Blue Wolf Reviews

Tag: gangs

  • All You Took From Me

    All You Took From Me

    Page one of the psychological murder mystery All You Took From Me opens with ‘The Lights in the corridor are dim, the nurses, for now, nowhere to be seen.’, and with those few words you are immediately hooked into what proves to be a riveting read, based on lies, more lies and an horrific accident.

    Clare Carpenter has woken up in Intensive Care, her memory all but gone. She realises something pretty bad has happened but has no idea what. She sees a man dressed in scrubs, a bag on his back, looking like he is about to come into her room and attack her. When the nurse comes there is no one there; no one in the corridor outside her room. What has made her so paranoid, so fearful and afraid.

    She is told her husband Ray is dead, killed in the accident that almost claimed her life, which is a lot to accept, but when the Police arrive wanting answers to questions she cannot answer, even in her debilitated state, she wonders what is really happening, what has really happened.

    Desperate to return to her work as an Anaesthetist, she undertakes the psychological counselling required before she can once again begin work, be able to drive her car and at least try to return to a life that is as a normal as possible, without her beloved Ray, her husband of only two years.

    As the counselling begins to help her remember the recent past, she become in turns, frustrated, angry and then afraid of what she may have inadvertently become involved in, through the mysterious Fight Club, her husband Ray and then she became involved with; obviously it was nothing good.

    By trying to solve the puzzle of not only what happened to her, but the secretive life Ray had, which she is only beginning to discover, she sinks to the lowest of lows in her efforts to try and remember, despising herself but deciding she is so terrified that she will do what it takes to get some answers.

    There is more than one thread to Dr Clare Carpenters life as she has become estranged from her family for more than ten years, has damaged her friendship with Priya, another anaesthetist she has studied with, worked with, shared a flat with and considers her absolutely best of friends.  Clare feels very isolated, alone and terrified.

    Who can she trust, who can she talk with to try and discover what Ray was really doing and why someone is out to kill her in revenge for something she simply can’t remember. Taut until the final word All You Took from Me is an absolute treat.

    Lisa Kenway uses her medical background as an anaesthetist to build a masterful plot set between a Sydney Hospital and the Blue Mountains, which is fast paced, fluently written and utterly enthralling, delving into how far someone will go to seek revenge and discover the truth.

    Very highly recommended.

  • The Shearer’s Wife

    The Shearer’s Wife

    Fleur McDonald does not disappoint in The Shearers Wife as she has skilfully crafted out another well researched story looking at the many layers of life in rural Australia and the way people who are well known in a small community often have deep secrets kept well hidden.

    The small team at Barker are going about their daily business of Policing a wide district when the AFP arrive at the Station unheralded, demanding Dave Burrows make himself and his vehicle available to undertake a drug bust.

    To say Dave is not impressed is an understatement and when he discovers who the Feds have in their sights he is horrified, not believing for one minute that a pillar of the community and the Church, could possibly be involved in drug dealing: but so it would seem as she is apprehended at the Post Office with a small post package filled with narcotics.

    Her story goes back to 1980 when as a young girl she birthed twins, remaining in Barker while her shearer husband took to the road, refusing to face up to being a parent of twins. Rose makes a new life for herself and the babies; twelve months on Ian returns to town to visit Rose and the children, leaving with their small son while Rose is at the hospital with their feverish daughter.

    Zara Ellison, girlfriend of Constable Jack Higgins, and reporter for the Rural Times  is not coping at all well with the death of her brother some months previously and seems to be on a pathway to destruction, but wants to begin a new life, make a fresh start with Jack.

    As the Barker team get warned off the case, Zara is asked to use her skills as an investigative journalist to see if she can discover what is really going on and why is so important to the AFP, but as she digs further into the story, Jack begins to believe he and Zara are anything but an item, maybe she is deliberately working against them not with them.  And then there is the story about the champion shearer Zara has written during Barker Show rounds, which highlights, or so Jack believes, that their relationship is anything but positive.

    So many strands woven together form a tight knit story of life in rural Australia when the going gets tough and people’s lives are at stake, as the deeper Zara digs, the more danger is becoming apparent as Dave, Jack, Zara and Kim face the true horror and devastation of drugs and drug trafficking.

    Fleur McDonald weaves her magic in and around the small community of Barker once again. The Shearer’s Wife is spellbinding, real and as always very easy to relate to, as Dave Burrows and his team face the true price of the drug trade.

    The perfect book for a little serious time out.

     

  • The Cleaner

    The Cleaner

    As the first book in a series that was to go on to become very popular, it is an interesting point that the first release of The Cleaner was in 2013, self-published by Mark Dawson. As a first, it has, by its nature, to create a character, then to give the character substance and reason to become the protagonist that will develop over future books.

    The Cleaner is such that is appears at times to be somewhat disjointed but with a strong story-line, that of a former British Government assassin who is particularly good at what he does. He is elite, a perfectionist and that earns him the reputation of being number one, not number twelve, the number he was given when he joined Group Fifteen. John Milton is feared by the bad and in high demand from those who need protection.

    Eventually his particular line of work begins to eat away at him, haunting his sleep and disturbing his peace. His final job for the Government is flawed, but he vows to make amends for his past by doing his best to help others.  He is walking away from his recent past, but the reality is can he and will he be allowed to simply remain alive, with the knowledge has about clandestine Government operations?

    He helps a single mother, Sharron Warriner  find her son, who has managed to get involved with a charismatic charmer of a gang leader and his followers, who are none to happy about Milton interfering with their lives and that of Elijah, who is high on the adrenaline rush of stand-over tactics and gang power.

    As Milton become more involved in the dark side of the East-End of London he finds that in spite of the life he has led, he is way, way, way out of this depth. The situation only gets worse as he begins to realise that now he is the hunted, not the hunter and the Government want him dead!

    Put in context of the first in a series, the storyline is solid although the style of writing seems to be a bit disjointed at times. A good read, worth hanging in with if you want to enjoy further books. The appeal is there, but needs a little perseverance to get to the final page.