A nice little segue from one theme to the next here. There's a cat on the cover, and she's an Irish writer. Irish writers are this month's theme.
I'd never heard of Cat Hogan before but this was cheap in the sale section of Waterstones and sounded interesting.
Scott Carluccio Randall is a real piece of work. He's a drug dealer and people trafficker living in Marrakesh as the book opens. He victimises his closest associate Fran just for fun.
Back home in the Irish village they both left on short notice after a violent incident, Jen, a victim of Scott's violence in that incident, lives in terror of his return.
Her friends, family and therapist all think she's paranoid, but she knows he will return to complete the job he left unfinished last time, and both she and her 10 year old son will be his victims.
This is a tautly written thriller with engaging characters that we can empathise with.
This read well as a standalone novel with many hints as to the violence in the past. However, I discovered when I looked at the "by the same author adverts at the end of the book, "They All Fall Down", as namechecked on the top of the cover, is actually book one and this is a sequel.
Ah well. One more for the shopping list.
Highly recommended. The plot moves at a good pace. Scott is a proper villain and his insanity shines through his pages. Jen's paranoia seems perfectly reasonable in response.
I wonder if my opinion of this will change once I've read the first book.
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