Ash

I love James Rayburn(pseudonym of South African writer Roger Smith). His thrillers are as well written, violent and thrilling as any author working today. And Ash is no exception—a familiar trope-father’s search for kidnapped kid—is ramped up all the way—fast, fun, with great characters—I can’t recommend highly enough!

ARC from NETGALLEY


Is this really Roger Smith of South Africa writing here?!?!?! No wonder it is so good. It has all his trademarks of ACTION, STYLE, AND MORE ACTION.
Great story of the "common man" placed into uncommon territory as he tries to rescue his son at all costs. Well done

I enjoyed this a lot. Ash is a turbo-charged, action packed adventure with strong characters to root for and an intriguing element of mystery and conspiracy. The story is told with wit and verve. A well executed and entertaining book. I will look out for more from this author.

So this is my first book by this author and it was a good one.. The book I thought i was reading was turned on its head very quickly. If you like Thrillers and fleshed out people that you actually care about, this book is for you. The end got a bit fragmented but that's my only qualm.

Thank you to Blackstone Publishing and NetGalley for an advance copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Okay here's a secret about me; a lot of time cover art influences my decision on reading a book. The more I like the front of the book, the more likely I am to pick it up. I kept putting off reading this book in favour of other books that had a more appealing cover. That was my mistake because this somewhat uninspiring front cover is hiding an explosively fast paced thriller filled with a multitude of interesting characters that all have a disturbing connection to each other.
Danny Ash seems to live a very sedate life caring for his son after his wife's death, a task that becomes infinitely more difficult since his son stopped all verbal communication following his mother's death.
After receiving an anonymous tip suggesting that his wife's death was in fact a murder and not the accidental death that was reported, he begins his own investigation. His probing into her death results in a team of armed individuals crashing through his front door and with the help of his eccentric neighbour, the kidnap of his son.
This starts a whirlwind of activity with Ash trying to find who is responsible for the abduction of his son and those responsible trying to stop Ash from uncovering the truth about the death of his wife.
This is a great read for anyone looking for a heart pounding thriller with some well defined characters and a tightly woven storyline.

Rayburn’s new novel Ash is a thrill ride that leads the reader by the hand for a fast paced page turner that doesn’t let go until its explosive conclusion.

Ash is an exciting thriller that works on different cylinders creating nail biting sequences against espionage, home invasion and abduction as tools. Whilst using these, it also breaks through barriers that tend to bog down the narrative which Rayburn avoids at all costs. Using a multi-structured narrative and jumping from character to character, Rayburn does something different. We normally have this structure with all the characters joining up at the end, but the author breaks the mould and gives us something different that works exceedingly well.

The plot is simplistic in its narrative but carries forth to a deeply complex conundrum and finds itself working on the psychological aspects of past histories playing out to form the present and moulding the future. Ash is a complex character who starts out with the reader having misconceived ideas on what this character is but changes this up to form a multi-dimensional character. This is something of a rarity because most writers never think of doing this but Rayburn is very accomplished in doing so and making it believable.

The characters are very three dimensional and enjoyed the evil, the good and the questionable ones. If I have to make a criticism, I would have liked some more of characters that will killed off way too soon as they were very interesting. Of course, the characters killed off too soon could spin off their own novels as they are that well conceived.

Overall, this is an excellent book that I personally could not put down. This book consumed my life and loved every minute of it. With its plot twists, fully realised characters, personality developments and dilemmas this is certainly one to read and should keep people entertained. This book also piqued my interest in the author as well and can’t wait to read more from this author. This is a true winner.

Great story! There are lots of characters and sub-plots to untangle but the writing is superb and definitely kept me enthralled.

I strongly recommend for anyone needing a Mission Impossible meets Natural Born Killers thrill of a ride! 4🌟

Many thanks to NetGalley and publishers for the advanced reader’s copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.