Chilling creative plot that asks would you take justice for your loved ones into your own hands?
Danny Evans' daughter, Callie, is in a coma after a failed suicide attempt at the park he used to push her on the swings. Like that isn't heartbreaking enough, Callie had been groomed for months, blackmailed into sharing explicit photos, along with several of her close friends.
The police investigation has stalled. And Danny struggles with his anger. Only heightened as his visits his daughter in hospital, with little improvement.
Lost without purpose until a private investigator offers a chance at justice. He has information, the offender's identity.
What would you do? Your precious daughter on life support; the police have no leads, seemingly moving on to other cases.
Great plot. Humanity at its worst.

Thank you to netgalley and the publisher for the opportunity to read this book. Brilliant thriller that had me turning the pages from the beginning. I could not put this book down, I couldn’t wait to see how this book would pan out. Reading into the early hours just to see what happens. Great storyline with great characters. It was good having Joel’s POV too. Great story of murder and revenge. Well worth 5 stars. I also look forward to reading more from this author.

Thank you Netgalley and the publisher for the opportunity to read this book for an honest review.

This is a fast paced thriller full of twists and turns. Well written however I thought the ending was a bit rushed and left a few unanswered questions, 4 stars

This is my first outing with Charlie Gallagher in what I felt was a definite man's read (although I did enjoy it). It also introduces us to a new crime investigation team via DI Joel Norris and DS Lucy Rose.

15 year old Callie Taylor is in ICU after a failed overdose attempt. Her father, ex-professional footballer Danny Evans' life is in a mess. Separated from his wife and young son, by day he coaches and by night he returns to a local hotel where he drinks his troubles away in the bar before returning to his room. Danny wants to find the person who groomed Callie and drove her to attempted suicide. He meets a stranger in the bar one evening.. A man named Richard Maddox, who is living with his own grief and tells him he knows what happened to Callie. This meeting kick starts a story of murder, twists, turns and chills with a totally unexpected ending. The start of this book really pulls you in, then the pace slows a little, but be patient, it's a story well worth waiting for.

I would like to thank Netgalley and Avon for an ARC of The Friend in exchange for an honest review.

My absolute favourite read of 2021!!!

How can I summarise this book? I literally don't even know how to start. Danny's daughter is in acoma after taking an overdose due to being groomed and blackmailed online. Danny is shattered and drinking himself silly. A stranger approaches him and says he is a private investigator hired by another family and he has tracked down the monster who was grooming several underaged girls and he wants to give Danny the information he has. Danny is faced with the option to kill the predator and have no trace left. But when something looks to good to be true, there's probably a reason.


Okay so there are a few characters we follow in the book and they all have their positives and negatives. I found Danny's character likable and relatable. I think most would do what he did. He just seemed so lost and damaged. He was vulnerable and the stranger knew this. It's so interestingly played out and so well written I could totally see this as a film if I'm honest.

Joel the DI who is back from leave after a particularly difficult job is heading up the murder investigation. His first time doing so and no one has any faith in him. He is well written character and I really liked him. His mind works slightly differently to your average murder detective because that wasn't his area before hand. He sees things others don't.
I didn't realise we were going to get the investigation alongside the storyline so this was a welcomed surprise. I really enjoyed finding out the evidence as it was presented. Who is this stranger? I had no idea! How was everyone linked? That was a question I kept running through and I really had no idea. It was great to see it all unfold as they did.


The writing is a mixture of first and third person. Sometimes both within a chapter but u truly didn't mind that. It kept me on my toes reminding me to pay attention to who was saying what. I felt the emotive language used was really convincing and I felt enraged alongside the characters. We asp got a background into our characters but not so we were bombarded which I appreciated aswell.

Would I recommend this book?

Let me think about that? YES YES AND YES!! I haven't read a good crime psychological thriller in a while and this just blew everything out rhe water I found myself not wanting it to ever end. I hope that DI Joel will become a series because its one I won't be able to put down!!! I was guessing up until the reveals and I loved that! Yes it's a hard subject but thankfully it's not something discussed it too much detail.

5 stars 🌟

Thank you to Netgalley, the author and the publishers for the digital ARC in exchange for my fair and honest opinions.

