A locked room. A dead body. A secret that went to the grave.
When retired police officer Finlay Shaw is found dead in a locked room, everyone thinks it's suicide. But disgraced detective William 'Wolf' Fawkes isn't so sure.
Together with his former partner Detective Emily Baxter and private detective Edmunds, Wolf's team begin to dig into Shaw's early days on the beat. Was Shaw as innocent as he seemed? Or is there more to his past than he'd ever
let on?
But not everyone wants Wolf back - and as his investigation draws him ever deeper into police corruption, it will not only be his career on the line - but the lives of those he holds closest as well...
What did I think?
Oh I can't even begin to tell you how much I've been looking forward to this book and I'm delighted to say that it did not disappoint. Endgame is the third in the Detective William Fawkes (Wolf) series, following on from Ragdoll and Hangman. I don't know how Daniel Cole does it but each book seems do outdo the previous one, despite them all being brilliant in their own right.
Endgame grips the reader by the throat right from the start with a double whammy: an apparent suicide and the arrest of Wolf. Wolf is convinced his old mentor, Finlay, wouldn't have killed himself and he does a deal with the police commissioner, who happens to be Finlay's old friend Christian, to allow him to investigate what everyone thinks is an open and shut case. Bringing the gang back together, Wolf teams up with old pals Baxter and Edmunds and what a trio they make. The sexual tension between Wolf and Baxter is palpable, reminiscent of Ross and Rachel in a will they/won't they scenario. To complete the Friends analogy, I really like Edmunds who is a bit of a Monica in his dogged determination and organisation skills.
As Wolf investigates Finlay's death, he takes a closer look at Finlay's life. Roll back to 1979 with Finlay and Christian hailed as heroes in a drugs bust, but not everything is as it seems. Buried secrets don't stay buried for long, especially not when Wolf is on the case. It's like a game of chess and just when one player thinks they are about to call checkmate, the game is turned on its head. I loved all these twists and turns that kept my heart racing in my chest and my eyes racing down the page.
I think you could possibly read Endgame as a standalone but I really would recommend you read Ragdoll and Hangman first as it does have links to the previous books; so anyone picking up Endgame as their first Daniel Cole book will undoubtedly want to read the previous two books right away to see the full picture. The whole series is amazing, but Endgame is the cherry on top.
Daniel Cole writes so vividly and energetically that his words seem to fizzle and crackle on the page; it's so visual that I really wouldn't be surprised to see this series on tv in the future. Endgame is a blistering conclusion to the Ragdoll trilogy but I'm hoping it's not the last we've seen of Wolf and Baxter. As gripping as a vice, Endgame is an electrifying heart-in-your-mouth thriller; it has more thrills and stomach clenching moments than a rollercoaster and a waltzer merged together. Absolutely superb and definitely unmissable!
I chose to read an ARC and this is my honest and unbiased opinion.
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