Enjoyable unusual police procedural with the main character a hostage negotiator who left the police after her husband’s tragic death in a raid that went wrong. After moving to Anglesey with her daughter and young son she is rebuilding her life when a drug delivery to the beach with the police ready to make arrests a young boy falls into the sea and they’re spotted by the smugglers. Her son is on a school trip to a local island by boat when the smugglers take over the pleasure craft . Things keep going wrong and eventually the smugglers take her son and his teacher hostage and a frantic chase then takes up the rest of the story. The story of her husband’s sad demise is interspersed in the tale and just when we get a happy denouement there’s a shock twist thus setting the scene for more adventures. Good stuff!

Laura left the police and moved her children Jake and Rosie back to Wales after the tragic death of her husband. They're rebuilding their lives and then....Jake is on a tour boat taken by a gangster bent on, well, just bent. Laura may no longer be police but she's the best hostage negotiator around so she's called in. This one will have you on the edge of your seat as Laura works to free Jake and the other children and the bad guys do their best to be bad guys. Thanks to netgalley for the arc. A good read that will keep you turning the pages.

The island of Anglesey, hijacking, drugs, general mayhem and sheer excitement set the scene for a new series featuring former DI Laura Hart. With two main threads to the book, in 2018 when Laura was a Hostage and Crisis Negotiator running a drug busting operation until everything went wrong and police officer husband Sam was killed. And 3 years later when Laura has quit the force and moved to Anglesey with her son and daughter and Elvis the dog. Great writing, good uncomplicated plot and this is a very enjoyable, well paced read.

Briefly, Laura is running a company giving courses on crisis management when she gets a call to say drug smugglers have taken over a local ferry with kids on board including Laura’s son Jake. When she is asked to help negotiate with the smugglers she is reliving the events that led to her husbands death. Laura is still talking to Sam as if he is still alive, what will he have to say about it?

I enjoyed the authors descriptions of the area and insight into local legends and superstitions; there is also a nod to the supernatural. There was more and more information given about the 2018 story as the book moved on with twists and turns and an ending that leaves us with an unresolved issue that is clearly leading on to book 2, which I await eagerly ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Excellent second installment of this series. DCI Laura Hart has to relive a chilling scenario, well paced with plenty of twist along the way.
Thanks to Netgalley and Avon books for this ARC book for a review.

First thing first I adore the cover to this book it really caught my eye. This book was intense but enjoyable. I really look forward to more of this author works in the future

This had the premise of being a really good read, however there were so many unbelievable moments that it really ruined it for me. The fact that the main character was a trained hostage negotiator and was allowed to negotiate her husbands release and then after she’d left the police she was called in again as a negotiator when her son was involved and she was a civilian! And then speeding off in speed boat’s everywhere trying to catch criminals had me rolling my eyes 👀. Oh and don’t get me started on the conversations with her dead husband !!

Dealing with one hostage situation involving a loved one is more than enough, but being faced with two is downright irritating! Laura Hughes faces the impossible decision of whether to dust off her hostage negotiator boots and try to save her young son, having already lost her husband a few years previously.

The Dark Tide is a great read, with multiple timelines and a gripping hostage situation played out in detail. It's not just your straightforward drama though, readers also follow Laura's personal story and the interaction with her deceased husband. This gives the story an added edge and means that you really engage with the main characters. I couldn't put it down, and then bam, you're nearly at the end! I can't wait to read the next installment.

Well written, compelling and suspenseful. It is full of twists and unpredictability that kept me guessing until the end, I loved it

Three years ago DCI Laura Hart was a hostage negotiator with the Greater Manchester Police. That is until her husband, Sam, was killed during a raid on a drug warehouse where he was being held as a hostage, a raid Laura was attending. Now she has left the police and moved back to the island of Anglesey in Wales with her two children where she runs her own business and is trying to get over her grief. However, when a gang from Liverpool bringing drugs into Anglesey seize a tourist boat with a class of school children on board and with no one else available, Laura is called in to act as a hostage negotiator once again.

This is a fairly slow developing story but once it builds it is really suspenseful with boat chases, car chases, helicopters and a very unstable, irrational gang leader. Lots of unexpected twists where you really didn't know what the gang were going to do next led to a very tense read. The novel unfolds in two threads, one describing the events leading up to and after Sam's death and the other the current events. It seems that the gang who killed Sam were tipped off about the raid in a conspiracy and the end of the novel suggests this is likely to continue in the next book. However, this thread did seem to slow down the build up of the main plot. I liked the main characters (although now Laura has a romantic interest it might be time for her to spend less time talking to Sam's ghost) and would be keen to read the next book in this series.

