Due to a sudden, unexpected passing in the family a few years ago and another more recently and my subsequent (mental) health issues stemming from that, I was unable to download this book in time to review it before it was archived as I did not visit this site for several years after the bereavements. This meant I didn't read or venture onto netgalley for years as not only did it remind me of that person as they shared my passion for reading, but I also struggled to maintain interest in anything due to overwhelming depression. I was therefore unable to download this title in time and so I couldn't give a review as it wasn't successfully acquired before it was archived. The second issue that has happened with some of my other books is that I had them downloaded to one particular device and said device is now defunct, so I have no access to those books anymore, sadly.

This means I can't leave an accurate reflection of my feelings towards the book as I am unable to read it now and so I am leaving a message of explanation instead. I am now back to reading and reviewing full time as once considerable time had passed I have found that books have been helping me significantly in terms of my mindset and mental health - this was after having no interest in anything for quite a number of years after the passings. Anything requested and approved will be read and a review written and posted to Amazon (where I am a Hall of Famer & Top Reviewer), Goodreads (where I have several thousand friends and the same amount who follow my reviews) and Waterstones (or Barnes & Noble if the publisher is American based). Thank you for the opportunity and apologies for the inconvenience.

This is a great take on the serial killer genre. I didn't realise at first that it was a debut novel, which makes it all the more astonishing.

If there's ever a book cover that's going to grab your attention from the get go, this is the one! It might as well have flashing lights saying "Read Me"!

This has got to be one of the most fast paced and enthralling books I have read in a long time. Helped along by the fact it had brilliantly punchy chapters that were short enough to quickly grab and read every spare moment I had!

Written in three perspectives this story takes you on a journey through the eyes of a Detective, Contract Killer and Serial Killer. Slowly but surely these chapters cleverly merge together until the 3 characters become one story.

I really liked the fact that the author writes 'to the point', no fannying around with bits and bobs that aren't actually needed within the story, because of this the storyline flowed seamlessly and was full of tension, action, twists and turns.

One of the best things about this book was the fact you knew the 'baddie' from the beginning, no having to guess or second guess along the way. I loved the way the story evolved before my eyes knowing who the killer was from the get go.

The plot was completely original and I'm pretty sure I cant be the only one that was able to clearly imagine the bright flashing 'neon' lights when they were mentioned throughout (no spoliers).

The only negative I will give is that the ending didn't feel as neatly wrapped up as I'd have liked, I was left with a couple of unanswered questions that played on my mind after... but that could be turned into a positive because it was definitely a brainworm for a day or so after so it had me thinking about the book long after I had turned the last page!

A book that literally crackled with the energy!

4.5*

Huge thanks to netgalley and Orion Publishing for the ARC.

I was offered the chance to read this as part of a blog tour. It sounded right up my street so of course I said yes straight away.

This book packs a punch right from the outset. I thoroughly enjoyed it. It is hard to describe without giving anything away but for me its probably one of the best books I've read in a while. I loved the short sharp punchy chapters.

The story is portrayed from 3 perspectives, and it was easy to follow despite each chapter not having a heading. This later on is a good thing as all of the characters soon merge into the chapters together. There didn't seem to be a lot of faffing about in this book. It went to where it needed to be and got to the point straight away.

I thought the whole idea of the neon signs was original and creative. I haven't read a crime book in which this is the killers calling card. Neon, is very sneaky and knows exactly what to do in order to hide himself, he also has the perfect life to do this.

I have to say I was hoping for a different ending as I loved this team together. I cannot wait to see what this author comes up with next.

Anyone that has stuck around this blog for any length of time knows that I’m an avid reader of psychological thriller but when a serious crime element is thrown in for good measure, you know I’m anyone’s. It wasn’t necessarily the twist that I was waiting for that made Neon so good but the devilishly dark narrative that the plot took on from the very first page. Not only is the death of a spouse a traumatic event, but for it to have been a targeted attack by the man you are actively investigating is a blow professionally and personally.

