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A review by rowingrabbit
The Final Silence by Stuart Neville
4.0
This is book #4 in the series & picks up where the last left off. Detective Jack Lennon is still recovering from being shot by a dirty colleague & fighting for his job. Off work & addicted to pain killers, he's at an all time low. The single light in his world is daughter Ellen.
Out of the blue he receives a call from Rea Carlisle, an old flame. Her uncle died recently & while cleaning out his home she found a scrapbook. We're not talking wedding photos or travel pics, here. Instead, page after page reveals intimate details of murders that have occurred over a decade or so. Rea's first reaction is to call police but that is quickly squashed by her father, a politician more concerned with publicity than the truth.
Jack is sceptical but after an horrific crime is committed he's determined to investigate. He's got nothing else to do & besides, it'll get him out of the house. He's been living with Susan & her daughter and their relationship has gone from tepid to nonexistent. But that's not his biggest problem.
DCI Serena Flanagan has been brought in to handle the same crime. Unfortunately, her investigation points to Jack as the main suspect. His reputation is far from stellar & there are those on the force who'd like nothing better than for him to be taken out of circulation. Flanagan has 2 weeks to solve the case before she'll have to hand it off. She recently got some bad news in her personal life & is still reeling form the implications for her & her family.
This is the author's home turf & it shows. We're treated to atmospheric descriptions of Belfast's grittier neighbourhoods & the hard lives of their residents. There's a real sense of desperation to the characters, some of whom are still fighting to escape the cycle of unemployment & violence. Others gave up the struggle long ago.
In alternate chapters we travel with an anonymous killer, listening in on his thoughts as he ponders how he became the monster he is today. This is one creepy guy & it's inevitable that he & Jack will cross paths before it's all over.
It's a fast paced, easy read with short chapters & punchy dialogue. Characters include those close to Rea & Jack, good cops, bad cops & lowlifes. Rea's parents in particular are well fleshed out & provoke a strong reaction. My sympathy for her mother was equally matched by my disgust for her father. But he's a product of his environment like so many others & this makes Belfast itself another character in the story.
At the centre of it all is Jack. He's his own worst enemy & hard to like at times. But even as you question some of his choices, you never doubt there is a decent man hidden behind the self destructive behaviour. I desperately wanted him to find a little peace but the ending leaves much to be resolved. As in real life, not everything is neatly tied up & I look forward to seeing where he lands in the next book.
Just as an aside, it's not necessary to have read the others to enjoy this instalment. There is a lot of history between returning characters evident in continuing story lines but each book contains a stand alone case.
For fans of Ken Bruen, Michael Robotham & Mark Billingham.
Out of the blue he receives a call from Rea Carlisle, an old flame. Her uncle died recently & while cleaning out his home she found a scrapbook. We're not talking wedding photos or travel pics, here. Instead, page after page reveals intimate details of murders that have occurred over a decade or so. Rea's first reaction is to call police but that is quickly squashed by her father, a politician more concerned with publicity than the truth.
Jack is sceptical but after an horrific crime is committed he's determined to investigate. He's got nothing else to do & besides, it'll get him out of the house. He's been living with Susan & her daughter and their relationship has gone from tepid to nonexistent. But that's not his biggest problem.
DCI Serena Flanagan has been brought in to handle the same crime. Unfortunately, her investigation points to Jack as the main suspect. His reputation is far from stellar & there are those on the force who'd like nothing better than for him to be taken out of circulation. Flanagan has 2 weeks to solve the case before she'll have to hand it off. She recently got some bad news in her personal life & is still reeling form the implications for her & her family.
This is the author's home turf & it shows. We're treated to atmospheric descriptions of Belfast's grittier neighbourhoods & the hard lives of their residents. There's a real sense of desperation to the characters, some of whom are still fighting to escape the cycle of unemployment & violence. Others gave up the struggle long ago.
In alternate chapters we travel with an anonymous killer, listening in on his thoughts as he ponders how he became the monster he is today. This is one creepy guy & it's inevitable that he & Jack will cross paths before it's all over.
It's a fast paced, easy read with short chapters & punchy dialogue. Characters include those close to Rea & Jack, good cops, bad cops & lowlifes. Rea's parents in particular are well fleshed out & provoke a strong reaction. My sympathy for her mother was equally matched by my disgust for her father. But he's a product of his environment like so many others & this makes Belfast itself another character in the story.
At the centre of it all is Jack. He's his own worst enemy & hard to like at times. But even as you question some of his choices, you never doubt there is a decent man hidden behind the self destructive behaviour. I desperately wanted him to find a little peace but the ending leaves much to be resolved. As in real life, not everything is neatly tied up & I look forward to seeing where he lands in the next book.
Just as an aside, it's not necessary to have read the others to enjoy this instalment. There is a lot of history between returning characters evident in continuing story lines but each book contains a stand alone case.
For fans of Ken Bruen, Michael Robotham & Mark Billingham.