If you haven’t read Sam Holland’s first book The Echo Man then I highly recommend that you do before reading this one. Not only is it a brilliant, addictive read, easily as good as this one, but this book does refer back to its plot and the recurring characters, as well as a plot line running between the two, making this one make more enjoyable and creates a deeper connection to the characters and storyline.

But…. saying that, if you can’t wait to jump straight into this one, and I can’t blame you if you do!, then there is enough of a bit of back story to throughly enjoy this one. It will work as a standalone, but you will really be missing out on an amazing book, and with any luck there will be another book coming with the same recurring characters 🤞

Taking place over the span of 14 days, this is a fast paced, action packed, gruesome serial killer thriller that just goes from strength to strength in plot line and further character development.
Now a DCI, Adam Bishop is back and heading the investigation. An investigation that begins with a call out to a body dumped on some wasteland that soon becomes the last resting place of five bodies, and all pointing to the same killer. And that’s just the beginning!

From there the plot just keeps on hurtling you forward as another body is found and the investigation leaving a team of detectives scrambling to connect the cases and motive of a very clever, methodical killer who’s showing no signs of slowing down or stopping any time soon.
The Echo Man was a seriously compulsive serial killer thriller, but with this follow up book The Twenty, this is one of the best ever serial killer thrillers I’ve ever read, honestly, and I’ve read my fair share!

The Twenty by Sam Holland is due out on the 11 May 2023 and is available to be preordered now from your local bookshop or from the link below.

A massive thank you to the author Sam Holland, publishers Harper Collins UK, Harper Fiction and NetGalley for my digital arc in exchange for an honest, independent review.

DCI Adam Bishop is on the trail of a serial killer. Bodies are found on a wasteland site, but they are just the first discoveries. With some similarities, could these be connected to a case from almost thirty years earlier?

A fast paced thriller, not for the faint hearted! Very graphic at times but very well done. Gripped from the first page. An exciting read, a good 4* book.

Thank you NetGalley.

If you like a lot of blood and gore and stomach turning descriptions of what one person can do to another, you'll enjoy this one. Could have been more interesting if more focus was on the purpose of the Title and less on the horrors.

This. Book. The PERFECT crime thriller. A serial killer and twists and turns everywhere. The short chapters were also a plus. This had me putting my entire day on hold so I could finish it. I loved the characters as well, and I am immediately running to read her other book, The Echo Man. Check this book out when it’s released in May. It’s a top tier read!

This book was an exciting read from the first page to the last. I can usually figure out who “done it” about halfway through a book, but not this one! It had me guessing until the very end. Detective Adam Bishop and his colleague and best friend discover a graveyard of bodies with Roman numerals spray painted above there graves. Could it be a copy cat serial killer of a man already incarcerated for torturing and murdering several woman in his backyard shed? Or is the killer organizing with Elliot Cole from his jail cell? Adam and Jamie set out to stop this killer before more bodies pile up. If you love a good mystery that keeps you glued to every page, you’ll love this one!

Right from the start this book sucks you in!!! I loved every page!! Well written. Fantastic read! Perfectly descriptive. Keeps your anxiety on edge.

Sam Holland hooked me with THE ECHO MAN, and she's back with another devious serial killer tale that doesn't suffer one bit from the dreaded sophomore slump. Featuring lots of references from THE ECHO MAN, this is one tense, gory read that took me much longer to read than usual. Something told me to pay attention to every little detail, and the story became something to savor.

DCI Adam Bishop arrives to a crime scene, he is expecting to see a body, but he gets much more than that...there are more bodies, and each one bears a spray-painted number above the body's final resting place. It soon becomes clear that the killer is counting down, but to what end? Then Dr. Romilly Cole comes forward with evidence from murders a quarter of a century ago, murders that she is intimately familiar with. Could the cases be connected?

Fast-paced, unpredictable, and delivering twist after twist, THE TWENTY is the ultimate police procedural. Many thanks to NetGalley and Crooked Lane for my early copy. This book will release May 2, 2023.

Not me clapping like it’s the last scene in Mr. Holland‘s Opus. I fucking love Sam Holland. No one does twisted, dark & macabre like this bih. Fasted paced, well written and serving all the anxiety. It kept me guessing the entire way & as an added bonus there’s autopsies, articles & psych reports sprinkled throughout for real dark funsies.

Also love that there’s characters from her first novel, The Echo Man (also 🔥). If you wanna book, you can put down, pick this up, just make sure the rest of your day is free. Fair warning it’s graphic AF. 😍

Highly recommend for lovers of The Echo Man, fans of Karin Slaughter / Lisa Gardner and those who love a police procedural.

You will like this book if: messy, emotional detective thrillers, serial killer stories, and a complex web of details to solve the puzzle.

Plot: Detective Adam Bishop is called to a grisly murder scene when he notices a spray painted number above the body. And more spray painted numbers nearby lead to…. more bodies. They are counting down from twenty, but why? His ex-wife, Dr. Romilly Cole, comes forward with an outlandish theory connecting these kills to crimes intimately linked to her past. Is she seeing patterns where there are none due to unresolved trauma? Does their relationship with each other and one of the victims cloud their vision too much to catch the depraved murderer? Such high stakes!

Characters: There are many characters and POVs which are a little overwhelming when starting this book, but by the end they are so well developed, textured and human. I love every single character regardless of how messy they are and cried many times for their pain throughout this emotional thriller. Characters are all interconnected, making the stakes that much higher.

Setting: Readers get the information needed and none of the superfluous details. Fine, but doesn’t stick out to me.

