The Heights

Nail biting thriller that grips you from the start a high class story that is fast moving loved it excellent.

I would like to thank Netgalley and Black Thorn for an advance copy of The Heights, the second novel to feature former Met DI Cal Drake and forensic psychologist Rayhana Crane.

When a head is discovered in a plastic bag on the Tube it soon becomes apparent that not only does it have links to Carl’s past but someone is trying to destroy his present and future.

I enjoyed The Heights which starts with an interesting premise, a severed head in a public place and just enough evidence to link it to Drake, but turns into a far bigger novel in terms of scope and plotting. I must admit that I don’t have much interest in this wider scope, crooked financial dealings and gangland rivalries, but the author’s storytelling was such that I became engrossed and couldn’t wait to find out where it was going.

This is the second novel in a proposed trilogy and while I haven’t read the first, The Divinities, I didn’t feel at a disadvantage as it seems self contained as far as history goes, but there are several unresolved threads in this one that I assume will explored in the next instalment. It is slightly frustrating for the reader not to get everything tied up in a neat bow but the journey to this frustration is interesting and full of action, events and interconnecting relationships, so something for everyone. My eyes did glaze over at some of the financial detail but that’s possibly because I assume that tax havens and avoidance are the norm in rich circles, if the papers are to believed, so nothing to get excited about. Otherwise the novel is good and it held my attention throughout.

I’m not actually sure what to say about Drake and Crane. They both come from dysfunctional backgrounds and carry a lot of baggage which seeps into the investigation from more than one angle. Serendipity or clever plotting? Who knows. Whatever, it does mean that they have an uneasy partnership and are prone to under sharing. I’ll be interested to see where they go next, apart from the obvious hints in this novel.

The Heights is a good read that I have no hesitation in recommending.

This is the second of Parker Bilal's London based trilogy featuring former Met DI Cal Drake and forensic psychologist Rayhana 'Ray' Crane, who have set up as private investigators. Drake was once a high flying police officer expected to go far, a successful public symbol of police diversity, until he went undercover as Terry Nash, a smart small town drug dealer, with the aim of bringing down Goran Malevich, a crime king pin with his fingers in many pies, including drugs, prostitution rings, illegal gambling and more. However, the operation fell apart, when Drake's informant, Esma Danin, aka Zelda, is murdered with her headless corpse washing up on Brighton beach. The ambitious DCI Vernon Pryce, a man surrounded by rumours for years, tried to get Drake thrown out of the force, casting aspersions on his decisions and suggesting gang links when Malevich was killed, and much of his empire taken over by Donny Apostolis.

Drake left the police as a pariah, joining forces with Crane instead to set up with the greater freedom to be found in the private sector. The book begins with the stressed and fraught Ruby Brown travelling on the London tube with her baby and disruptive 9 year old son, Tyler, a Tyler who inadvertently frees a human head from a bag which rolls around the train floor to the horror of the passengers. DS Kelly Marsh and Milo Kowalski get in touch with Drake to investigate below the radar, budget cuts mean the police are going to engage in a cursory investigation only and the case holds no interest for DCI Pryce. The dentistry suggests the victim was Eastern European, and it appears the head could be that of Zelda, but why had someone been keeping her head in a freezer for years? As connections between the head and Drake emerge, the past comes back to haunt the present, bringing with it grave danger.

Crane and Drake get hired by privileged and entitled author, Marco Foulkes, whom Crane had known as a child, he wants them to find his girlfriend, the wealthy student, Howeida Almanara, whom he believes has been abducted by her strict and disapproving Middle Eastern uncle. Strange connections begin to appear between this case and Drake's investigation into who killed Zelda. This is a gritty, dark and twisted read, one of the highlights of which is seeing the relationship between Drake and Crane develop from uncertainty into one of greater trust between them. Although I have not read the first in the trilogy, at no point did I feel disadvantaged as a result, the ending was rather abrupt but I nevertheless want to read the last in the trilogy as I enjoyed this one so much. Many thanks to Black Thorn for an ARC.

The second in a series. I felt this worked well on its own too- I haven’t read the first one but didn’t feel like that had any negative impact on my enjoyment or understanding of The Heights. I loved the uneasy relationship between the two main characters, the tension is palpable! Bringing their own issues they don’t necessarily get along or work as well together as they possibly could which leads to further issues. This dynamic was really interesting. A really good tense read.

Hadn't read the first in the series, so read this as a standalone and it didn't disappoint in the slightest.
Cracking read that had me hooked from start to finish.
Thanks to the publishers and Net Galley for the ARC.

Many Thanks to Net Galley, Black Thorn Book and the author for a chance to read and review this book. All opinions are expressed voluntarily.


Parker Bilal aka Jamal Mahjoub has written a gritty investigative fiction that is absolutely riveting and absorbing. The Heights is book # 2 in Crane and Drake series and now I want to get my hands on book #1. I didn’t feel like missing out on much, having not read book 1, although there are some past instances mentioned here and there in the story that would have made better sense if read in order.

Calil Drake and Dr. Rayhana Crane are into a new partnership in the Crane and Drake Investigations. Drake as well as Crane have issues with authority and are much better suited working outside the Met where they have been erstwhile employed.

The opening scene is quite gruesome, the discovery of a severed head wrapped in some rags and paper inside the carriage of a metro. It is probably a single chapter that shows us a harried mother Ruby Brown and her son who makes the discovery but it is the brilliance of the writing by the author that they remain in the minds of the reader even after the final chapter. Kelly and Milo of the Met police are tasked with the investigation but when it becomes evident that the case is linked to a past case that Drake had handled, things become murkier. Crane and Drake are in the meantime approached to a missing person Howeida Almanara, the inquiries of which leads them to financial skullduggery and the disturbing past of Crane’s childhood.

Alternating between Crane’s and Drake’s POV’s, the investigation becomes a race against time as it becomes evident that someone is hell-bent on framing Drake for the death of Zelda, an informant, who was murdered 4 yrs back and that which still haunts Drake.

The author offers the reader an excellent twisty thriller that touches all facets of crime; gang wars, mutilation, human trafficking also the pasts of both protagonists that come into play and exposing the underbelly of the London city. It was enlightening to read about the cross-cultural and transnational individuals that make the teeming crowd of the city. I did take some time getting Crane and Drake sorted in my mind as the names do create a muddle, so, until a few chapters in, the confusion remained.

The ending of the story was a little abrupt for my liking but as this series is a trilogy, I am wholeheartedly looking forward to reading the last one.

This review is published in my blog https://rainnbooks.com/; Amazon India, Goodreads, and Twitter.

Well written, bit too visceral times but overall an engaging read. The two main characters are disparate to say the least, have baggage, but are learning to work together well. Easily read as a standalone - I hadn't realised that it was number two in a series. Thanks to NetGalley and Black Thorn for an advance copy in exchange for my honest review.