I greedily accepted the blog tour invitation for Neon like a kid eyeing up the candy in the shop. The cover, with all its neon attractiveness pulled me in with no effort whatsoever. I’ve always imagined neon signs and installations that hint towards something a bit more on the darker side. The illuminous colours providing a competent smokescreen for the seedier activities of human beings. The serial killer certainly had an inventive way proving that theory accurate. The synopsis provides us with little titbits but doesn’t give too much away – just the way I love it!

The format of Neon was so different but totally refreshing. It was like walking into the eye of the storm. Points of interest were gone, anything familiar were gone but you were powerless to the pulling power that book had over you. You were disorientated but the thrill had an edge that you couldn’t withstand.

DCI Matt Jackson is at the end of his rope. He has been investigating an imaginative serial killer that displays his female victims with neon installations. Its deeply upsetting and the macabre nature is meant to shock the reader. Unfortunately, the serial killer’s latest victim is Jackson’s beloved wife, Polly. This is the catalyst for his dark depression – one that he now sees no way out of. Life Is grey without her, a stark contrast to how his last memory served him of her. He doesn’t want to live without her – so he has organised his murder/suicide at the hands of a trained hitman. Will a new lead make him regret his decision and can he come to a highly unconventional agreement with hitman, Iris Palmer?

Two incredibly flawed characters, one mourning the loss of his wife and career and essentially his own life and one battling a ferocious illness. Neon highlighted the unfairness of life and G.S. Locke brought me to my knees with a genuine but bleak prose. I have only experienced this flow with but a few authors, but Locke nailed the inevitability of life and death.

Neon is laced with more than a smattering of the dark and disturbing but gives a bird’s eye view of what being human entails. An intense and clever thriller that is crackling with energy.

Set in Birmingham, there is a serial killer who leaves his victims in a neon tableau, so the killer is known as Neon.

DCI Matt Jackson is on compassionate leave as his beloved wife was one of Neon’s victims. Grief stricken he has hired a hitman to kill him….but when he finds a new lead he changes his mind…..for now.

He makes a deal with the hired killer, Iris, and together they begin an off the books investigation, getting closer to Neon’s real identity…..putting themselves in real danger.

I found Neon to be a unique, hugely entertaining thriller…it’s dark, gritty and violent with a twisted serial killer too. A clever plot will keep you hooked from start to gasp inducing finish. Brilliant.

Thank you to Orion Books and NetGalley for an eARC of Neon. This is my honest and unbiased review.

Thank you to NetGalley and Orion Publishing Group for the arc of Neon by G.S Locke.

Thank you to G.S Locke for writing such a gripping and compelling book.

This is set in Birmingham, UK and Black Country where it follows a group of people hunting down the serial killer whose also known as "Neon". Neon is the name of the serial killer because he likes to display his victims in Neon Lights. By day the serial killer is a piano teacher by night a maniac, psychopathic serial killer... Matt Jackson, who is a detective.. his wife was a victim of Neon... he is unable to kill himself.. until a breakthrough in the case brings him back to reality..

So there is a runaround between the detective and Neon a bit of a cat and mouse game between them... then he finds out that the serial killer and Jackson's paths have actually have been crossed before so who is the actual target after all.....?

This is a dark, deep police thriller with many mysteries, twists and turns which keep you gripped on the edge of your seat right to the very end! so well done G.S Locke for this roller-coaster of emotion of a book!

Definitely Recommend
5 Stars⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

This is a debut novel by GS Locke and is an edge-of-your-seat crime thriller. From the tense opening where a man is awaiting his own death, it doesn't let up and will keep you reading as you race to the finish.

A serial killer referred to as Neon is slaughtering women in Birmingham and using their bodies within his twisted art installations of neon lighting. He is audacious and uses public spaces for his 'art', but his last victim was a police officer's wife. That very police officer, Matt Johnson, is now on his trail with a very unconventional partner who has her own reasons to kill. As the net closes in on the killer, the need to operate outside the law becomes essential.

