This is already the fourth book in the DI Sterling series, and even though I haven't read the previous books in the series, this book reads nicely as a standalone. It was so well written, that I don't feel I missed too much of the references maybe made in the previous books. Recommended for anyone who loves a good read that won't disappoint you.

Overall 4.5*.
First time for me reading this author and although the book is the fourth in the series, it easily reads as a stand alone. The story opens with the opening of a new centre geared towards helping the less fortunate in the town. We learn that there has been a running dispute between two local business men who had both been vying for funds for different projects. As the plaque is being unveiled, we find that Montague Mason , the winning business man, is being accused of financial impropriety and as the local police at there, D.I. Paola Sterling has to make an official investigation. However there has also been a brutal attack on a man who is now in a coma in hospital which needs to be investigated too and both investigations are raising more questions than answers.

This novel is very gritty at times and highly descriptive in some of the scenes but not gratuitously. I liked it from start to finish and it is a good page turner with lots going on, however it doesn’t lose the reader either, which can easily happen. The clues are all there right from the start but annoyingly ( in a good sense!), I didn’t click them all together until almost the end. I now want to go back and read the others in the series!

Read as an ARC for my Book Club.

Rage and Retribution is the fourth in the DI Sterling series but can easily be read as a standalone. I had only read the first one, Retriever of Souls before this but didn't feel disadvantaged in any way.

DI Paolo Sterling is unveiling the plaque at the opening ceremony of the youth centre he was instrumental in renovating, but things don't quite go plan and Councillor Montague Mason (brilliant name) is anonymously accused of a crime. It seems like it might just be a stunt, but Paolo is duty bound to investigate. And also to discover who the accuser is from all the staff, volunteers, tradespeople and businessmen involved in the regeneration of the centre.

Meanwhile, an unidentified man has been admitted to the local hospital in a coma with terrible injuries that suggest prolonged, painful torture. His doctor has seen similar injuries before and and calls Paolo in to discuss the situation.

On top of all this, Paolo's personal life is in turmoil on all fronts, and sidekick Dave is being bullied by some of his colleagues. He's also a bit distracted by stuff outside of work.

I like Paolo. He's a straight arrow with a good moral compass and strong sense of right and wrong, sometimes to the point of being a bit blinkered. He loves his family deeply and clearly cares for the people who work under him. Dave too, is a great character. He's much calmer here than when I met him in book one, and is a solid, reliable member of the team. All the characters are brilliantly described - the janitor and the swimming coach at the youth centre are standouts for me in this respect.

And it's just as well these chaps are made of strong stuff. As the seemingly unrelated cases start to look a little less unconnected, Paolo and his team have to deal with some pretty difficult and uncomfortable things. This would seem like a good time to mention that Rage and Retribution features a fair bit of graphic sexual violence, which has stayed with me since reading it, so it won't be for everyone. It made for some uncomfortable reading, but I felt it was an interesting take on the things, once the full story became clear. There's also some entertainment in a local club which is pretty twisted, but novel.

The plot line was complex enough to keep my attention without confusing me too much and there are plenty of red herrings and sub plots. The denouement was tense and had me shouting 'No!' at my Kindle screen. It was nail biting! This is a strong story, with great characters and a hefty dose of sexual violence, perhaps a tad too much for me. But I enjoyed the book and loved seeing what was going on with Paolo - poor guy doesn't get it easy!

Rage and retribution by Lorraine Mace.
Absolutely fantastic. Wow. Dark and gruesome. I had no idea who the killer was until the author wanted me to know. Loved Paolo and Dave. Shocking too. Jack I didn't like. Loved CC and Andea. Looking forward to the next book. 5*.

A sadistic vigilante with a twisted sense of revenge is the focus of the 4th DI Sterling investigation. The case itself is interesting and more than a little graphic (be forewarned if that kind of thing bothers you). The investigation unfolds naturally, and the police work is accurate. I also liked the interplay between Sterling and his team. You don’t need to have read the first books to enjoy this one, but you will gain insight into the team if you do. For a full review, please visit my blog at Fireflies and Free Kicks. I received a digital copy of this book from NetGalley, and all thoughts are my own.

