#BookReview @paulfinchauthor @AvonBooksUK
Hello again and welcome to my stop on the blog tour for Ashes to Ashes by Paul Finch, a brand new crime thriller published by Avon books as part of the DS Heckenburg series.
A bit about the book…
John Sagan is a forgettable man. You could pass him in the street and not realise he’s there. But then, that’s why he’s so dangerous.
A torturer for hire, Sagan has terrorised – and mutilated – countless victims. And now he’s on the move. DS Mark ‘Heck’ Heckenburg must chase the trail, even when it leads him to his hometown of Bradburn – a place he never thought he’d set foot in again.
But Sagan isn’t the only problem. Bradburn is being terrorised by a lone killer who burns his victims to death. And with the victims chosen at random, no-one knows who will be next.
Least of all Heck…
Paperback: 480 pages
Published by: Avon Books
My thoughts…
Number six in the series, Ashes to Ashes is a thrill-a-minute detective story packed full of gory action. We follow DS Mark Heckenburg (Heck) from London to his hometown of Bradburn on his mission to catch Sagan – during this time the newest criminal on the block, the Incinerator, is burning down the city’s inhabitants quicker than they can catch him. The story is peppered with mystery, police humour and suspense. Intense in places it had enough action to keep me wanting to read more.
As a character, Heck is a maverick and likes to do things on his own terms; he’s dark, brooding and broken, but his flaws are what make him. As the case unfolds we find out nuggets of information about his personal life, which is full of intrigue, as well as his family history – the backstory gives the reader enough information for this to be a stand-alone novel, without having read numbers one-to-five in the series.
Although it’s quite a long book, it is such a blockbuster and it had me racing through the pages eager to find out who the culprit was. At the end of the book I felt like I’d walked through the furnace with Heck. I’ll admit that this was the first Heck book I’ve read, but now that I’m hooked I want to go back to number 1 in the series to start from the beginning properly.
I definitely recommend Ashes to Ashes if you’re looking for a dark, violent crime thriller to read.
Give this a go if you enjoyed: Hide and Seek by M.J. Arlidge or Ragdoll by Daniel Cole
And that’s not as all for today as the lovely folk at Avon have given me an extract of Ashes to Ashes to share with you – enjoy!
Heck stood up, but slammed himself flat against the wall beside the steps, crooking his neck to look along the passage. He understood her thinking. If he went running down there and tried to grab the two cops, there was every possibility Sagan would open the door and catch all three of them. If he kept out of the way, however, it was just vaguely possible the duo had some routine business to conduct with the guy and might be on their way out again in a minute, with no one any the wiser about the obbo. That latter option was a long shot, of course. Like SCU, the Organised Crime Division was part of the National Crime Group. They didn’t deal with routine matters. There was one other possibility too, which was even more depressing. Suppose Cowling and Bishop were up to no good themselves? Could it be they were here to see Sagan for reasons unconnected with police-work? If so, that would be a whole new level of complexity.
Heck squinted down the gloomy passage. The twosome had halted alongside number 36. They didn’t knock immediately, but appeared to be conferring. He supposed he could try to signal to them, alert them to an additional police presence, but the idea was now growing on him fast that these two might have nefarious motives.
A fist thudded on the apartment door. Heck held his breath. At first there was no audible response, then what sounded like a muffled voice.
‘Yeah, police officers, sir,’ Cowling said. ‘Could you open up? We need to have a chat.’
Heck breathed a sigh of relief. They weren’t in cahoots with Sagan after all. But now he felt uneasy for other reasons. Given the severity of Sagan’s suspected offences, this was a very front-on approach – it seemed odd the two detectives had come here without any kind of support. Did they know something SCU didn’t, or did they simply know nothing? Had ambition to feel a good collar overridden the necessity of performing some due diligence?
The muffled voice intoned again. It sounded as if it had said ‘one minute’.
And then two thundering shotgun blasts demolished the door from the inside, the ear-jarring din echoing down the passage.
The Ashes to Ashes blog tour continues until 19th April – you can find the other stops here:
I received an advanced copy of Ashes to Ashes from the publishers in exchange for a fair an unbiased review.
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