eARC.
Reading several 5-star reviews made me excited about reading this book.
DCI Jack Robson joins forces with Inspector Emma Wilson in the southwest of England to head up a CID team investigating strange kidnappings that have no rhyme or reason. But they soon find out this is not just a simple kidnapping case, it's far more sinister than that.
I was disappointed in the book, it seemed simplistic and too wordy. Also, I could not get invested in the characters or the story...it just wasn't my kind of book.

Thriller does not begin to describe this book. Towns people in the small seaside area of England start disappearing. Jack Robson a top police investigator is called in to supervise the case. More people are disappearing. Minick has created a fast paced non stop action book. The character development was thorough. I will be looking for more work for Minick.

#Arcam #NetGalley #BGS #BooksGoSocial

PLOT: 5
CHARACTERS: 5
WORLD BUILDING: 5
FLOW: 5

OVERALL SCORE: 5 out of 5

This was a gripping read. From the moment I picked it up, I was hooked. DCI Jack Robson has a lot on his plate. Single parent, juggling a career with family life and struggles, things are tough. But when tasked to investigate strange cases of people going missing he has no idea just how much his worldview will be turned upside down.

Now I won't lie, there were times when I would sigh at some descriptive heavy paragraphs but on the grand scheme of things, it was a small annoyance when tallied against the greater plot, well-developed characters, and quaint twists.

I would recommend this great title to lovers of crime, suspense, and police drama. It has everything you expect and so much more.