‘Method 15/33’ by Shannon Kirk

Published by Sphere,
14 July 2016.
ISBN 978-0-7515-6431-0

This debut novel is one that I believe will have mass appeal. It is a psychological thriller with a difference in that a kidnap situation is turned on its head with the kidnapper becoming the victim.

Lisa Yyland is a heavily pregnant sixteen year old who is snatched from her home in Barnstead, New Hampshire. She is held in one room of a large isolated house and it soon becomes clear that her kidnapper and his associates intend to take her baby and kill her.

Told retrospectively from seventeen years ahead, we know that somehow Lisa escaped but until the climatic conclusion there are no clues as to what her situation has become or why she is retelling her story now.

The book starts with Lisa four days into her captivity. From a wealthy family, she is something of a child genius and has her own laboratory in the basement at home where she conducts experiments. Lisa applies her meticulous scientific processes to her current situation and tells the back story while she analyses and understands her predicament. From the start the reader is aware that the kidnappers have made a huge mistake snatching Lisa and very soon they are going to suffer in the worst possible way.

Born with the extraordinary ability to switch her emotions on and off, Lisa can focus on tasks without the influence of emotions getting in the way, although with the hormones of pregnancy she doesn't always manage to achieve it. As with many scientists, Lisa is not a social person so the isolation of confinement does not have the crippling impact it would have on other victims.

She spends her days thinking lovingly of her unborn child and rehearsing escape scenarios. She makes mental notes of behaviour patterns and timings, and turns everything around her into an inventory asset that can be used as a weapon for her escape and revenge if she can just figure out how. Throughout the story there is an ever-present awareness that time is rapidly running out and with it Lisa's options and this creates a real page-turning sense of urgency.

Told from the viewpoints of the Lisa and also FBI Special Agent Roger Lui who is trying to find a missing girl, the story explores the hideous nature of crimes against children with the life-long affects both to the victims and their families and on someone meting revenge. An excellent and totally engaging read.

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Reviewer Christine Hammacott

Shannon Kirk is a practicing attorney and a law professor. She attended West Virginia Wesleyan and St. John's Universities, is a graduate of Suffolk Law School, and was a trial lawyer in Chicago prior to moving to Massachusetts. She has been honoured three times by the Faulkner Society in the William Faulkner-William Wisdom Creative Writing Competition. She lives in Massachusetts with her husband, a physicist, and their son. Method 15/33 was Kirk's debut novel. Foreign rights have now been sold in 20 countries.

http://shannonkirkbooks.com

Christine Hammacott lives near Southampton and runs her own design consultancy. She started her career working in publishing as a book designer and now creates covers for indie-authors. She writes page-turning fiction that deals with the psychological effects of crime. Her debut novel The Taste of Ash was published in 2015.

‘Deep Down Dead’ by Steph Broadribb

Published by Orenda Books,
15 January 2017.
ISBN: 978-1-910633-55-7

Lori Anderson is tough - she has to be. She is a fearless Florida bounty hunter and a single mother to nine-year-old Dakota who suffers from leukaemia. So far, she has managed to keep her two roles separate, but, with her daughter's medical bills racking up, she has no choice but to take Dakota along on a job that promises to earn her more than enough money to pay what she owes.

The fugitive she's been assigned to bring back to court is none other than her former mentor and the one who knows about her murky past, J.T. But not only is J.T. fighting a child exploitation racket operating out of one of Florida's most popular theme parks, Winter Wonderland, he is also mixed up with the powerful Miami Mob.

Lori has just three days to bring in J.T., but with powerful enemies on their tail things go from bad to worse and her daughter's life hangs in the balance.

In Deep Down Dead, Steph Broadribb (who trained as a bounty hunter herself) has created a thrilling ride with a side-dish of romance that captures the reader right from the start of the mysterious prologue to the very end.

The characters are fully realised. Lori is a memorable lead - and how many novels are there with a female bounty hunter as the main protagonist? She is fearless, both in the face of danger and in the way she protects her daughter from harm. J.T. is a great character, too - in turns tough and tender, but how trustworthy is he?

Deep Down Dead is a rollercoaster of a book, full of action and sexual tension as it ranges across the Deep South of the USA. As a reader you're with Lori every step of the way. Thankfully the door is left open at the end for a potentiality nail-biting second instalment.

Steph Broadribb has spent the last four years or so blogging about and reviewing crime fiction as Crime Thriller Girl, and now, with her fabulous debut novel, it is time for her to have the limelight.

Reviewer: Mary-Jane Riley

Steph Broadribb was born in Birmingham and grew up in Buckinghamshire. Most of her working life has been spent between the UK and USA. Steph is an alumni of the MA in Creative Writing (Crime Fiction) at City University London, and she trained as a bounty hunter in California. She lives in Buckinghamshire surrounded by horses, cows and chickens. As her alter ego - Crime Thriller Girl - she indulges her love of all things crime fiction by blogging at
                                  

www.crimethrillergirl.com

  

Mary-Jane Riley wrote her first story on her newly acquired blue Petite typewriter. She was eight. It was about a gang of children who had adventures on mysterious islands, but she soon realised Enid Blyton had cornered that particular market. So she wrote about the Wild West instead. When she grew up she had to earn a living, and became a BBC radio talk show presenter and journalist. She has covered many life-affirming stories, but also some of the darkest events of the past two decades. Then, in true journalistic style, she decided not to let the facts get in the way of a good story and got creative. She wrote for women's magazines and small presses. She formed WriteOutLoud with two writer friends to help charities get their message across using their life stories. Now she is writing psychological suspense, drawing on her experiences in journalism. The Bad Things by Mary-Jane Riley was published by Harper Collins/Killer Reads. Her second book, After She Fell, also published by Killer Reads, is out on April 28th. In her spare time Mary-Jane likes to walk the dog and eat a lot.