Book release date is 1st April 2021

Review blogged https://www.facebook.com/Jasmins-mantra-Read-Review-Repeat-105547328249821/

www.goodreads.com/jasminwebb

The story is so perfectly woven, it draws you in, the characters make you want to know exactly how they are feeling at any given point within the book.
I guessed a little before it was revealed “whodunnit “ but that did not detract from the excellent way the tale unfolded .
I would definitely buy this book for my fellow readers. Look forward to reading more from this author

Thank you to NetGalley and Avon Books for this ARC in return for an honest review.
This is, shockingly, the first book I’ve read by this author and I’m now eager to read more of his work. This book doesn’t disappoint, it’s full of twists and turns and is brilliantly written. A very clever plot line, that isn’t predictable.

*Thank you to NetGalley, Charlie Gallagher and the Publisher for an ARC in exchange for an honest review*

Previously Published at https://www.mysteryandsuspense.com/the-friend/

The Friend by Charlie Gallagher begs the question: If you could seek revenge on the person who wronged your family with seemingly no consequences, would you? Could you move on, knowing you killed another human being?

Danny Evans is a successful professional football player. He seems to have the perfect life with wife Sharon, children Jamie and Callie, and dog Zinedine. Then his fifteen-year-old daughter is groomed by a sexual predator, culminating in her attempted suicide. Unable to handle his feelings, he moves into a local hotel and drinks day and night to escape his grief. So when a stranger approaches him and gives him the way to exact revenge, Danny sees a way to seek vigilante justice and get his family back.

Richard Maddox, an elderly war hero, is grieving his wife Angela, killed in a hit-and-run accident a year ago. Every morning he sits at her grave with a coffee mug she gave him as a gift and talks to her. One day a stranger approaches, claiming he knows exactly who committed the crime, a crime the police could not solve.

DI Joel Norris was the leader of the local Tactical Support Group, but has taken a hiatus, having been overwhelmed by responsibilities and on the verge of a breakdown. Joel is feeling stronger now and ready to go back to work in a new department the following Monday when he receives a call that a body has washed up on the beach. Being the lead of this new department is supposed to be a slow transition, but when the bodies pile up, it throws him right into the fire.

The Friend is the first novel in a new series by Charlie Gallagher, quick to start, keeping the reader hooked from the very first page. Danny Evans is a relatable character, mourning the loss of his perfect life. Joel has a unique sense of humor and a quick wit that draws you in. DS Rose shines as his new partner, though quiet and less relatable.

The premise of this book brings a vision of a puppet handler manipulating his puppets in an evil way. I, for one, never saw the conclusion. Charlie Gallagher has done a brilliant job with the beginning of this new series.

My first Charlie Gallagher read and overall a hugely enjoyable affair. I went in fairly blind to the spiel and I’d advise you do too for maximum enjoyment.

What I did know that it deals with a 15 year old girls attempted suicide and the fallout her parents face as they try to figure out why their happy daughter would try and take her own life and what secrets she was hiding.

The book starts off at a really fast pace and the first few chapters really had me hooked. The stranger that is introduced was an intriguing storyline and I was all in with this one.

A story of abuse and grooming with a dark twist, I did enjoy the first half of the book more than the second. The first half was all about this mystery character and what game he was playing, beautifully written and paced, I flew through it.
As the book evolves it turns into more of a standard police procedural and the pay off towards the end didn’t quite live up to the intrigue and mystery of the first half.

Still this was a hugely enjoyable read overall. I look forward to discovering more titles by this author.

Thanks to Netgalley and Avon Books UK for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

My goodness, what a book. So tense and suspenseful, I held my breath throughout. I read this book in one weekend, it is so hard to put down. Well written and frighteningly realistic. Highly recommeneded.

We all have our particular taste in books: I can't stand cozies or romance novels or long espionage books. I read this book in the hopes that it would be a fast-paced mystery/thriller and it certainly delivers on that count. But it is strong stuff, too much for me. I have a hard time with cruelty towards children particularly and gratuitously gory scenes. Also, the number of subplots and sub-characters was tough to track. Again, this is the perfect book for a lot of people, just not my cup of tea.

This is a carefully contrived and well researched book. The main story starts with the attempted suicide of a teenage girl who has been groomed then blackmailed on line. That in itself is a context of importance which is handled sensitively, demonstrating the devastating effect these criminal acts can have on young people and their families. The police investigation is headed by a recently officer who also has demons to overcome. Someone has decided to orchestrate a subtle programme of revenge against the originators of the grooming but it becomes wider than that as a sinister private detective sets up his own revenge harming many other families and individuals. The story is convincing, intriguing and rewarding in its conclusion. I recommend it.

