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cosmobrown1968's review
adventurous
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
5.0
Ex Special Investigator Charles Balcombe, aka Blackjack, is a killer. His justification for his murderous habit is that they all deserved to die. Changing his name and relocating to Hong Kong to avoid the authorities, Balcombe needs a distraction.
Hanging out with the rich and powerful denizens of the British dependent territory and supplying ‘services’ to many of their wives Charles is becoming bored.
When one of the wives introduces him to Grace Toogood who is desperate for someone to help track down her missing son Roger, he decides to accept the case. Maybe this is the distraction he needs, or will it just feed his need to kill?
Readers of Murray Bailey’s Ash Carter series will notice a darker line with the anti-hero Blackjack in this spin-off series starter.
Successfully blending a suitably murky lead character with a collection of fantastic supporting roles, including a great new double act of Detective Munro & pathologist Yeung, plus Balcombes new rickshaw riding sidekick put ‘Once A Killer’ firmly into the Unputdownable category.
An absorbing plot with all of Mr Bailey’s customary twists, turns and misdirection make this one you’ll not want to miss, or should I say it’s Toogood to ignore.
Hanging out with the rich and powerful denizens of the British dependent territory and supplying ‘services’ to many of their wives Charles is becoming bored.
When one of the wives introduces him to Grace Toogood who is desperate for someone to help track down her missing son Roger, he decides to accept the case. Maybe this is the distraction he needs, or will it just feed his need to kill?
Readers of Murray Bailey’s Ash Carter series will notice a darker line with the anti-hero Blackjack in this spin-off series starter.
Successfully blending a suitably murky lead character with a collection of fantastic supporting roles, including a great new double act of Detective Munro & pathologist Yeung, plus Balcombes new rickshaw riding sidekick put ‘Once A Killer’ firmly into the Unputdownable category.
An absorbing plot with all of Mr Bailey’s customary twists, turns and misdirection make this one you’ll not want to miss, or should I say it’s Toogood to ignore.
travelsalongmybookshelf's review
5.0
Well I just can’t seem to get enough of Murray Baileys books! I’m a big fan of the Ash Carter series and this book is the first in a new series following the infamous villain known as Blackjack from that series. He is under the guise of Charles Balcombe, although even that isn’t his real name and we find him in Hong Kong. getting his thrills from the bored housewives of rich bankers, casinos, parties, races but, once a killer as they say.
‘I can control the urges, he told himself. I can control BlackJack, but I need a distraction.’
He’d been a member of the elite Special Investigations Branch of the Royal Military Police—until he’d disappeared and changed his identity. This, he said, was a secret. They weren’t to tell anyone else. But someone does tell and then he is asked to investigate the disappearance of a woman’s son.
‘The note said: I know what you did.’
Oh, I liked this a LOT! I was sucked in from the start, gripping, addictive and full of detail as you would expect from Bailey. Balcombe is an interesting character, fighting for control of himself, flashes of kindness, a bit of a vigilante, definitely brutal and a killer. I have to admit I felt conflicted by him as in previous books he has been the unknown, the villain of the piece, but this time he is front and centre and I was rooting for him!
We also follow Munro, a detective, tasked with finding the killer of a laundry man, who has been killed in an odd way and a girl who has been frozen. Are these deaths linked and who killed them?
The storylines of Munro and Balcombe run in tandem and I really have to say this worked brilliantly and I was totally hooked by this story. They are two great characters pitted against each other, although they don’t know it until nearing the end when the threads of the story entwine. It’s an absolute page turner and I loved it! Baileys best book yet!
‘Time to release Blackjack.’
This is my favourite so far!! More please ☺️
[AD PR PRODUCT]
Thanks so much to Murray Bailey for my copy of this ebook and spot on the tour
‘I can control the urges, he told himself. I can control BlackJack, but I need a distraction.’
He’d been a member of the elite Special Investigations Branch of the Royal Military Police—until he’d disappeared and changed his identity. This, he said, was a secret. They weren’t to tell anyone else. But someone does tell and then he is asked to investigate the disappearance of a woman’s son.
‘The note said: I know what you did.’
Oh, I liked this a LOT! I was sucked in from the start, gripping, addictive and full of detail as you would expect from Bailey. Balcombe is an interesting character, fighting for control of himself, flashes of kindness, a bit of a vigilante, definitely brutal and a killer. I have to admit I felt conflicted by him as in previous books he has been the unknown, the villain of the piece, but this time he is front and centre and I was rooting for him!
We also follow Munro, a detective, tasked with finding the killer of a laundry man, who has been killed in an odd way and a girl who has been frozen. Are these deaths linked and who killed them?
The storylines of Munro and Balcombe run in tandem and I really have to say this worked brilliantly and I was totally hooked by this story. They are two great characters pitted against each other, although they don’t know it until nearing the end when the threads of the story entwine. It’s an absolute page turner and I loved it! Baileys best book yet!
‘Time to release Blackjack.’
This is my favourite so far!! More please ☺️
[AD PR PRODUCT]
Thanks so much to Murray Bailey for my copy of this ebook and spot on the tour
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