I DNF'd this book 10% in.

I couldn't get into the story. I was sick of hearing about how attractive Inspector Wilson was and the very wordy and lengthy ways the author would explain something very simple. I just didn't care for the characters or the story line, unfortunately. However, thank you for the opportunity.

A decent beach side read that is full of action and requires very little thought. It’s easy enough to follow, but the characters can seem a little superficial.

Oh dear, this held such promise. It has an aggregate score of 4.48, but this is from a very small number of ratings, and some high star reviews, that may well come from the author’s friends and family? The premise sounded good, and I was ready for an action thriller after a run of police procedurals, but about 20% in, it became clear that all the things that were doing my head in, were going to continue throughout. My options were to abandon, which I am reluctant to do too often for a NetGalley book, or to speedread, which worked surprisingly well, completing the rest of the book in about 90 minutes, instead of the projected 4&1/2 hours.

Heroic DCI Jack Robson, still grieving the death of his wife in a helicopter accident, leaves his four year old daughter in London, to take over a complicated serial kidnapping case in Somerset. Ordinary families have been taken with no ransom demands or apparent connection between them. He is partnered with DI Emma Wilson and together they find links to an isolated island whose philanthropist owner is intent on turning it into a nature reserve, but who are the sinister white van men who keep appearing as the body count mounts...?

The basic plot here was straight out of James Bond, completely predictable and preposterous, with every classic action hero trope thrown in.
This would have been fine, if the writing hadn’t been so uncomfortably distracting. What I didn’t like:
- Completely unnecessary use of fancy words (cranium for skull, visage for face, orb for sun etc etc) that just felt forced and like the author needed to show off his vocabulary
- Overly verbose sentences
- the constant use of titles, inconsistently: Jack is DCI Robson and Emma is Inspector Wilson, right through the book.
- Emma Wilson’s appearance is referred to constantly, to remind us non-stop how attractive she is, and how no male character can keep his eyes off her.
- the heavy handed hints about what’s actually going on, then clumsy attempts to disguise the perpetrators

If these things wouldn’t bother you (and I may be an outlier as I have had similar criticisms of surprisingly popular authors) then you may enjoy this.
Thanks to NetGalley for the free copy in exchange for an honest review.
Arcam is available now.

The story started on a good note. Dr. O'Hara wakes up with a headache and sees his wife and kids lying next to him - sedated. He tries to attack the kidnapper and the kidnapper overpowers and sedates him again. Then there is DCI Robson - a widower still coming to terms with the events leading to his wife's death. His adventure-seeking wife Isabella died in a chopper crash.

DCI Robson reminded me of Jimmy Perez from the famous Ann Cleeves Detective series - Shetland. Robson has his own issues to deal with. He also seems to be attracted to Emma Wilson. It sounded a bit too cheesy, especially the scenes where Robson thinks of her pale skin, her legs, her bust, her hair...

The story was very descriptive. Though it started on an interesting note, the story was a bore in the middle. It again picks up pace and gets super interesting after chapter 50. There are a total of 67 chapters in the book. I wish the author had cut down a bit on the descriptions - it would have made the story even more interesting.

I liked the concept of kidnapping, murder, a nuclear power station and something sinister happening in the island of Steep Holms. A nuclear holocaust, MI5, a dirty cop and sinister kidnappers was an interesting blend. As the story proceeded, it was obvious as to who 'Noah' was. (The character called himself Noah as he was 'saving' people)

Since this is the first book in DCI Robson series, I will not comment more on the characters. In the next series, I hope DCI Robson would be in a better situation - emotionally. And... I wish there will be a bit of a romance between Sarah and Robson. After all, Sarah looks after his daughter when he is away on police business. He and Sarah have been friends for a long time now and there was also a mention of harmless flirting going on between the two before Isabella's death so why not pair them up?

I decided to read this book after seeing a lot of 5-star reviews, but I was a bit disappointed because it was not as thrilling and adventurous as I thought it would be. Nonetheless, it was a good read.

My rating: 3.5/5 ( I have rounded it off to 4 here)

Gripping and adventurous, Jason Minick shows us a sense of intrigue and grit. Rollicking, hell breaks loose kind of fiction.

Thank you NetGalley and BooksGoSocial for the eARC.
Reading several 5-star reviews made me excited about reading this book.
DCI Jack Robson joins forces with Inspector Emma Wilson in the southwest of England to head up a CID team investigating strange kidnappings that have no rhyme or reason. But they soon find out this is not just a simple kidnapping case, it's far more sinister than that.
I was disappointed in the book, it seemed simplistic and too wordy. Also, I could not get invested in the characters or the story...it just wasn't my kind of book.

Thriller does not begin to describe this book. Towns people in the small seaside area of England start disappearing. Jack Robson a top police investigator is called in to supervise the case. More people are disappearing. Minick has created a fast paced non stop action book. The character development was thorough. I will be looking for more work for Minick.

#Arcam #NetGalley #BGS #BooksGoSocial

PLOT: 5
CHARACTERS: 5
WORLD BUILDING: 5
FLOW: 5

OVERALL SCORE: 5 out of 5

This was a gripping read. From the moment I picked it up, I was hooked. DCI Jack Robson has a lot on his plate. Single parent, juggling a career with family life and struggles, things are tough. But when tasked to investigate strange cases of people going missing he has no idea just how much his worldview will be turned upside down.

Now I won't lie, there were times when I would sigh at some descriptive heavy paragraphs but on the grand scheme of things, it was a small annoyance when tallied against the greater plot, well-developed characters, and quaint twists.

I would recommend this great title to lovers of crime, suspense, and police drama. It has everything you expect and so much more.