Dnf at 10%, way too slow a start for a thriller and didn’t grip me or keep my interest to go any further am afraid,I didnt realise was a police procedural either so my fault for not researching the book enough

This was a fantastic thriller that left me turning pages late into the night. The story focuses on 2 different characters who are looking for answers as to what happened to their loved ones- they both are approached by a friendly stranger who tells them he knows who the guilty party is and gives them the ultimate opportunity for revenge. But all is not what it seems and they become tangled in a web from which they cannot escape. You also get some chapters from the point of view of Joel, the newly annointed police detective who gets called in to solve the crimes that this "friend" has initiated.

This was an edge-of-your-seat book where I could not wait to see what happened. I felt for the characters and was able to easily empathize with their situations, even if they were making poor decisions. It kind of reminded me of the "Saw" movie series where the characters were put in an unwinnable situation and I wanted to warn them to stay away. It took me a little longer to warm to Joel, but I was all in by the end of the book.

Overall, this was a fast paced and exciting read and I really enjoyed it. The anticipation of the events that occured made me have a hard time putting the book down, and the ending tied up everything nicely. I hope to read more by this author. Thanks to Netgalley for providing me a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Firstly thank you to netgalley for the opportunity to read an advanced copy of the friend. This is my first read by Charlie Gallagher, it definitely wont be my last. I would say it centres around joel, a police officer who is back to work after time off due to a work related incident, who is thrown in the deep end with a murder case. I was hooked all the way through, i didnt guess what was going to happen, but it was very cleverly written so that everything ended up linking together. I especially enjoyed this book on a personal level as it was centered around somewhere i know very well so it was very easy to imagine certain places and really get a good picture of what was happening and where. 5 stars to Charlie for an amazing book

I started reading this book at the start of the month, but had trouble getting into the story. I didn't care for Danny Evans, despite the horrors his family was facing after his daughter had tried to commit suicide.

I was fortunate enough to have received both an ARC for the book and the audiobook, so I decided to switch to the audio book and I am glad I did. This way I was able to finish the story and the narration by Alexis Rodney was really good.

I have read other Charlie Gallagher books that I enjoyed more than this one. For some reason I could not get that into this story and found there were really quite a lot of characters to keep track of. It was enjoyable enough, just not great for me and I didn't guess the outcome, so in that sense it was good.

Thank you NetGalley and Avon/Harper Collins UK Audio for the chance to read and review this ARC.

A headless corpse washed up on the beach is just the start of what was supposed to be an easy return to work for Joel. The twists and turns this book takes makes it easy to question what makes a good friend. Suspenseful and well written. The characters are easy to connect to, liking some distrustful of others. Great chemistry between the two detectives I am hoping this is a new series.

The Friend - Charlie Gallagher

Wow! An exceptional and unusual police crime thriller. Characters, atmosphere, tension and a superb plot.

A mysterious stranger approaches individuals living with the misery caused by crimes the police couldn't solve. He claims to have information on the perpetrators.

I won't say any more as the plot is deeply unpredictable with twists, turns and tension from cover to cover.

The characterisation is brilliant, DI Norris, newly back at work after a month off with stress (though refreshingly, not dwelling on his demons). He's transferring across from TSG and has to prove he's got a brain as well as brawn to his sceptical partner DS Rose. The civilians are multi-dimensional and totally believable too.

There is a real casual confidence in the writing of the Police procedure and protocol, no surprise from the author who years of experience in the force, but still very impressive to read.

The plot is pacy and unpredictable with multiple threads racing and weaving together, the one-more-chapter factor is unbelievable, so make a flask of coffee and line up your snacks before you start.

I'll be very surprised if this isn't one of my top Crime reads this year, and will be jumping on the second in the series as soon as I can.

DI Joel Harris has been on leave; his first case back involves some odd deaths that, as it turns out, are linked but how? Danny Evans is distraught over his daughter's OD so when a stranger approaches him in a bar and offers him a chance for revenge, he unwisely takes it. So does another man whose wife was killed. Who is this mysterious man and how is he able to identify and manipulate the grieving into murder? And why? This has some very good twists and surprises. I liked Joel and his DS and, I must admit, I felt for the families although in no way could I condone what they did. Thanks to Netgalley for the ARC. A fast page turning read.

Loved this one! So easy to read and lots of twists and turns along the way. Definitely a quick read and one I recommend.