HB. Published
by Headline,
17 May 2018.
ISBN: 978-1-4722-4406-2
17 May 2018.
ISBN: 978-1-4722-4406-2
It's hard to know what I like best about Karen Rose's thrillers. Is it
the wealth of interesting characters, including plenty of tough, feisty women?
Or the complex, multi-faceted plots with a new twist on every page? Or the
riproaring sex scenes?
If pressed, I'd have to say
none of the above. What I really love is that she doesn't just write thrillers
– she creates whole worlds. In each of her mini-series, all set in different
cities in the US, there's a large cast of characters whose lives come together
in times of crisis, some new ones in each book, others centre stage in one
novel and playing a supporting role or even providing background colour in
another. Each leading character has a rich backstory, and there are always
references to earlier traumas and adventures, some of which have already been
played out in earlier novels in the series, some which just add to that background
colour.
So, it is in the latest in
her Baltimore series. New on the scene and pitched straight into the middle of
the action are attorney Thomas Thorne and nightclub owner Gwyn Weaver. He had a
narrow escape from a murder rap in his teens; she is recovering from a horrific
kidnap and rape ordeal. Each has been secretly besotted with the other for
years, but that's a side issue, though one which does give rise to a sizzling
sex scene or two.
Thorne finds himself the
victim of a relentless revenge plot, and it's up to his loyal group of friends,
including ex-cops, other lawyers, security and IT experts and crack shots, to
protect him despite the danger to themselves, and prove he is innocent of
murder. The bad guy seems to be one step ahead all the time, and soon there's a
body count to rival one of those horrendous real-life shooting sprees which
make the US news all too often – though needless to say it all comes right in
the end.
It's a doorstop of a book,
which carries the usual Karen Rose health and sanity warning – it's definitely
not one for the squeamish or faint-hearted. But it was certainly one for me;
once I started I didn't want to put it down. I stayed up later than I should
and forgot a couple of appointments along the way as I romped through it. Karen
Rose really is a doyenne of thriller writers.
------
Reviewer: Lynne Patrick
Karen Rose was born 29 July 1964 at Baltimore, Maryland USA. She was educated at
the University of Maryland. She met her husband, Martin, on a blind date when
they were seventeen and after they both graduated from the University of
Maryland, (Karen with a degree in Chemical Engineering) they moved to
Cincinnati, Ohio. Karen worked as an engineer for a large consumer goods
company, earning two patents, but as Karen says, “scenes were roiling in my
head and I couldn't concentrate on my job so I started writing them down. I
started out writing for fun, and soon found I was hooked.” Her debut suspense
novel, Don't Tell, was released in
July, 2003. Since then, she has published fifteen more novels and two
novellas. Alone in the Dark is her
seventeenth novel.
Lynne Patrick has been a writer ever since she could pick up a pen,
and has enjoyed success with short stories, reviews and feature journalism, but
never, alas, with a novel. She crossed to the dark side to become a publisher
for a few years, and is proud to have launched several careers which are now
burgeoning. She lives on the edge of rural Derbyshire in a house groaning with
books, about half of them crime fiction.
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