
Publisher | Avon |
---|---|
Date Published | 09 August 2018 |
ISBN-13 | 978-0008243982 |
Format | paperback |
Pages | 464 |
Price | £ 7.99 |
Kiss of Death
by
The National Crime Group’s existence is at threat and so its members are instructed to hunt down wanted criminals. DS ‘Heck’ Heckenberg is charged with finding one of the most wanted men in the UK.
Review
DS Mark ‘Heck’ Heckenberg is back in another spree of entrepreneurial crime-solving. This time, because the National Crime Group’s very existence is at threat as a consequence of national cutbacks, he, together with the rest of his team, is charged with solving unclosed crimes and arresting a list of the most wanted criminals.
Heck’s investigation is thrown when he discovers a video which appears to show the criminal he’s searching for being beaten to death. Undeterred, Heck moves onwards in his own inimitable maverick style, ignoring protocol and ending up in rural Cornwall where a dramatic, Jason Statham-esque interaction takes place in a curiously Enid Blyton-like castle on a lonely island.
This novel is fast-paced and well-constructed. DS Heckenberg’s go-it-alone style is well used – maybe over well used – but to good effect. You cannot help but be drawn along by his derring-do and his disregard for authority. Of course, as an aficionado of Heck, you know all will go well and he will get his man in the end. But on this occasion, that might not be the case…
The story moves at an ever-accelerating pace. It is quite enthralling and undoubtedly cinematic in style and aspiration. The end, when it comes, is unexpected. The scene is set for the next book in the series although this one may be very different.
Reviewed 24 November 2018 by John Barnbrook