‘He Will Get You’ by Charlie Gallagher

Published by Joffe Books,
8^th April 2020.
ISBN: 978-1178931398-7

He Will Get You is the fifth novel featuring DS Maddie Ives and DI Harry Blaker. As in the earlier books, Charlie Gallagher’s first-hand knowledge and experience as a serving UK police officer shines through in this tense, compulsive gruesome thriller.

The story begins with what should be a routine enquiry which escalates into a nightmare for PC Vince Arnold. His partner is killed as his prisoner who Arnold has left handcuffed to railings. His prisoner is the son of a crime boss who sets about taking his revenge. He hires a hit man – the Tax Man and then the carnage begins.

Maddie and Harry Blaker must track down this organised, cold blooded killer.  The horror and violence escalate with each new death. Not only does the reader share in the trauma experienced by family members as they discover the bodies of their loved ones deliberated posed for maximum impact, we delve inside the head of the man known as the Tax Man. He chooses his victims carefully, observing their lives and their families. His pleasure comes not so much from the actual killing, slow and agonising though it is for those whose lives he takes, but from observing the reactions of those who find their bodies. They are the real victims, witnesses to a scene that they will never forget.  

Both the irascible DI Harry Blaker and the feisty DS Maddie Ives have major problems in their own lives that they have to deal with as the investigation gathers pace to its shocking twist ending.

It may not be for the faint hearted or squeamish, but it is a great read. Action-packed thrillers featuring stomach-churning realism are not by any means my first choice of reading, but I found  He will Get You a gripping page-turning read, with believable characters and, as with Charlie Gallagher’s earlier novels, I found myself reading late into the night because I found it difficult to put down. I highly recommend it.

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Reviewer: Judith Cranswick

www.judithcranswick.co.uk   

Charlie Gallagher has been a serving UK police officer for ten years. During that time he has had many roles, starting as a front-line response officer, then a member of a specialist tactical team and is currently a detective investigating serious offences. Charlie is the author of four Lanthorne police procedurals. His new series features DS Maddie Ives.

www.writercharliegallagher.com

Judith Cranswick was born and brought up in Norwich. She wrote her first novel (now languishing in the back of a drawer somewhere) when her two children were toddlers, but there was little time for writing when she returned to work teaching Geography in a large comprehensive. It was only after leaving her headship that she was able to take up writing again in earnest. Judith teaches Tai Chi, and line dancing, yoga, Pilates and Zumba. Her other hobbies include reading and travelling. She is lucky enough to be a cruise lecturer. You can read some of her adventures – the Ups and Downs of Being a Cruise Lecturer on her September 2014 blog on her home page. Judith’s latest book is Blood Flows South to read a review click on the title

http://judithcranswick.co.uk/