Chris Sketty has a tale to tell. Is he a good cop or a bad cop? Someone thinks the latter and is blackmailing him to reveal all he knows.
He stopped potentially one of the worst terror offences in UK history but that’s not the full story. As he reveals his darkest secrets from betrayal to murder, it soon becomes apparent that nothing will ever be the same again.
Simon Kernick does the fast pace ‘edge of the seat’ thriller better than anyone. The story is gritty, exhilarating and highly addictive with a rollercoaster storyline and an enticing main character. This is possibly Simon Kernick’s best novel to date. I absolutely loved this book and highly recommend it. Truly outstanding.

A story line which jumps back and forth in time through recollections of previous events without needlessly doing so and losing the reader in the process. The plot which does not let up takes numerous twists as it goes along and from the differing viewpoints presented leaves the reader wondering just whether the main character is a good cop or in fact a bad cop. Very enjoyable, it kept me entertained and wanting to continue to the conclusion.

Thanks to NetGalley #Headline and the author #SimonKernick for the advance copy of #GoodCopBadCop in exchange for an honest review.

As with all Simon Kernick’s books Good Cop Bad Cop starts off at a hundred miles an hour and doesn’t let up.This book revolves around Chris Sketty who finds himself in deep water with the top brass when he things go wrong on all levels but he is offered a way out when asked the GIU team and go undercover to catch a rogue officer.. But this is when his troubles start as Sketty is plunged into the middle of a nightmare as events take a turn for the worst.with plenty of shocks along the way this book is a must read anyone who enjoys this type of book.You know what are getting with all Simon Kernick’s books and this one is no exception.Another 5 star read for me.

A real tense and well plotted thriller written by a master of his trade. Chris Sketty is a wonderful creation. A flawed cop with an attitude and a temper still trying to do the right thing.

A heady brew of terrorise and deception this is an exciting tale which will enthral everyone who enjoys a great police drama well told.

Simon Kernick has done it again......this is a roller coaster of a novel. The title sums it up is Chris Sketty a Good cop or a Bad cop? We hear his side of the story an undercover cop who tries to stop a terrorist attack, but is he in on it? We are kept guessing at every turn of the page. I kept changing my mind each time another twist was revealed. Did I believe Sketty? when 14 years later his pigeons come home to roost, betrayal, lies, deception and murder are all there. Even up until the last few pages I was still working it out was he a hero or a liar. However the last revelation I did not see coming Wow!!!!! I loved this book.

It's fourteen years after the worst terrorist atrocity in UK history and, with the perpetrators either dead or missing, the motive remains a mystery. But Dr Ralph Teller, a wealthy industrialist who lost his wife in the attack, never gave up hope of justice. He thinks he knows the real identity of the mastermind responsible. Only one person can put together the final pieces of the puzzle - retired police officer Chris Sketty who infiltrated the terrorist group and was wounded trying to prevent the attack.

This story is told from multiple perspectives and it held my attention throughout. I was kept guessing until the end. The ending is brilliant and I couldn't put the book down, needing to find out the truth. This is a cleverly crafted police thriller that had me on the edge of my seat. Although I didn't like the main character, Chris Sketty, very much, I still found myself rooting for him. It's written in flashbacks and the present day format. This is a fantastic read.

I would like to thank #NetGalley #Headline and the author #SimonKernick for my ARC of #GoodCopBadCop in exchange for an honest review.

This is a great read.
Undercover cop Chris Sketty became a hero when he almost died trying to stop a brutal terror attack.
With the suspects either dead or missing, the real motive remains a mystery but Dr Ralph Teller, who lost his wife in the attack, never gave up hope of justice. He thinks he knows the real identity of the mastermind responsible but he needs help.
Only one person can help him put together the final pieces of the puzzle – Chris Sketty - but is he telling the truth?
This is a gripping mystery thriller that I really enjoyed.
Thanks to Headline and NetGalley for the opportunity to read this book.

I’m a big fan of Simon Kernick thrillers so was excited to receive this one to review via NetGalley.
Wow, what a twisty tale, told by an extremely unreliable narrator! I really didn’t know what to believe and this book certainly kept me guessing till the very last page.
Chris Sketty is a cop who is being interrogated by Dr Ralph Teller. As Chris answers Dr Teller’s questions the reader learns a lot of what happened to him, how he came to be involved in a terrorist incident and how he has been forced to retire from the police force. This is all told in flashbacks.
However it is not clear whether Chris is being entirely honest and as he tells his story it really isn’t apparent whether he is a brave and honest policeman or a despicable human being. It is left for the reader to decide at the end of the book.
Chris is all alone, having lost his wife and daughter and only has his work. Asked to go under cover to investigate a corrupt colleague, he has little choice but to accept. From there on in he makes some dubious choices resulting in several deaths. But are they really his fault and is he being honest in his account of the events?
Despite his faults I did actually feel real sympathy for him and was secretly hoping that all would come good at the end. Suffice it for me to say that the denouement was great but in my opinion there was definitely room for a further story about this character. I liked the cover- things in this book are not black and white but merely shades of grey!
This was an excellent read which I sped through in a couple of days. Highly recommended.

