Author:Campbell Armstrong
On a bitter winter evening, during rush hour, a bomb explodes in a crowded train in the London underground. More than a hundred people are horrifically and senselessly slaughtered. In the absence of any terrorist claims come distressing unanswerable questions: Who planted the device? And why?
A few hours later in a Mayfair flat a young prostitute is murdered and an enigmatic message written in blood is left in her room... It is addressed to Frank Pagan, counter-terrorist specialist, who has been shunted aside by the political infighting at Special Branch, but is now brought back from exile to investigate the most terrifying case of his career.
Pagan, who moves in his own mysterious ways, who flaunts the rule-book and follows his own instincts, is plunged into a darkening puzzle more sinister than a bomb in an underground tunnel. He finds himself pitted against two old adversaries: the deranged terrorist Carlotta, a woman whose appetite for blood is matched only by Pagan's hunger for justice - and the ghost of Jig, his most famous antagonist, whose death has given birth to new demons.
Inspector Wallander is one of the most wonderful creations in contemporary crime writing
—— Mark Lawson , GuardianTruly horrifying... The novels become a compulsion - one reads them all
—— Daily TelegraphA first-class police procedural
—— Independent on SundayThe real test of thrillers of this kind is whether you want to spend more time in the detective's company. I certainly do
—— Sean French , IndependentMankell's long, subtle, involving novel could turn you to crime
—— Daily TelegraphA 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