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A review by antiopelle
Dead Man's Grave by Neil Lancaster
2.0
2,5 stars
A midnight murder in a secluded and overgrown cemetery. On one of the graves you'll find the words: "this grave must never be opened". The story starts out with an atmospheric opening and I only wished it would have stayed that way, but almost immediately we are sucked in a high octane propulsion of action scenes all over Scotland.
The premise is interesting, certainly with a two-hundred years old family feud still acted out to this day, and the book is generally well written. The big letdown for me was the main character, Max. He is your prototype macho who has fought in Afghanistan and came back with PTSD. Then he went working for London police where he shot a suspect and now goes rogue after shouting at the big boss. Being put on leave, he has all the time he wants to do his own investigation, as he is so certain that no-one can be trusted within the police force because everybody is a potential rat and he is the only one who gets the clear picture. The only one he trusts is his poor little damsel-in-distress sidekick. And yes, you will get about ten police acronyms per page. It is a world apart from my favorite detective, Vera Stanhope who does her policing based on facts and intelligence and where there is a bit of mystery that you need to find out.
Highly recommended for lovers of Lee Childs' Jack Reacher - I actually pictured Max as Tom Cruise - but alas not for me.
A sincere thanks to Netgalley, HQ Digital and the author for an advance copy in exchange of an honest review.
A midnight murder in a secluded and overgrown cemetery. On one of the graves you'll find the words: "this grave must never be opened". The story starts out with an atmospheric opening and I only wished it would have stayed that way, but almost immediately we are sucked in a high octane propulsion of action scenes all over Scotland.
The premise is interesting, certainly with a two-hundred years old family feud still acted out to this day, and the book is generally well written. The big letdown for me was the main character, Max. He is your prototype macho who has fought in Afghanistan and came back with PTSD. Then he went working for London police where he shot a suspect and now goes rogue after shouting at the big boss. Being put on leave, he has all the time he wants to do his own investigation, as he is so certain that no-one can be trusted within the police force because everybody is a potential rat and he is the only one who gets the clear picture. The only one he trusts is his poor little damsel-in-distress sidekick. And yes, you will get about ten police acronyms per page. It is a world apart from my favorite detective, Vera Stanhope who does her policing based on facts and intelligence and where there is a bit of mystery that you need to find out.
Highly recommended for lovers of Lee Childs' Jack Reacher - I actually pictured Max as Tom Cruise - but alas not for me.
A sincere thanks to Netgalley, HQ Digital and the author for an advance copy in exchange of an honest review.