This is an extremely tense thriller. Although the killer is revealed early on, the tension comes from the continued action, close calls and revelations as Johnson's rather maverick approach to policing runs its course. The setting is also appealing - as someone who knows Birmingham reasonably well, it felt realistic and creepy. However, I didn't particularly like the bleakness of the story, especially around Iris - I absolutely know why this was done and it is effective, but I prefer a little less grit personally!

Overall, I'd recommend this to people looking for a distinctly unusual take on the police procedural. For me, it's a 4 star read because the ending felt a bit rushed, but there certainly is never a dull moment!

My thoughts about this brilliant powerful dark police serial killer thirller was fantastic g s locke neon is a story of a detective who's wife is been murdered by a serial killer who calls himself neon the detective hires a assassin who will take revenge and kill neon for his crimes a cat and mouse chase to get to the serial killer or will the serial killer get to them first a hardhiting story that has full of twists and turns brilliant characters an outstanding debut that is truly a genius dark police thriller that definitely take you on a cat and mouse chase game highly recommended 💥💥💥💥💥⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

"When my eyes were stabbed by the flash of a neon light
That split the night..."

This is a unique, deeply atmospheric and unsettling exploration of the dark side of an English city with a great sense of place. It also hangs very precisely on the relationships of its protagonists which remain

The Neon killer craves attention and recognition. His victims are found posed, arranged, surrounded by handmade, unique neon signs taunting the victims, the police, the public. How this was done - amidst the hubbub of a busy city - is just as much a mystery as why and as who. Fear at the killer and anger at the police who can't catch him simmer as the killings progress...

Neon has as its principle characters Jackson, the washed up detective whose failed so far and whose failure culminated in the murder of his wife, Iris, a young woman moving in Birmingham's underworld - and the killer himself. We see the kiuller's life and motivations, the book slowly and steadily unpeeling him, but much of the mystery is retained as it isn't clear till the very end how he fits with Iris and Jackson - although he's clearly fixated on the latter.

All three are delineated well, Locke choosing to come into the story midway - there have already been several murders, Jackson is already off the case, morosely haunting coffee shops and nursing thoughts of self-destruction. This means, despite the sequence of violent and grisly killings, we don't experience the successive discovery of each. That gives the book a sense of pace and avoids repetition as well as distancing the story from glorifying violence against women, a danger I think with the serial-killer genre. This last was something I thought about quite a lot when reading Neon. Do we really need more such stories? In this case, I think Locke brings something new and distinct.

Yes, there are killings of women. Yes, Jackson is, by the time we meet him, motivated by revenge (though also by guilt). But this is balanced by the portrayal of the killer and his motivations as rooted - ultimately - in misogyny. That's a creepy and gradual portrait, done with great skill and all the better for the restraint used. We never actually see any of his murders take place, only the aftermath - unlike Iris who we do see kill several times. She is an efficient and sought-after contract killer, a complicating factor when she and Jackson come into each others' orbit and find they have no choice but to work together.

The relationship that then develops is rich and complex, both Jackson and Iris being wounded, both putting up fronts and playing parts. They depend upon each for reasons that we only partly understand - not because the book is imperfect but because there are so many depths here and not is so painful for both of them to be exploring those depths that it can only happen bit by bit. I'll just say that Iris is much more than just a hit woman, Jackson has much more driving him than revenge.

In fact that relationship is what I'll take away from this book, even more than its portrayal of a moody and threatening Birmingham, just outside the blazing lights of the busy shopping streets, stations and public buildings.

"And the people bowed and prayed
To the neon god they made..."

This is a compulsive crime thriller from GS Locke, set in Birmingham, where a stone cold and ruthless serial killer is running rings around the police. DCI Matt Jackson has been leading the hunt for the imaginative killer targeting women, creating a macabre neon lit tableau in which the dead women are posed as 'artistic installations'. His latest victim was Jackson's beloved wife, Polly, an act that has plunged the detective into an abyss of darkness and depression that has him wanting to check out of life completely. To this end, he has organised his own murder-suicide by hiring a hitman. Only as a new lead comes to light, he discovers he wants to take care of unfinished business first, and when the hitman turns out be a woman, Iris Palmer, he convinces her to join him in the Neon killer search.

