DI Kate Young is forced to stay more than one step ahead of just about everyone as she tries to sort out the fact that she unintentionally killed her evil and corrupt boss John Dickson. She comes up with a plan that is truly for the greater good, although she feels horribly alone. Until now she has had the voice of her husband Chris in her head guiding her day by day. She had been trying to find proof that Dickson was responsible for Chris’s murder. Now that Dickson is dead, it is his voice that replaces Chris’s in her head.

Dickson‘s voice works hard at trying to convince Kate that she is losing her mind especially as she has gone against everything and every principle she has always believed in. Has she completely lost all sense of justice? Of what is right and wrong? Is she in a way as corrupt as he was? Not only must Kate convince everyone that Dickson has disappeared of his own volition, there is a sex trafficking case that runs parallel to everything that Kate is doing to hide the fact that she is indeed responsible for his death.

Kate must show extreme caution every step of the way. This proves especially important as it doesn’t take Kate long to learn that Dickson was not the only police officer involved in corruption, and that there are those very close to her that may be part of something huge, something so big that it could be to her complete undoing.

It’s hard to believe that this incredibly tense book takes place in a very limited timeframe, and that even though Kate had the right motive to begin with she is forced to act with a duplicitous nature in order to find justice. Not only that, there is a young sex worker that she is determined to save. Dealing with people that she has a hard time trusting leaves Kate having to use sharp instincts in order to bring justice to those who deserve it.

What an astonishing read! There were moments when this book literally gave me chills. Brought a lump to my throat and tears to my eyes. As Kate often felt numb as she struggled to find a way out of the darkness that she pretty much brought upon herself, I too felt numb as I could not imagine how she could get past the person she was forced to become. As if the story itself was not utterly shocking, the conclusion floored me. In fact, reading the conclusion in this book brought back to mind how I felt after reading the last few paragraphs of book three in this amazing series, A Life for a Life. Carol Wyer has left me shocked beyond belief, and I have no idea how I will manage to wait for the next installment.

Many thanks to Thomas & Mercer and to NetGalley for this ARC for review. This is my honest opinion.