Eight years ago, ‘The Inside Man’ murdered four women and left three more in critical condition—all of them with their stomachs slit open and a plastic doll stitched inside. And then the killer just... disappeared. Ash Henderson was a Detective Inspector on the initial investigation, but a lot can change in eight years. His family has been destroyed, his career is in tatters, and one of Oldcastle’s most vicious criminals is making sure he spends the rest of his life in prison. Now a nurse has turned up dead on a patch of waste ground, a plastic doll buried beneath her skin, and it looks as if Ash might finally get a shot at redemption. At earning his freedom.   SHORT THOUGHTS     This is the second and last book for me in this series. It seemed to take a lifetime for me to get through and I nearly DNF'd twice. I wasn't overly high on the first one but decided to stick with it due to Alice who i thought was a brilliant character. Unfortunately, this boo...

  Detective Constable Ash Henderson has a dark secret Five years ago his daughter, Rebecca, went missing on the eve of her thirteenth birthday. A year later the first card arrived: homemade, with a Polaroid picture stuck to the front – Rebecca, strapped to a chair, gagged and terrified. Every year another card: each one worse than the last. The tabloids call him ‘The Birthday Boy’. He’s been snatching girls for twelve years, always in the run-up to their thirteenth birthday, sending the families his home-made cards showing their daughters being slowly tortured to death. But Ash hasn’t told anyone about Rebecca’s birthday cards – they all think she’s just run away from home – because if anyone finds out, he’ll be taken off the investigation. And he’s sacrificed too much to give up before his daughter’s killer gets what he deserves.   SHORT THOUGHTS   Firstly let me say that I have read all of Stuart MacBride's Logan McRae crime novels and love them to...

  A devastating terror attack strikes at the heart of Birmingham... but is all as it seems? When Di Zoe Finch and her colleagues rush to respond to a terrorist attack, the city is plunged into chaos. But Zoe begins to suspect that all is not as it seems. Could the attack be a smoke shield for other criminal activity? And are Zoe's own colleagues involved in that cover-up?                  SHORT THOUGHTS   Birmingham's favourite detective  is back, this time dealing with the aftermath of a terror attack in Birmingham. A lot more complex storyline this time yet not confusing at all. You know how I feel about this series.  If you like Angela Marsons 'Kim Stone' and Kerry Wilkinsons 'Jessica Daniels', its time to introduce yourself to their Birmingham counterpart - Zoe Finch.    

  A TERRIFYING BIRTH A young woman is rushed to the hospital with stabbing pains in her stomach. The chief surgeon delivers a living child with the face of an angel and the body of a tentacled monster. The doctors are unanimous that the baby must die. AN ESCAPE FROM THE DARK Engineer Gemma is plunged into darkness in a tunnel beneath London. Before she escapes, a strange green light illuminates a cluster of ghostly figures. Gemma is certain they were children. A SUPERNATURAL THREAT DC Jerry Pardoe and DS Jamila Patel, of Tooting Police, have investigated the occult before – but nothing as strange and horrible as what they must confront in the city sewers. Down here in the dark, where the dead come back to life, witchcraft is the only force strong enough to save you...   SHORT THOUGHTS I was sitting here thinking which Graham Masterton books I have read in the past and I think the only one I had read was a copy of "The House That Jack Built" which I picked up in a s...

  TRIGGER WARNING FOR RAPE/SEXUAL ASSAULT An attractive student. An older professor.  Think you know the story? Think again.  She has everything at stake; he has everything to lose. But one of them is lying, all the same. When an Oxford student accuses one of the university's professors of sexual assault, DI Adam Fawley's team think they've heard it all before. But they couldn't be more wrong. Because this time, the predator is a woman and the shining star of the department, and the student a six-foot male rugby player. Soon DI Fawley and his team are up against the clock to figure out the truth. What they don't realise is that someone is watching. And they have a plan to put Fawley out of action for good... SHORT THOUGHTS I don't like jumping into a series midway through and didn't realise this was book five when I started it  however was extremely grateful for the list of characters and short "bios".  This is a great idea which should be done mor...

      SHORT THOUGHTS   Birmingham's favourite DI Zoe Finch is back with another case.  This series has fast become one of my favourite crime series mainly due to its likeable and believable characters.   A topic which could be heavy going is expertly made readable by the author and makes this book an excellent installment.  Bit by bit, book by book, the characters are being fleshed out and given personalities that make you feel as if you know them.  Zoe Finch herself is a particularly well-rouded character - having a facade as a hard as nails DI, but prepared to go the extra mile for her team and showing a softer side in the sections dealing with her home life. This is the third in the series.  Buy the three (and sign up for the free prequel at the author's website - link below) before the next installment which is due in January.  All three books are also available to Kindle Unlimited readers.     LINKS Rachel McLean Official ...

  On the fourth floor of Chaucer House, two teenagers are found chained to a radiator. The boy is dead but the girl is alive. For Detective Kim Stone every detail of the scene mirrors her own terrifying experience with her brother Mikey, when they lived in the same tower block thirty years ago.  When the bodies of a middle-aged couple are discovered in a burnt-out car, Kim can’t ignore the chilling similarity to the deaths of Erica and Keith – the only loving parents Kim had ever known. Faced with a killer who is recreating traumatic events from her past, Kim must face the brutal truth that someone wants to hurt her in the worst way possible. Desperate to stay on the case, she is forced to work with profiler Alison Lowe who has been called in to observe and monitor Kim’s behaviour. Kim has spent years catching dangerous criminals and protecting the innocent. But with a killer firmly fixed on destroying Kim, can she solve this complex case and save her own life or will she beco...