Tom Killgannon, ex-undercover police officer and now in witness protection, is recalled to active service by a local police task force, headed by DS Sheridan. His mission is to befriend notorious child killer Noel Cunningham and find out where he buried the bodies of his final two victims.
The catch? Tom has to obtain that information from within Blackmoor prison itself.
Undercover and with no back-up, Tom soon runs into danger.
In the prison is convicted gangster Dean Foley. He used to run Manchester's biggest gang, until Tom's testimony put him away for life. He recognises Tom, and so begins a cat-and-mouse game as Tom fights for survival before Foley can get his revenge.
But why can't Tom reach DS Sheridan and what is the real reason he has been sent to Blackmoor prison?
What did I think?
Newcastle born Martyn Waites is one half of the husband and wife thriller writing team publishing under the pseudonym Tania Carver. Although I haven't read any Tania Carver books, the name was well known enough to me to pique my interest in the Tom Killgannon series that Martyn Waites has published under his own name. I own a copy of the first book in the series, The Old Religion, and I was hoping to read it before I started book two, The Sinner, but as always there are too many books and so little time.
So having jumped into the series at book two and been absolutely blown away, I'd say you could definitely read The Sinner as a standalone, however, it will leave you wanting to explore certain parts of Tom's own story in more detail. Tom Killgannon is living under a new identity following an undercover operation that saw Manchester drug lord, Dean Foley, imprisoned in Blackmoor prison. A job well done as far as Tom's previous identity of Mick Eccleston is concerned.
Tom is now living in Cornwall with a young girl named Lila, who he refers to as his niece, and working for Pearl who runs a pub. Tom is approached by the police to return undercover in order to extract the location of the bodies buried by creepy child killer, Noel Cunningham. Tom is claustrophobic so the idea of going undercover in a prison is terrifying for him but unfortunately the assignment is an order not a request so he says goodbye to Lila and Pearl and heads to Blackmoor prison. Yes, the same prison as Dean Foley, who blames Tom for his incarceration. I'm not going to reveal any more about the plot but suffice to say, Tom is too busy trying to keep himself alive to worry about his claustrophobia.
Due to the changes of identity, it is a little bit confusing at first, but I soon got into the rhythm of the book. The rhythm being something like a very fast beating heart as there is so much danger around every corner. It's so fast-paced and perilous that I frequently had sweaty palms and a rapidly beating heart when I was reading The Sinner; I even found that I was holding my breath without even realising.
Tom is a very intriguing character as you don't really know who he is, but I also loved the spunky character of Lila. I wasn't surprised to learn that Lila has a huge backstory and features heavily in book one, The Old Religion. Reading The Sinner has made me very eager to read The Old Religion as soon as I possibly can.
Full of thrills and spills and packed with danger, The Sinner is a supersonic fast-paced page turner; calling it high octane doesn't even come close to doing it justice. The Sinner is a book that made me forget to breathe and if that isn't a good recommendation, I don't know what is!
I chose to read an ARC and this is my honest and unbiased opinion.
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