High up amongst the penthouse suites, a skilled and dangerous killer is hunting a quarry who's eluded him for far too long. It is the first of his books that I have come across, but I trust it will not be the last. Read it if you enjoy complicated storylines well-handled, multiple plot twists, continuous tension, and a satisfying ending without annoying plot devices that involve reaching too far. I highly recommend this thriller- if you’ve read other books by Simon you’ll love this and if you haven’t it’s a perfect one to start with. Five stars from me. As darkness falls and the gunmen become increasingly violent, only one thing matters. Who will survive? Read more Details Newly engaged Elena Serenko has just made the life-changing decision to quit her job and start a new life in Australia.

Yes, exactly. He can’t be one hundred per cent sure because, like everyone else, he’s convinced she’s dead, but he looks into it more deeply and he opens up a real can of worms, finding out first that she is still alive (although in hiding), and then that he’s being set up for her murder. People around him start dying and he finds himself on the run. It’s a hugely pacy book, with short chapters and a whole load of twists and turns. You always think you know what is going to happen but then Coben produces another twist and once again you don’t know where you are. And he manages to carry this on right the way through the book, which is no mean feat. The book that really stood out for me in this excellent series is A Dance at the Slaughterhouse, in which Scudder is hired to find out whether a guy has murdered his wife or not. Basically the man and his wife were supposedly ambushed in their apartment by a couple of burglars who they disturbed after a night out. The man was beaten and his wife was murdered. The wife’s brother suspects that there is something amiss and thinks that the husband is responsible, so he hires Scudder to look into it and we soon find ourselves in the real dark underbelly of New York. The First 48 Hours” is a verd thriller where three enthralling storylines are connected by secrets, danger, and a constant race against time. A committed detective is assigned the task of solving a chilling murder case. The second storyline features a mother who is defending her own child accused of murder and thirdly a couple planning what they believe to be the perfect crime.

Simon Kernick Complete Book List

The opening scene in an empty barn is one of the most chilling I have ever read and that includes Scandi fiction! The three threads and characters all stood out and all were very distinctive from each other. The detective, the mother, the missing child and the couple in the funeral home. Blimey when you see how it all goes down and how they all come together. Becca is a barrister asked to defend killers and seemingly impervious to the fact she might be getting guilty criminals off scot free. When something awful happens to her daughter she is forced to choose between her family and her personal belief in the law- how far will she go to protect her own flesh and blood?

You often talk to police officers as part of your research – so do you agree with the book’s theory? Before we start with your five books, I would love to know what you think makes something a thriller as opposed to a straightforward crime novel. A group of kidnappers, and a crooked cop who knows how the system works is also on the investigation team. Oh, totally. I don’t think crime fiction can be realistic. It can be authentic, but that’s very different. I like to think that my books are authentic insofar as I give the reader the correct information about police procedures. However with my books – and a lot of other crime books – everything is summed up very neatly at the end. Your main detective protagonist solves the crime and catches the killer. It’s always a killer who isn’t very easy to spot, whereas the reality is totally different. Usually with police work, who you think did it usually did do it, and when you get them in the interview room, rather than spilling the beans Hercule Poirot style, they call for their lawyer and say nothing but a litany of ‘no comment’s. And when you finally do get the case before a court, months and reams of paperwork later, the lawyers often get them off! The story revolves around a detective hunting down cold-blooded killers, but as the plot unfolds, you begin to question whether he knows more than he's letting on. Alongside him is a mother who must defend a murderer to protect her kidnapped daughter. The moral dilemmas and tension in this situation are palpable. And then there's a cunning couple attempting the perfect crime.It is well-known to most thriller readers (as well as the relevant authorities) that the first 48 hours is critical in any criminal investigation involving a disappearance or kidnapping. This book is a fast-paced examination of those critical hours in the case of a child who has been kidnapped by a professional ring known as The Vanishers. The First 48 Hours is no exception with an opening chapter that subverts expectations straight away. There are very few redeeming qualities among the array of characters that feature in the story. Many of the characters come across as caricatures of criminals, their driving force is self-preservation and they are more than willing to double-cross each other if that means they'll escape. And as the story unfolded and I learnt more about the detective at the heart of it I genuinely couldn't get enough.