A fantastic gripping storyline. Really felt for William and Rhiannon and wanted them to succeed. Thanks for the opportunity to read.

This was a brilliant read. As soon as I started reading this book I just knew I was going to love it. Highly recommended

Thank you @prhinternational for sending me a free review copy in exchange for an honest review. Loved this, please catch my review over at www.thebooknookae.com

I am a big fan of Charlie Gallagher and was looking forward to reading this stand-alone book.
Ruthless was just an excellent gritty read. Rhiannon is the main character of Ruthless, She is just 16 but thinks she's 30 but has the traits of a much young person. She can be immature in places, and asks so many questions, why, what, how etc and comes across Blonde at times! But like her she fits in this book well.
This book had a lot of twists and turns and found the book interesting.

I would like to thank Netgalley and Joffe Books for a review copy of Ruthless, a stand alone thriller set in the fictional Kent town of Langthorne.

Charlie Gallagher is a serving police officer and this book is a very well written crime thriller. Told from the viewpoint of Rhiannon, a 16 year old girl. Her character is very believable as she ends up in care after the death of her aunt, her guardian, in a road traffic accident. Rhiannon soon becomes mixed up with local drug dealers who will stop at nothing to exact revenge. The book is fast paced, well written and had good characterisation, especially William who is an alcoholic. The ending totally surprised me! A really good thriller by an excellent author I would recommend. Thanks to Net Galley for my copy. I reviewed on Amazon, Goodreads and Facebook.

This book follows Rhiannon, a sixteen year old whose life has been in constant upheaval until she lands in her aunt's care. An unfortunate accident lands Rhiannon back into state custody where she crosses paths with William Dryden and this story unfolds.

William Dryden is a recovering drug addict whose life takes a turn for the worst when his love dies from an overdose.

I enjoyed this book for the most part. I generally have a difficult time really getting into books that are not written in American English because I am unfamiliar with a lot of the language used, which unfortunately happened with this book. The story itself was interesting and kept me relatively interested throughout. I enjoyed Rhiannon's character and really felt for her throughout the book, although I did have moments where I was screaming in my head WHY ARE YOU DOING THIS. This was a pretty good thriller all in all. Thank you to the publisher, the author and Netgalley for allowing me to read this book as an ARC.

I would like to thank Netgalley and Joffe Books for a review copy of Ruthless, a stand alone thriller set in the fictional Kent town of Langthorne.

16 year old Rhiannon Davis is suddenly orphaned when her aunt dies in a car crash and put into foster care. Lost and alone she socialises with fellow foster child Sam but Sam is mixed up with dangerous people and Rhiannon soon finds herself fighting for her life.

I thoroughly enjoyed Ruthless which is a tense, pulse pounding read and I lived every terrible minute of it with Rhiannon and fellow victim, William. It is an incredibly stressful read because it is so believable - one misstep through being too nice to say no and Rhiannon finds herself in a world of trouble with a violent psychopath chasing her. Still, the extremely clever ending makes up for all the stress.

Like Rhiannon I have lived a fairly sheltered life so the shock of "meeting" an extremely violent psychopath like Aaron is frightening. He has a realism unlike much I have met in fiction and an unforgettable impact. It is truly chilling and, I assume, based on characters Mr Gallagher has met in the course of his work as a detective.

Ruthless is a great read which I have no hesitation in recommending.

This is the third book of Charlie's I have read, one of the other ones was also a stand alone book, and I thoroughly enjoyed this one as much as that one.

As with Charlie's previous books they are all based in Kent, and in the first chapter one of the main character's partner is taken to the hospital where one of my daughters was born.

The story starts off with an ex-drug addict finding his partner dead on the sofa one morning and the police coming to investigate.  It then crosses over to 16 Rhiannon who lives with her aunt, until the aunt is killed in a car crash one night.

The story then follows both Will, the ex-drug addict, and Rhiannon until they find each other and try to help each other out as best as they can.

Charlie really brings the attitude and language of Rhiannon to life, and she speaks like a 16 year old does, especially with someone of Rhiannon's upbringing and start in life.

The characters of both Rhiannon and Will work really well together, especially considering the age difference and their lifestyle differences, and I really like the way they interacted.

The story starts fast but the action in the latter part of the book ramps it up even more, so much so that you realise you have read the whole book in one sitting and it is the early hours of the morning.

This is a completely different move for Charlie and it really works as a stand alone book, although I think he should write more of the same in the future.