From start to finish this book kept me fully engrossed. It had everything that I want in a crime thriller to keep me hooked. Mystery, murder, torture, intrigue and a well thought out plotline.

Lorraine Mace has produced yet another masterpiece with Rage and Retribution. From the first chapter we get to be in the mind of the killer. And, let me just give you a warning here, the torture scenes are very graphic and will have you wincing in fear with the victims. But, I love this about a book. I much prefer the murder and horror parts to be as gruesome and evil as can be. And, Mace achieved that here in Rage and Retribution.

We meet Paolo Sterling and Dave Johnson as they try to uncover the mystery. To us the reader we have what seems to be two unconnected storylines, and it's great to go on the journey and see how they each unravel.

I don't want to delve too much into the stories as I fear I may ruin or spoil it for you. What I will say though is that you won't be disappointed, and if like me you might even understand the logic behind the tortures.

Rage and Retribution will keep you engrossed and also make you feel grossed!!

The 4th book on the DI Sterling series. Despite not having read any of the other books I was really interested in reading this one and hoped it would work as a stand-alone. It did - a little character background would have been nice but I didn’t take anything away from the book.

I really enjoyed reading this one and liked the main character which always helped. A few things were quite predictable but not in a way that means you guess the whole plot.

Overall, an enjoyable read and will be looking out for the rest of the series!

I have been a fan of Lorraine's work ever since I had the good fortune to pick up one of the earlier books in the series featuring Detective Inspector Paolo Stirling. I was blown away by the story. Since then I have read the other books in the series and I have been impatiently waiting for the fourth book in the series to be released. Well ladies and gents, the wait is over because the fourth book in the Detective Inspector Paolo Stirling is called 'Rage & Retribution' was released on 13th February 2020. It's another fabulous read from Lorraine Mace and I thoroughly enjoyed every single minute of it.
What can I say about Detective Inspector Paolo Stirling? For a start, he is fast becoming one of my all time favourite male lead detectives. He is in charge of a small team of police officers and at times he feels a bit like a head teacher in that he has to sort out petty squabbles between the different members of his team. Stirling is a great detective but his professional life often takes over his personal life too, which leads to some resentment from his nearest and dearest. Stirling is passionate about his work and passionate about the causes that he supports. Stirling leads from the front and he often takes on more than his fair share of the workload. Stirling doesn't suffer fools gladly and if somebody upsets him then Stirling will certainly let them know. Stirling has a brilliant analytical mind, which helps to make him the great detective that he is.
I made the fatal mistake of picking this book up shortly before I went to bed. Needless to say that my bedtime was delayed and I ended up with a sleep hangover the following morning. Some of the details of the crimes in this book are particularly graphic and at times gruesome but that didn't put me off- far from it. I think that it just spurred me on to keep reading to find out whether or not Stirling and his team managed to put an end to the crimes before they escalated in severity and gruesomeness. The pages turned over at a furious rate and at one point the pages were turning that quickly that the page numbers all blurred into one. I reached the end of the story far quicker than I had wanted to or anticipated.
'Rage & Retribution' is brilliantly written but then I think that to be true of all of Lorraine's books. She initially grabs your attention with an eye catching synopsis, which leaves you wanting more. Lorraine then draws you into the story and before long you realise that she has tightened her grip on your attention. She doesn't let you have your attention back until the moment you finish reading the very last word on the very last page. For me, the story hits the ground running and maintains the fast pace throughout. Lorraine takes the reader on one hell of a scary and unpredictable rollercoaster ride through the investigation into two seemingly unrelated crimes. I was gripped by the story and on the edge of my seat throughout.
In short, I thoroughly enjoyed reading 'Rage & Retribution' and I would definitely recommend it to other readers. I look forward to reading much more of Lorraine's work in the future. Here's hoping that we don't have too long to wait for her next book. The score on the Ginger Book Geek board is a very well deserved 5* out of 5*.

