This was a great fast moving thriller with plenty of twists and turns in its storyline.

Many thanks to Netgalley and Simon Kernick for the copy of this book. I agreed to give my unbiased opinion voluntarily.

The hanged man by simon kernick.
Hugh manning and his wife diane are on the run. Can they out run who are after them or will they catch them. What will happen to them when they catch them? Dci gibson is investigating but can he be trusted.
A very good read wasn't sure on gibson. I didn't trust him. I liked Sheryl. 5*. Netgalley and penguin random house uk cornerstone.

Over the last couple of years I've been reading fewer and fewer thrillers. Mainly because they generally fail to thrill, which you might think would be a basic requirement of the genre, but no. There are only a few authors whom I still find fairly reliable: Lee Child is one, Simon Kernick is another. Although some of their books are definitely better than others, even at their worst they still deliver a fairly reliable reading experience.

One of the things I love about Kernick's writing is the way his books start - bam! - by the end of the first paragraph, the movie has begin and you're hooked. Another great thing is the way that his books aren't predictable. He's not afraid to kill off key characters, most notably in one book when he killed off the narrator halfway through - a move I most certainly did not see coming, and which startled me so much that I can still remember exactly where I was when I read it.

The Hanged Man is not my favourite Kernick book by a long shot, but it still contains many trademark elements of his writing which make it a good read. Why didn't I like it more? Partly because it relies so much on the reader having read The Bone Field (which I have read, and only 9 months ago, but let's face it, these books aren't hugely memorable). If you read the two in quick succession it wouldn't be an issue for you, but otherwise you may share my irritation. Also, the villains are truly unpleasant people. It came out in the first book that devil worship and human sacrifice are some of their hobbies. I didn't like reading about this (thankfully it's not too graphic) and I prefer other Kernick plots. And my final gripe is that it feels a little repetitive - sometimes two characters will say or think very similar things in rapid succession. Possibly this is because I read an advance review copy.

So I hope the ending means we won't see any more of DI Ray Mason (though I'm not entirely optimistic about that), and the next Simon Kernick book will take us in a slightly different direction.

Thanks to Net Galley for supplying me with an ARC.

Thats it! I'm reading no more. Dead bodies everywhere and everyone running around trying to find killers and attempting to escape them. This is a pity because I have enjoyed Simon Kernick in the past and in particular The payback and Seize but do I really want to spend my valuable reading time on something I do not enjoy? For me this is a poor review I can't even summon the strength to be critical good luck to those who appear to have enjoyed but I will not be reading anymore by this author.

I have not the read the first in this series of The Bone Field by Simon Kernick but this novel is a continuation of a horrific nightmare of a case that began there where deep in the countryside, a house has yielded the remains of 7 unidentified women. Additionally, there have been other murders, included that of a young girl, Dana Brennan. DI Ray Mason has sworn that he will get those behind these atrocities no matter what. Ray had been suspended. Dan Watts, a cop working for the National Crime Agency has been steadily working on getting evidence to bring notorious crime boss, Cem Kalaman, to justice but needs help. Cem Kalaman is one of the individuals suspected of being behind The Bone Field murders and more, along with brother and sister, Alastair and Lola Sheridan. Dan brings in Ray to work with him at the NCA despite Ray's notorious reputation for being unmanageable. This is a complex case which PI Tina Boyd, Ray's partner, is working on from different angles too. They face grave dangers and betrayal as the ruthless Cem and the Sheridans are determined to evade justice.

Hugh Manning, lawyer to the suspects, is revealed to have connections to case, only his wife has been murdered and he only just escaped. He is on the run, the police want him as the only witness they have to what happened to the dead women, his ex-employers want him dead to ensure that he never talks. As Tina and Ray dig deeper, further murders come to light and the first victim in the case is identified. This leads them to Andrea Delbarto, a woman who offers refuge to vulnerable young women facing abuse. The narrative is delivered primarily through the perspective of Ray but also other characters, including the suspects. The criminal tentacles go far and wide, and are deeply entrenched but finding incontrovertible evidence is tough. As Ray continues to break the rules, it is only a matter of time before it all catches up with him. In the meantime, can he locate Manning before he is eliminated?

The story ends on a massive cliffhanger where Ray's future is on the line. I certainly would have benefited from reading the first book in the series, nevertheless you do get a fair amount of information on what occurred there. What caught my notice is the character of DI Ray Mason, a man willing to cross lines with little regard for the consequences. However, the storyline practically demands that the protagonist is such a man because without this quality and his absolute determination, little progress, if any, would be made. This is a complex, intense and suspenseful read which had me wanting to know what happens next, so I hope the next in the series comes out soon. Many thanks to Random House Cornerstone for an ARC.