This is the first book of Charlie Gallagher’s that I’ve read and I really enjoyed it.
I was expecting more police involvement but instead got page after page of action which was good.
Rhiannon is placed into care after her aunt dies and is introduced to a couple of lads through one of the girls she lives with.
Events soon take a turn for the worse and 16 year old Rhiannon wonders what she’s walked into.
We also get to know William quite well and I really liked his character. He’s an alcoholic who is struggling after the death of his girlfriend, and like Rhiannon he finds himself tangled up in lots of trouble.
The drug dealers are particularly cruel and want revenge for actions against them so it’s a nail biting final few chapters to see who comes out on top.
I’ll definitely be reading more of Charlie Gallagher’s books.
Thanks to NetGalley and Joffe Books for giving me the opportunity to read this.

Rhiannon is a 16-year-old girl going on 30. Her life has been one upheaval after another, the latest being the death of her aunt who was Rhi's guardian.

William Dryden is another lost soul. Addicted to drugs for many years, he's now been clean for several months. His lady friend dies of an overdose and leaves him desolate.

Both Rhiannon and William get involved in the hard world of drugs and drug dealers, not by choice. The drug dealers are vicious and willing to kill over anything. Rhiannon is an innocent ... it's like throwing a puppy to a lion. William is much older, has been there, done that ... but now he's too old and sick to fight off the predators.

When Rhiannon is targeted by a particular nasty drug dealer, will she be ruthless enough to fight back? Will William grow some backbone in order to help Rhiannon ..and himself ... get out of this seamy side alive? Can they depend on each other?

This is a well-written crime thriller authored by a best-selling serving police detective. Although not one of my favorites by Mr. Gallagher, the premise is a good one. The characters are finely drawn, if not totally credible. It's fast-paced loaded with bad guys, bad deeds, bad attitudes.

Many thanks to the author / Joffe Books / Netgalley for the advanced digital copy. Opinions expressed here are unbiased and entirely my own.

5 stars

I read the Kindle edition.

William “Will” Dryden is a recovering junkie and an alcoholic. He wakes one morning to find his long-time friend, Janey dead of an apparent overdose. He is devastated.

Meanwhile at the scene of a road traffic accident, two bodies are discovered. One is Rhiannon’s aunt Melissa “Mel” Cooper. Sixteen-year old Rhiannon Davis was living with Mel as her own home was unacceptable. On hearing the news of her aunt’s death, Rhiannon doesn’t know what she is going to do. Too young to qualify for her own house, she is taken in by Social Services. This is an altogether awful situation.

Will’s home is invaded by drug dealers, and with his bad leg and other problems, he is helpless to stop them from taking over. Through the use of intimidation, threats and physical violence, they squat in his home. At the same time, Rhiannon falls into a bad crowd in her loneliness and grief. Her new “boyfriend” Danny whines and carries on until she finally gives into doing something she knows is not right.

When Rhiannon is brought to Will’s home and threatened by the drug boss named Aaron there, Will makes a brave move. He insists that Rhiannon escape; and she does. He receives a severe beating for doing so. Rhiannon calls him the next day with a doctor’s appointment. He urges her to go live her life and leave him be. But, Rhiannon is a brave and tough young woman, and isn’t about to let Will go it alone against the druggies who have taken over his house.

She begins to spend more time with Will. When one of his mules gets busted by the police, Aaron goes into a rage. He is sure that Rhiannon, Will or Rhiannon’s friend Sam has talked to the police. He hurts Sam badly, but cannot find Rhiannon or Will – yet.

Aaron goes to Rhiannon’s temporary house and physically abuses Rose, the owner of the home. When Rhiannon gets home, she is told she has to leave. She finds her stuff already packed. She looks for Will.

What follows is Rhiannon’s adventure. She is pursued by the gang and in her terror, she takes decisive action.

This is a departure from Charlie Gallagher’s George Elms’ series. This is a very good book, as superbly well written and plotted as are his others. The suspense begins immediately when the reader wonders how the death of Will’s Janey has to do with the death of Rhiannon’s Aunt Mel. It moves along very swiftly. The reader doesn’t even realize how fast the pages are flying by. It is a wonderful, heart wrenching and triumphant story of being a teenager in this current world of drugs and gangs. Well done, Charlie! Keep them coming!!

I want to thank NetGalley and Joffe Books for forwarding to me a copy of this absolutely wonderful book to read and enjoy.