Another story in this excellent series by Lorraine Mace, her DI Paolo Sterling leads a series of races to track down the killer, save a colleague and potentially extend his relationship with his soon-to-be overseas companion. With so much happening and troubles within his own team, the police officer has to combine a variety of skills to decide which is important and those that are to be left behind. This is a gripping story.

The strange club becomes key throughout the investigations, but the police are hampered in their ability to inspect the establishment and this delays many of the decisions that are necessary.

People are dying all over the place and many in connection with the new centre for the community and perhaps, in conjunction with the club.

One of the key police officers disappears and another should do, but which will be solved efficiently and effectively?

You don't need to read the other books in the series, but it will provide some back story so you know why people react in the manner they do within the police team.

I did guess the killer, but I don't know if it was a lucky guess or I stumbled across the clues that are littered throughout this novel. I look forward to reading the next in the series and while this book was provided free to me, I would happily pay to read this writer time and time again. I do hope Jack gets his transfer, but I doubt it somehow...

Rating 4.5/5*
If you enjoy murder mysteries, police procedural stories, family dramas or great reads, look no further – this book has the lot! It shares the life of DI Paola Sterling, the investigations, his private life and dilemmas. It is an enticing read, one that keeps you guessing and hooked with plenty of twists too. As for that ending – well!!!

It starts with the brutal torture of a man whose unconscious body is dumped three days later by the side of a canal….. Then, at the opening of a local youth centre, a local councillor is accused of stealing its funds . . . DI Sterling is in charge of both investigations but with someone causing bad feelings on his team, his love life disintegrating and his seventeen year old daughter wanting his support, nothing is going to be straightforward!

The characters, settings, plot and flow of this story are superb. It is an enthralling murder mystery, packed with red herrings and some clues so obvious they’re easy to overlook. It is not for the squeamish, dealing with issues such as rape, torture, suicide and murder but all in the context of the story. If you enjoy crime thrillers make sure you don’t miss out on this one – and other in the series. This author is a skilled wordsmith, bringing the dire events and characters to life in the imagination of the reader. I have no hesitation in highly recommending this book to anyone who enjoys this genre.

I requested and was gifted a copy of this book and this is my honest review after choosing to read it and finding it difficult to put down until I’d finished it! Now I can’t wait to read the sequel to discover what happens next to DI Sterling and his team.

An excellent addition to the DI Sterling series, which can easily be read as a standalone, if you haven’t read the rest of the series.

DI Sterling is presented with a complex case when the body of a badly tortured man is found by the side of a canal. His injuries are brutal, and the investigation finds that it is not an isolated case.

Meanwhile a local councillor is accused of fraud, could he be linked to the fate of the injured man?

A really good gritty read, I really enjoyed it.

I’m going to start this review by saying if you don’t like violence then this is probably not the book for you. It starts with a bang, taking you straight into the action with the person who is abducting and torturing men, we don’t find out who it is that’s doing this at this point but we do find out some of their reasoning for what they are doing.

As the blurb states there are two threads to this story, seemingly unconnected at first though that changes as the story progresses.

Not realising this was the fourth in a series I read this book without any previous knowledge of the main characters and it didn’t have any impact on my enjoyment at all. D.I. Sterling came across as someone who abides by the rules but also is flexible and understanding when the situation requires it. I liked watching him work and his relationship with his staff.

The two initial investigations and work involved in both ensured that there was a lot of questioning from me around where this was going and what would happen next which is exactly what I want to get me involved in this type of story.

It’s a really well-written story that describes everything clearly and paints a very detailed picture, hence the statement at the top of my review. I really enjoyed discovering this new detective and would be interesting to see where his next investigation takes him.

4 Stars from me

There is a lovely little moral dilemma running through the core of Rage and Retribution - the question of whether two wrongs make a right. 

