Author:Ed Chatterton
On a freezing October morning, Detective Inspector Frank Keane is called to the scene of a crime on Liverpool's shoreline.The body of what looks like a man, brutally tortured and burned, has been tied to a pole on the beach. With very little evidence to go on, Keane and his partner, DS Emily Harris, rely on their gut feeling that this murder is gang-related and their investigation takes them, once again, into the murky underworld of organised crime.
Over in Australia, ex-Liverpool Police detective Menno Koopman - Frank's former boss - is enjoying his retirement. He has no plans to ever return to England but when the body on the beach turns out to be his son, Stevie - whom he only ever met once as a baby - he knows he has to go back and seek justice for his horrific murder. But there's a fine line between justice and revenge...
Esmé Olsen is, like her author, a woman whose powers of imagination and recall are considerable, not to say formidable... Every era, every episode is densely imagined and detailed
—— GuardianA slice of psychogeography... This is a story of broad horizons that brings together battlefield horrors, a touch of German Romanticism, and tales of the supernatural
—— IndependentA terrific novel... Atmospheric, clever and gripping
—— ObserverAn undeniably artful frenzy of violence, guilt and unappeased self-loathing. Ellroy's crime fiction represents a high mark in the genre
—— New York NewsdayA fascinating, swaggeringly confident performance
—— Sunday TimesA page-turning caper filled with well-timed surprises...there is also the saving grace of Reacher's deadpan humor -as when he is sawing with a motel key at a captive's rope bindings. "Don't you have a knife?" the man asks. "I have a toothbrush,! Reacher responds. "That won't help," the captive says, to which Reacher retorts: "It's good against plaque."
—— Wall Street JournalWith Child, you can always count on furious action - and a damned good time.
—— Miami HeraldMasterful writing and storytelling...Child makes it look effortless...If there were such a thing as a writer-magician, Lee Child woud be the face above the cloak.
—— Washington PostChild always puts his heart into the elaborate quasi-military operations he cooks up for Reacher...But there's something even more chilling about those lonesome hours spent riding the Interstate, watching the rundown family farms and commercial strip malls and topless bars go by.
—— International Herald TribuneWill leave the legion of Reacher addicts satisfied but craving for their next fix.
—— Irish IndependentThe most satisfying of all 17 thrillers in the series. The unfolding of events nudges along at just the right rate... toward an authentically gripping climax.
—— Toronto Star