Iris has her own urgent reasons for agreeing to Jackson's plan, she needs money and she needs it fast. If Jackson had thought he could 'manage' Iris, he is due for a rude awakening, she has no intention of sticking to his rules, creating moral dilemmas and guilt for him. To his surprise, he finds the hitwoman can out think his fellow police officers when it comes to strategies and running a murder investigation. Interspersed in the narrative is the perspective of the killer, a determined and manipulative man, playing with Jackson, with plans for him that involve the most ambitious and enthralling neon lit display in which Jackson is the intended star. In the most twisted of investigations, certain facts come to light that force Jackson to question the motivations of the Neon killer, a serial killer that another killer, the hitwoman Iris, has in her sights.

Locke certainly has a fascinating protagonist in DCI Matt Jackson, a man certain he is done with life but has one last task he wants to complete, ensure that his wife Polly's killer pays for his horrific crime with his life. His unusual partnership with the complex and hard nosed Iris, rendered vulnerable by what is happening in her personal life, is the highlight of this brilliant piece of crime fiction. The ending has elements that are heartbreaking, and if you are wondering if Jackson remains committed in wanting to die, you are going to have to read this riveting crime thriller! Highly recommended. Many thanks to Orion for an ARC.

Neon is a really dark and entertaining serial killer thriller featuring a grieving detective, a hitman who is not a man but an unexpectedly engaging woman and a killer who rather enjoys the spotlight. 

I like a clever plot and this one has lots of great layers, intriguing happenings and twists and turns, exactly what you want when you pick up this kind of novel. The group dynamic is a little different which keeps you glued to the pages, the outcome may not be what you expect so overall a really great read.

My first from this author but hopefully not my last. Recommended.

Thanks to NetGalley and Orion Publishing Group for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

With its name in lights, NEON is destined for the top of the bestseller charts in 2020.

'NEON' is an astonishingly accomplished novel from debut author, G.S. Locke. I loved every single page and devoured this edge-of-your-seat thriller in one sitting. So, if you are looking for novel that provides a new twist on the serial-killer genre, then NEON is the book for you. With its sublime characterisation and tautly-plotted narrative, this is a superior thriller in every way. The story focuses on a trio of main protagonists. There is, of course, the serial killer NEON who poses his victims in elaborate light displays in and around Birmingham; then there is Detective Matt Jackson, lead investigator on the NEON case, whose wife Polly, was also a victim of the NEON's. Our third main protagonist is the fantastically realised hitwoman, Iris, who is hired by a suicidal Matt, to put an end to his misery. All seems straightforward until Matt finds information that could lead to the real identity of NEON and then the fun really begins. Instead of Iris carrying out the contracted murder/suicide of Matt, the two join forces to hunt down the deliciously twisted serial killer, NEON. Cue a high-octane, thrill-a-minute, literal page-turning journey to the final, stunning denouement of NEON. Whilst the plot of the novel is undoubtedly a force of nature, the real stars of the show, so to speak, are the enduring characters of NEON, Matt and Iris. They quite simply burst forth from the page, as if rebelling against the mere jumble of words that make up their fictional existence. Hitwoman and terminally ill Iris, a cross between the indefatigable Lisbeth Salander and the gloriously psychotic Alice, from 'Luther', in particular, simply light up the page (pun intended), of Locke's debut novel. As I've run out of superlatives for 'NEON', a glorious mash-up of 'Luther', 'Line of Duty' and Stieg Larsson's 'Millennium Trilogy', I will stop here. Suffice to say, you won't be disappointed in the sparkling, gloriously colourful, light display of 'NEON' - a definite smash hit for 2020

In one word: brilliant! #Neon #NetGalley