This is a fantastic start to a new crime series, set in Anglesey. I loved the character of Laura, widowed after her police officer husband was killed in the line of duty whilst they lived in Manchester. Laura was also a police officer but resigned and relocated with her two children.. After a slow start, there is plenty pace and tension, which rapidly mounts when Laura's son is abducted whilst on a school boat trip. The local descriptions transported me right to beautiful Wales and I was genuinely sorry when I reached that teaser of an ending! A very promising new series from the author. Thanks to Net Galley for my ARC.

Thank you Netgalley and the publisher for the opportunity to read this book for an honest review

This book tells two stories the past and the present. Laura Hart is an ex police negotiator who now lives in North Wales. Laura left the force when her husband also a police officer was killed in a drug raid that went wrong. The present story is about another hostage situation which plays out on a boat with school children on board who are on a school trip accompanied by their teacher.

A tip off sends the police to the beach where they are waiting for illicit drugs to be delivered in a boat from Liverpool by 3 couriers who will deliver them to the beach. The couriers suspect they have an informer and quickly realize that the police are waiting. Their boat breaks down and they take the pleasure boat and all the passengers hostage. What follows is a police chase by boat, air and road. Laura is called in to negotiate with the drug dealers when she realizes her son is one of the hostages.

This story is fast paced and mostly well written however sometimes it was confusing because the story skipped at pace from past to present and back again.
3 stars

I really liked the cover and the premise of this book. However, it just didn't deliver for me. The first part of the book is very slow and didn't hold my interest. So, by the time I got to the middle and toward the end, I wasn't as invested as I would normally be in the story or with the characters.

@AvonBooksUK

Following a personal tragedy from her time as a police officer in Manchester Laura leaves the police force and moves back to Anglesey with her children. However growing events are to put her family at risk once more and take her right back into the thick of police action whether she likes it or not.

What starts out quite gently as a quiet day in Beaumaris on the peaceful island of Anglesey, where a class of children, involving Laura’s son, are about to go on a boat trip to Puffin Island to look at the wildlife, soon descends into life threatening situations.

This book quickly grabs you as you can almost feel, see and smell what is about to happen to all those on the boat trip following a drugs drop that goes wrong. Suddenly events unravel and you just cannot put the book down as a rollercoaster ride of tension, intrigue and suspense unfolds as the pages turn. I love the way Simon kept this tension up throughout the rest of the book and made me having to keep turning those pages into the early morning.

This is a great start to a series, that has an underlying story alongside the main storyline linking back to events in Manchester. Loving the characters central to the story, and most definitely could not have a better setting, think I need to book a trip to North Wales! I strongly recommend this series to others and now wait impatiently for the next book in the series which has been well set up by the ending to this book.

Thanks to the publisher and Net Galley for a review copy of the book in exchange for a fair, open and honest review.

There is a decent story in The Dark Tide but it takes a long time to set it up. When we eventually get to the core, we see former DCI and hostage negotiator Laura Hart drafted in to help out North Wales police when a drug shipment goes wrong. The three man crew from Liverpool was expecting a simple drop off before everything goes wrong, leaving them stuck on an island with two hostages: Hart's young son and his teacher.

Hart, we are told, left Greater Manchester Police after her PC husband was killed in an operation. Oddly, we are given the eventual outcome and then the story is played out in a parallel timeline. Meanwhile, back in the present, Hart is still talking to her husband ... The main character of the novel is not an easy one to relate to.

The first third of the novel is very slow. Every character is introduced with a full physical description and several paragraphs of backstory. (Show don't tell?) Alongside lengthy sections of Welsh history and geography it feels like little happens for a long time. The pace does eventually pick up though, making it worth slogging through the early section.

Wow, what an absolutely fantastic book. I have read the first series Simon McCleave wrote with DI Ruth Hunter and rated the whole series highly. So, when I saw he had a new series out based in my home town I jumped at the chance to review on Netgalley.

What can I say, I could not put this book down, people say this a lot but with this book I mean I was reading it every chance I got, while drying my hair, cooking tea, walking the dog! Everywhere!! I was so fast paced, gripping, heart wrenching

Throughout the book there are references to the area and local facts which I found fascinating and enjoyed once again seeing Welsh words in Simon's books. I love that he's bringing people's attention to our beautiful part of the world. His historical facts and knowledge of local areas and events has been very well researched, and there were I good few things I didn't know!

All in all this is a suberb book which has set the scene for what looks like a fantastic series to come.

I'm only sad that I have come to the end!!!!