I klove Simon Kernick books and this was no exception.

Fast pasced as always and gripping from page one.

Loved it

When you are looking for a fast paced thriller with believable characters and a killer story, then you really need to look no further than Simon Kernick.

Good Cop, Bad Cop is written slightly differently to his previous books with a 14 year gap in the story seamlessly written in a tale told brilliantly in two perspectives of Chris Sketty, an ex-DC who was sent undercover by SO15 (counter terrorism) to investigate a fellow officer suspected to be involved in some highly illegal activities and Dr Ralph Teller who is trying to get him to tell the truth of what really happened in an attack that killed his wife all those years ago.

Just when you think you have worked out who is who and whether Chris Sketty really is good or bad, the author throws in a curveball to make you question yourself whether you have actually got it all wrong.

There genuinely are twists and turns that have you flicking to the next page desperately trying to find out some answers. Mr Kernick has once again written a real stunner with an ending that will leave you thinking that maybe, just maybe you were right and that a follow up book will emerge a little further down the line.

Another brilliant, gritty and powerful story from one of the UK’s best suspense writers.

Thanks to NetGalley for an ARC in return for an honest review

I would like to thank Netgalley and Headline for an advance copy of Good Cop Bad Cop, a stand-alone thriller featuring DC Chris Sketty.

14 years after the event DC Chris Sketty is blackmailed by the mysterious Dr Teller into explaining how he became a hero in stopping a serious terrorist attack, because Mr Teller doesn’t believe the official narrative.

I think Good Cop Bad Cop is an excellent novel, but I don’t know if I enjoyed it. It is so tense in the first half that I kept putting it down for a breather and this is ridiculous because Sketty is looking back, so he obviously survived, and yet I still got caught up in the events and the tension.

I love the format. Sketty tells the tale in the first person, but as it is hindsight he gets to critique his actions and his occasional interactions with Teller reinforce both the historical nature of the narrative and the fact that he might be lying or whitewashing his actions and reactions, but then Teller might be lying about why he wants to hear Skerry’s story as a blackmailer by nature is untrustworthy. It’s clever and keeps the reader even more on edge, as if the tension in his story was not enough. It makes the reader question everything. It is split into two halves, the first half, the tense one, is set 14 years ago and the second half is set in the weeks before the telling of his story when he has another look at those events. It’s still tense at times, but is more of an explanation and a revisiting of perceptions, like compare and contrast. As I said it’s clever and unusual so 10/10 for format and execution.

I also loved the final twist as it’s so unexpected with the author having the final say in this conspiracy theory of a novel. It seems fitting. After all, how many times can a man be in the vicinity of murder and not be involved?

Good Cop Bad Cop is an exhilarating read that I have no hesitation in recommending.

Simon Kernick never disappoints and here we have yet another nail-biting, tense and enthralling thriller from one of my favourite authors.

Just what did happen on that fateful day 14 years ago and what part did DC Chris Sketty have in it? Is he the hero everyone thinks he is or is he the ultimate betrayer?

Written in flashbacks and in the present, this book goes behind the headlines into the murky world of cops investigating cops, gangs and terrorism and what really happened on that fateful day BUT who can you trust? Is Sketty spinning a yarn or is he just dreadfully unlucky?

With a great plot, fast paced and great characters, although not many are particularly likeable, this is a book that I devoured in quick time such was the pull of the story and my need to find out just what the heck happened and I wasn't disappointed in the slightest.

From start to finish, this is a winner for me and I must thank Headline via NetGalley for my advance copy in return for an honest, unbiased and unedited review.

An absolute pearler of a book.
I always enjoy Simon Kernick's work but this is possibly his best yet.
Tense and enthralling all the way through to the end when you finally find out if he was a good guy (albeit extremely unlucky) or the mastermind behind it all.
Read this in two days and couldn't put it down.

I enjoyed reading this book.it was quite different from other books, the writing was very blunt, fitting with the main character and the story. Nothing was sugar coated, or fanciful The story kept me guessing, and the pace of the book was good. Not for the feint hearted for sure, but a good and interesting read.