In the story, we soon learn that there is a person 'Nemesis' who is enacting revenge upon rapists, so far so good right... However, Nemesis has taken the act of retribution to its darkest edge and, much like in Retriever of Souls, Lorraine Mace leads us into some very uncomfortable, brutal and graphic scenes.

I'm a bit on the fence regarding my opinion of DI Paolo Sterling - most of the time I like him but there isn't just something about him that rankles a little. Dave however seems like a top guy whereas the rest of the team seem 50/50.

There are some interesting little subplots throughout the story which add depth to the lead characters making them more real.

Overall a very interesting take on 'can two wrongs make a right' within a fast paced race to unearth the culprit.

My thanks to Lorraine Mace and Damp Pebbles for letting me be a part of this blog tour.

This is my first encounter with D.I.Paolo Sterling so yes the book can be read as a stand-alone if you are new to the series. The investigation starts with a man found comatose and brutally beaten. It’s up to the team to not only find the culprit but to identify the man. Unfortunately he is not the only victim but the others wont speak up as male rape is a taboo subject. The book handles that subject sensitivity yet thoroughly in order to bring about justice. There must be a link between the cases and its up to D.I.Sterling and his close knit team to get to the culprit before any more men are brutalised. Finding the who will give them the motive behind the crimes which when it is revealed is almost as shocking as the crimes themselves. Whilst searching for the sadist the team must work through what set out to be a prank yet that too spiralled out of control. The two cases take on an unexpected twist when they overlap leaving Sterling in a race to solve not one crime but two interconnected ones. Full throttle tension all the way through the book grips you to the end.

This is the fourth book in the D.I. Paolo Sterling series, but it was the first one I'd read. You don't have to read the first three to enjoy this one, but after reading this one, I will be going back to read them, beccause I really enjoyed the main character, D.I. Paolo Sterling! The story starts out very dark and very violent, with a murderer kidnapping and torturing abusive men. Already the scene is set - the very real wish for retribution against the terrible things these men have done, but the way the revenge is carried out with such rage is beyond the pale. Once released from the torturer these men refuse to speak about it, so the kidnapper runs free. But then, apparently, the kidnapper turns murderer.
Enter D.I. Paolo Sterling and his team. Again I was surprised - the detective is a calm, kind, almost spiritual man. He's a fascinating character. He's raising one daughter, his other died in a car accident, and he is still looking for the driver, but he isn't obsessional about it. I thought that Sterling was one of the most balanced characters in a detective novel that I've read, and the small forays into his private and personal life didn't take away from the main plot, which is the search for the criminal.
Well written, and with a large cast of interesting characters, this is a fast-paced book that held my attention to the end. Highly recommended.

Rage and Retribution is the fourth book in this series featuring Detective Inspector Paolo Sterling and opens with a scene depicting the brutal torture and rape of a man. The assailant has accusations for him but doesn't get the response they want. Giving up, the man is dumped and ends up in hospital.
Paolo becomes aware and while investigating he discovers there are more victims, all male, with similar evidence of torture and rape. But none of them are willing to talk.
As with all of Lorraine Mace's books the story is twisty and full of description, none of it is gratuitous. It's a story of misplaced justice and revenge.
As always in Lorraine's books the characters are complex but very human, with all the usual human inadequacies. I love the way Lorraine writes, you're grabbed from the first page till the very last word. Really looking forward to the next one in this series.

Having read all the books in this series, I was looking forward to reading this book. DI Sterling is yet again brought in to solve what seems to be a simple case of graffiti but as the story continues, it is not as simple as he thinks and he gets embroiled in blackmail, torture, and murder.
This was a quick read as there was always something going on. Whilst this book like the others discusses dark subjects that may upset some readers. the scenes are relevant to the story and I am curious where this author gets their ideas from as each book had something different.
There were a few shocks in this book and I do wonder whether Sterling will ever be happy in his personal life.
Whilst this story could be read as a standalone, I would encourage any reader to read the complete series in order as you do miss some small details.
I hope this series continues as DI Sterling is one of my favourite detectives

Whoa!! The beginning of the book had me taken aback. The scene was shocking and gruesome, and that made me want to read faster so that I know that justice was served. Someone was abusing and killing men.

