Thursday 22 March 2018

Hangman (Detective William Fawkes #2) - Daniel Cole


A detective with no one to trust

A killer with nothing to lose

18 months after the 'Ragdoll' murders, a body is found hanging from Brooklyn Bridge, the word 'BAIT' carved into the chest.

In London a copycat killer strikes, branded with the word 'PUPPET', forcing DCI Emily Baxter into an uneasy partnership with the detectives on the case, Special Agents Rouche and Curtis.

Each time they trace a suspect, the killer is one step ahead. With the body count rising on both sides of the Atlantic, can they learn to trust each other and identify who is holding the strings before it is too late?

What did I think?

This book should come with a defibrillator; my heart nearly stopped when I was reading Chapter 1, then it was put through its paces to see how fast it could beat as I raced through Hangman, the new book from Daniel Cole.  Having read Daniel Cole's amazing debut, Ragdoll, I was keen to see how the next book in the series would compete.  It didn't just compete, it rewrote the rules of the competition!

The main thing I noticed about Hangman, was the absence of William Fawkes, known as Wolf.  Hold on a moment, how could this be the second book in the Detective William Fawkes series when Fawkes wasn't really in it?  As much as his absence was noted, I have to say that it wasn't really missed as DCI Emily Baxter is such a brilliant character.  She's prickly and distant but a damn fine policewoman; she's not there to be liked, she's there to do a good job and I love that about her.

I really enjoyed the dual location of London and New York.  One thing that Daniel Cole has really mastered in his writing is creating such vivid visual displays from his impeccable descriptions.  You really do feel as if you are there or at least watching it on tv rather than reading a book.  Due to the nature of the crimes, this does sometimes make it uncomfortable reading but blood spatter and twisted villains is what you would expect in such dark, gripping crime fiction.

Leading nicely on to book 3 (yay), Hangman satisfied the craving for crime left by Ragdoll, but definitely left me thirsty for more.  I'm not squeamish about many things but I strangely enough don't like piercing skin and although this features in both books it wasn't my skin so I was fine with it (clearly, I'm more selfish than I thought).  Don't let this put you off at all, this is just my strange foible and although Hangman is not for the faint-hearted or squeamish, it is without doubt a book (and a series) I would highly recommend.

I chose to read an ARC and this is my honest and unbiased opinion.

My rating:




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