"A damaged detective and a brutal serial killer collide in this nail-biting thriller debut.
Detective Inspector Damen Brook thinks he’s left his past behind him in London. But it seems a serial killer has followed him north…
Brook’s seeking sanctuary. Years in the MET have left their mark - so much so that he's fled to Derby leaving behind his marriage, his teenage daughter and very nearly his sanity to wind down a once promising career in the peace of the Peak District.
But one winter's night, Brook is confronted by a serial killer he hunted many years before - The Reaper - a man who slaughters families in their homes then disappears without a trace.
To find this killer Brook must discover what the Reaper is doing in Derby, why he's started killing again and what, if anything, connects the butchered families.
As Brook becomes entangled in a deadly game of cat and mouse, he is forced to face his own demons by revisiting the previous investigation and confronting a past that destroyed his family and nearly cost him his life…"
I can't quite believe that I haven't discovered Steven Dunne before, as what he writes is right up my alley. I heard differing views regarding The Reaper, the main criticism it seems, is that it is too long. And it was. But in a really, really good way. The book could have ended at a certain point, (indeed I thought I was finished), but then it carried on….and what happened in those last few "additional" chapters literally took my breath away. So yeah, maybe The Reaper could have finished earlier, but those last extra pages were worth it - I went from loving Brook, to hating him and back again all that short space of writing.
I think Brook is an excellent character, your usual messed up, mildly alcoholic detective, but written in such a way that you can't help but root for him when the chips are down - and seems they frequently are for poor old Damen. I am so looking forward to the next in the series (I know right - nothing beats discovering an author and then realising THERE ARE LOADS MORE IN THE SERIES). And having "chatted" with Steven on our mutual Facebook Book Club, he seems to be a jolly nice chap too.
The Reaper is out now (as are the rest in the series) and you can get them HERE:
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