The next chapter brought DI Paolo Sterling into my literary life where he had to investigate fraud at a civic center. With the two storylines, the Detective had to race against time especially when it felt they were probably connected.

This was my first introduction to author Lorraine Mace’s writing. And man, does she throw her punches. They were quite hard-hitting and left me gasping. The author didn’t shy from the graphic details. I didn’t even know the book was part of the series as it worked beautifully as a standalone.

Detective Paolo was quite a complex character who had a wonky personal life with relationship issues. That didn’t detract him from his duties. His intelligence and determination made him shine in the book.

The story moved fast with each step of the investigation. The graphic details just served as a reading trigger, making me tap my kindle faster hoping, in fact, wanting the perp to be shot dead. Lorraine Mace knew how to keep my pulse spiked high.

It was dark police procedural with vengeance and vigilantism weaved into it. Not for the faint hearted.

I'm a complete sucker for a British police procedural, so the blurb for Rage and Retribution piqued my interest, and the way the the story unfolds kept me hooked throughout.

The book opens with an anonymous first-person character chronicling how they're torturing men who have done bad things: who is 'Nemesis', and why have they made this their mission? In the second chapter, a plaque is unveiled at a new youth centre, but it's been graffitied with a slur against a prominent councillor: who did it, and is there any truth in their accusations that the councillor has been stealing public funds? And just how are these two events linked?

The connection, and much more besides, emerges over the course of the book as D.I. Paolo Sterling and his colleagues investigate. Under Mace's skilful direction, they have 'eureka!' moments regularly enough to keep you reading, but also encounter obstacles, dead ends, and red herrings that keep the story realistic and the reader guessing. In fact, there's so much going on that when the first corpse turns up, you suddenly realise you're already nearly halfway through the book! And then there's another dead body, and another, and another...

This book includes a lot of the features I look for in a crime novel, particularly forensic investigation (in terms of cadavers and electronics), grit tempered by humour (prim busybody Clementine Towers provides great relief from the detectives' dark discoveries!), and well-developed characters. I did work out whodunit *slightly* before the police did, but I think that's a positive: it shows I felt compelled to really pay attention and engage with the story.

Even though I hadn't read any other books in the series, this didn't detract from my reading experience, as I was still able to get a great sense of Sterling's backstory, as well as the personalities and dynamics within the investigation team. But I will be reading the other books, as I'd like to spend more time with them and read about some of the past events they refer to!

Rage and Retribution is a solid page-turner that keeps you guessing and I have added the rest of the series to my TBR list.

4☆ A Very Dark and Gritty Crime Thriller!

Rage and Retribution is the Fourth instalment in a dark and gritty crime series, but can be read as a standalone perfectly fine.

Detective Inspector Paolo Sterling is back and this time he is investigating the potential fraud out of the Finances for the reopening of Bradchester’s Youth Centre. Which unfortunately for Paolo he is actively involved in helping to set up.
So he has a lot to prove to help clear his reputation!
But it doesn't help when the main suspect involved is councillor Montague Mason who doesn't have the best reputation!

But alongside this case, someone is kidnapping men, torturing and sexually assaulting them for their unpunished wrong doings.
But just who is this vigilante and why is he punishing and torturing these Men?
What's the connections?

This book isn't going to appeal to everyone as some scenes are graphic but it's one of those books you just can't help reading more of.

Rage and Retribution is a very dark, murky, gritty, Enthralling and Gripping Crime Thriller, that had plenty of suspense, that kept me on my toes, combines great police procedural with a dark and twisted vigilante plot.
It's a very pacy read, that has perfectly plotted twists, the characters are brilliantly written and DI Sterling is fast becoming one of my favourite detectives.
I can't wait to read more!

Thank you to Rachel Random Resources for this copy which I reviewed honestly and voluntarily.