Conflict/Resolution: Beautifully interwoven storylines and details make the conflict and resolution such an emotional roller coaster in the best possible way. There could have been more breadcrumbs sooner, but it was still delicious. Complex, but not complicated. What. A. Twist.

Writing: The writing style took me a few chapters to get into, but it was easy to read this longer book because there is a balance of description and plot.

Thank you NetGalley for a copy of this eARC in exchange for my honest review.

3 ⭐️

My suspicions had me all over the map at first, but the ending was a great surprise.

The book has mentions of Hollands previous novel “The Echo Man” but is definitely a stand alone that can be read on its own.

The reason I gave it three stars was because at the 50% mark I thought we were nearing the end, but there was yet another half of the book. There is a lot of fluff and tangents that don’t pertain to the investigation or story line but they do give you a more in-depth look into each character.

Overall this was a good novel that I enjoyed reading.

This was a brilliant story full of gore, action, killings, and finding the killer. This is perfect for true crime fans and those who love solving mysteries

I absolutely loved this book, such an amazing thriller. I really enjoyed Sam Holland’s The Echo Man and The Twenty is just as good! It seriously gave me the chills in parts. I’ve already preordered a physical copy as I need one for my bookshelf!

Sam Holland and Alex Noth have quickly become my new favorite thriller authors. This is a great follow up to Echo Man but equally great as a stand alone novel. Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for the ARC in exchange for my honest review.

Fast-paced and well-written you won’t want to put this book down. It’s one of those books that hooks you immediately and doesn’t let go. The storyline is compelling - it’s characters strong and well constructed.

This thriller also has something else extra special for you: autopsies, news articles, true-crime archives and psychiatric reports just to name a few. Alternating between the past and the present Holland weaves a story that’s sure to be a best seller.

I received an ARC version of this book and leave this review of my own accord.

I have been hearing good things about Sam Holland's debut novel, The Echo Man. so when I got the opportunity to get an advance copy of The Twenty for review, I jumped at it. All I can say is wow. Just wow.

DCI Adam Bishop and partner DS Jamie Hoxton arrive at the scene of what they think is a single murder in a junkyard, only to discover spray-painted numerals above the victim's head and then other numerals indicating more victims may be buried in the debris. When more bodies are found, it becomes apparent that this is a burial ground for a serial killer who appears to be counting down the victims. But are these the first five?

As the Murder Squad begins the investigation, they find a possible link to a series of murders that occurred twenty-five years earlier. The killer in those cases is now incarcerated so who is behind this latest rash of killings? The killings begin happening more rapidly, more violently, and closer to home as the clock ticks down for their investigation.

This is a dark and twisty, riveting read. The writing is first-rate and the pacing spot-on. I usually read a couple of books at a time, but once I started The Twenty, I couldn't put it down. The violence is a bit graphic at times and getting inside the killer's mind is scary, but if you like a good psychological thriller, this is just the ticket.

Thank you, Net Galley and Crooked Lane Books for a review copy. The publication date is May 2, 2023.

The artwork is mysterious and finds a way to intrigue you. The book was a page-turner and was my first Sam Holland novel. The novel was a police procedural/thriller and I enjoyed it!

Detective Chief Inspector (DCI) Adam Bishop arrives at a crime scene late at night. As more and more bodies start to turn up, DCI Bishop discovers something horrific - spray-painted numbers by the corpses points to a more sinister conclusion - the killer is counting down to something. When Dr. Romilly Cole shows up seemingly out of nowhere with evidence pointing to previous murders committed some twenty-five years ago, the race is on for DCI Bishop to figure out what this countdown means and stop the killer before the end of the countdown is reached.

The book started slower than I usually would like for a thriller, hence the 4 out of 5 stars. Overall, I recommend this book!

A massive thank you to Sam Holland and Crooked Lane Books for an advance reader copy in exchange for an honest review.

With this book, following the also excellent Echo Man, Holland cements herself in my personal pantheon of must-read authors. I'm sure this news will come as a grand delight to her. Anyway, this was a compelling story with the kind of tricky plot I love.

Read number 8 of Winter Break and 161 of 2022 is this new book (released in May 2023) by Sam Holland. I loved Sam’s first book, THE ECHO MAN, and this one was equally as good, if not better. So much action and unexpected twists right until the very last page. Some character overlaps too. This book is grisly and disturbing, but a thriller that you cannot put down. A ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ read in my books. Thanks @netgalley for this wonderful read! ❤️

When DCI Adam Bishop arrives at the crime scene in the dead of night, the sight of the body is bad enough—but what Adam notices next chills him to his core. More bodies surface. And the spray-painted numbers daubed above the corpses reveal the horrific truth: the killer is counting down. This is not for the faint of heart….there is a fair amount of gore but it’s not gratuitous. Starts out a bit slow but picks up nicely with lots of twists that made it hard to put down once I started. Thank you NetGalley for the advanced readers copy for review.

I received this as an eARC from NetGalley and Crooked Lane Books in exchange for an honest review. Thank you both for this opportunity! <b>There are no ending spoilers in this review.</b>

This was a solid 4 star ⭐ mystery told from multiple POV's, which I personally enjoy in thrillers. It starts out slow but give it time and it picks up the pace. I could see this being a movie or limited TV series. If you're a Law & Order type fan you will probably enjoy this.

Overall: I enjoyed this and would read again from the library.

<i>(As always to be fair: I am extremely picky about purchasing books for my limited shelf space and choose 4-5 stars from my personal ratings and only if I love it, want my children to read some day, or want to re-read.) </i>