I’m so sorry, I have really enjoyed previous books by this author, but the ending of this one was abysmal! Fabulously enthralling story until the last couple of chapters and then a total letdown. I was so invested in this story, but felt so cheated by the ending. What a total waste of great characters and a fabulous menace in the initial setting. Please change the ending as I feel my hours invested in this (fabulous until the end) have been wasted.

My thanks to Simon and NetGalley for allowing me to read this book prior to the publication date.

No good deed goes unpunished.
DC Chris Sketty and DC Ty Quelch are members of SO11, the Organised Crime Unit of the Met. When they go to the aid of a woman who is being abused by her partner, they find themselves trying to contain a large, powerful man, only for the female victim to attack them.
The couple lodge complaints of police brutality against Chris and he finds himself under investigation by the IPCC.

Given a choice of resigning or taking an undercover role in the Gang Intelligence Unit to investigate corrupt officers, Chris takes the role, although it is made clear to him that should he cross the line, he will be on his own.

Chris has to walk a tight rope between integrating into the GIU team and maintaining his cover.
Convinced that DS Cleaver is the corrupt officer, Chris leads him to believe that he shares Cleaver’s extremist views. Now marked as the latest recruit to the scheme, he is blackmailed into following Cleaver’s instructions.

Who can he trust and how high up the Met hierarchy does the corruption go?

Kernick has spun a tale of power, corruption, terrorism and politics which keeps the reader engaged to the very end..

Chris Sketty is a former Police officer and a hero who foiled the worse terrorist attack in UK History at a restaurant called Villa Amalfi 14 years ago. But the culprits are either missing or dead. He was injured in the attack and now crippled and walks with a stick. But he never forgets that day and wonders were Kalian Roman is who organised the entire thing. Sketty was undercover by SO15 (Counter terrorism) at the time and his target was to find out who Kalian was and what was the motive of what when on that day and bring them to Justice. But things went wrong.
Chris Sketty now has been called by Ralph Teller a wealthy industrialist who lost his wife in the attack to tell his side of the story as he thinks he knows who Kalian is and wants me brought to justice. Each of them tries and piece things together. But by doing so death follows Chris Sketty and because of this. The Police think that he is the real culprit behind it all. They don’t trust him.
I always look forward to a new book by Simon Kernick and Good Cop Bad cop doesn’t disappoint. This is another action-packed, high octane, British thriller of one person trying to find truth of what happen that fatal day. As always this is a great page turner that I didn’t want to put down. It had a great plot and a satisfying ending. Five stars from me.

Simon Kernick certainly knows how to grab the reader's attention from the very first page and crank up the tension throughout the novel. This standalone is a tremendous read which baffles and confounds and ultimately satisfies. The story is told from several different perspectives and you are left unsure to the very end. Brilliant!

Where to even start?! This isn't one of those books that you can read whilst you're texting a friend and with your favourite TV programme on in the background and with the kids asking you questions...... it isn't a book you'll fly through in 3 hours and then the plot will just fade into the memory of all the other thrillers you've read this year. This is a whole different level!!

There are so many twists and turns that your head will spin....and then spin some more. Its so well written and nothing is given away until the author does the big reveal. you won't have any idea until he wants you to have an idea though. Nothing about this story is cliched or predictable. You won't be guessing the ending, you'll barely even be able to guess the next page. Your jaw will drop, more than once. And you will be completely swept away with this story and desperate to find out WTH is actually going on lol. Its action packed without feeling like things have just been thrown in for dramatic effect, it qll flows very organically and naturally without any of the chapters feeling like fillers or without any points of the story just waffling or going off track. I cant speak highly enough about this really. I usually like more of a chic lit domestic noir feel but this author is the only one in the thriller/ action genre that I am blown away by every time

A legend of quick fire, tense ( mega tense ) thrilling thrillers Simon Kernick is the master of quickly involving books that grab you and keep you there
Good Cop, Bad Cop is more of the same although this time ( without giving any plot away ) I found the story to be at times a bit unbelievable…..that is until the end when it all made much more sense and my grumbles became ‘right, now I see why…’
As always the characters are sharp, real, accessible and you get to know them well, and quickly, there are some humdingers in this book, good, bad and shockingly even more bad!
Time is of the essence as always with this authors writing and there is no nattery chapters wasted on filling out the story, the action is immediate and long lasting throughout
A good read made much more satisfying with the last chapters as they really did hurtle towards the explosive ending

9/10
5 Stars