Thank you to Netgalley, Avon Books Uk, and Simon McCleave for an advance copy in return for an open and honest review.

A thriller set on the island of Anglesey. Laura Hart has left the police force after the death in service of her husband. Following an incident in which her son is taken hostage, she finds herself drafted in to act as a negotiator with the hostage takers.
The story of the hostage taking and subsequent police chase runs alongside the retelling of the events three years previously that led to the death of her husband.
For me the book started off slowly but picked up pace later on, with the hostage taking provided a thrilling storyline. The ending finished on a cliff hanger, a definite hook for the second book.
Unfortunately, I found the writing style off-putting. The tone was rather patronising and the constant explanations of police terms and welsh words interrupted the flow of the narrative, making it seem forced and it was very irritating.
I couldn't warm to the characters. Laura Hart seemed to flit between being a grieving widow and a giddy flirtatious teenager. The constant appearances of her dead husband holding conversations with her was too much.
Overall, a thrilling but implausible story let down by the writing style.

A fast paced thriller that really is a rollercoaster of a read. The tension is on full throttle and this book has everything. Bent coppers, a hostage situation and a chase by land, sea and air to save her son. This author has another hit series on his hands and I can't wait to read more in the next instalment of the Anglesey Crime Thriller series. Loved it!!!!
Many thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for the ARC in return for giving an honest review.

This is a wild ride of enjoyment. From the first page you are swept up in action and intrigue. The plot and characters are addictive.This is the first book in what will be a must read series

I would like to thank Netgalley and Avon Books UK for an advance copy of The Dark Tide, the first novel to feature former Greater Manchester Police negotiator Laura Hart, now a businesswoman on Anglesey.

Laura is still grieving the loss of her husband Sam, held hostage and killed by a criminal gang, when a county lines drugs delivery goes wrong and the couriers hijack a tour boat. Laura’s eleven year old son, Jake, is on board and becomes a hostage. Laura must reprise her old role of hostage negotiator and keep her cool to save her son.

The Dark Tide is a mixed bag with good and bad points. The story is good, being tense and exciting, but the execution leaves something to be desired for me and my taste.

The novel is mostly set in the present and is told from various points of view. I’m not overly keen on alternating narratives as I feel that it is distracting to have to change your perspective on events and the novel loses a bit of momentum. In this case it’s not so bad as it gives the reader a wider view of events and it probably wouldn’t work as a chase novel without the comparison between the hunters and the hunted. Unfortunately that is not the only distraction from the main event. The novel flashes back intermittently to Laura’s life just after Sam’s death and her quest to understand events. This is obviously going to be a thread as the novel ends on a cliffhanger about it. The novel also has whole chunks where Laura talks to Sam about her life and decisions. Obviously it’s grief, but doesn’t chime with her budding romance. To me it’s padding and takes away from the genuine tension in the main plot.

The main plot is the hostage rescue. This is tense due to the instability and violence of the hostage takers coupled with Laura’s stress about her son. It is also dramatic and cinematic with helicopters, boats and car chases in the mix. It also gives the reader a strong idea of location and makes Anglesey seem like a beautiful spot for a holiday.

I have rated The Dark Tide at 4* for the excitement of the main plot line, despite feeling that it could do with a declutter.

Hiraeth


Wales, land of Druids, Arthur legends, and Viking settlements. It’s here that Laura Hart, - with a background in hostage & crises negotiation- , moves back to after the death of her husband Sam, who died in a hostage situation three years prior.
It’s in beautiful Beaumaris that Laura and her children Jake and Rosie try to build a new life; each trying to cope with this loss: son Jake has become quiet and withdrawn, and Laura finds comfort in talking to her husband like before.
Their quiet life comes to an end, when a drug drop in a country line drug supply from Liverpool to Anglesey goes terribly wrong. Panicked, the three scousers capture a boot with a school class on their way to Puffin island for a school outing and take its passengers hostage.

Simon McCleave, best known for his DI Hunter crime thrillers, has written a gripping and sublieme crime thriller, with lots and lots of exciting historical background information about Anglesey and Beaumaris, topped with plenty of room for action and exciting storylines.
The story switches back and forth from a hostage situation in 2018 in Manchester and 2021 at Anglesey, where each time, a little more information is given, but never too much though, so it remains a guess at what and how things could have gone so wrong in 2018.
Nail biting excitement to the very last page. Already being a fan of the Hunter series, and familiar with his writing, I was looking forward to this one, and it didn’t disappoint, on the contrary, it more than lived up to all my high expectations.

***** 5 stars.

* Publication date: May 12, 2022*

I would like to thank Netgalley and the author for this ARC. This opinion is my own.