Police officer Philomena McCarthy isn’t the black sheep of the family. No, she’s something rarer. She’s the daughter of one of London’s most notorious mob families. Her father and uncles are knee-deep in gangland legacy and she defied all that blood to become a Metropolitan Police officer.

She’s the white crow.

She doesn’t fit in, and that’s exactly what makes her unforgettable.

We first met Philomena in When You Are Mine. I read it, but didn’t remember much about her. It didn’t matter. This reads as a standalone. I loved Philomena. She walks the line between law and loyalty, and I was here for every step of it. She doesn’t fully play by the rules of either world. She’s that rare kind of character who feels grounded and human and I think that’s hard to do when there is so much grey area with her character.

I’ll admit it: I’m not usually a diehard crime thriller reader. When I do enjoy one, it’s almost always because of the characters, not the case. This one was a mix. I was there for some of the crime and some pages flew by and others I drifted off. The crime setup was a hook. A little girl found covered in blood saying she can’t wake her mother. A jeweler across town strapped with a bomb and a store torn apart with millions missing. The danger is there. The stakes are sky-high. But for some reason I struggled to feel it.

That might just be a me thing though. Mood reader problems, right? Still, Philomena kept me turning the pages and I’ll follow her into the next one.

This is a really good story, though I would expect nothing less from this author, every book of his that I have read has been exceptional. Philomena (Phil) is a police officer with the Metropolitan Police, a rather unusual profession for her since her father and uncles are notorious crime bosses, well known for their shady and criminal ways of getting things. But her father is trying to turn over a new leaf with a development of buildings, he's trying to do it on the up and up though if he can't get something he wants, then he turns to other tactics. But, someone has been sabotaging his development site, destroying equipment, he soon finds out who that person is and what they want from him. Philomena while on patrol late at night, notices a small girl on the sidewalk, a call for assistance had just come in, so Phil exits the vehicle for her partner to respond and goes to the girl. After some gentle coaxing, she's able to determine the young girl had left her house after not being able to wake her mom, Phil has her identify which house is hers, and enters it to see that the girl's mom, is long past being helped. The call for help was for a man in a jewelry store who has been found with a bomb strapped to his body. Both incidents are related, the man and the woman are husband and wife, the man had been taken hostage after dropping the babysitter off after him and his wife had returned from a night out. There are a lot of story lines, though I did not find it hard to keep them all straight and I found I could not flip the pages fast enough, this is a really good and fast paced read. Thanks to #Netgally and #Scribner for the ARC.

Just finished The White Crow by Michael Robotham and… wow. He seriously never misses.

This one had me hooked from the start — creepy, suspenseful, and full of twists I didn’t see coming. The characters felt so real, especially the ones who were totally messed up (in the best way). Robotham knows exactly how to get under your skin and keep you guessing until the very end.

It’s dark, emotional, and totally binge-worthy. If you’re into psychological thrillers with depth and tension that builds like crazy, definitely add this one to your list.

So good. Still thinking about it.

The White Crow is a gripping read from start to finish with a relentless mix of jaw dropping twists.

Philomena McCarthy an officer with Metro Police is back with a vengenance.

During a robbery gone bad a woman is murdered and Phil by chance finds her very young daughter roaming the streets covered in her mum's blood.

Phil puts her all into the case but to her detriment her family are well know criminals. (I totally love her family as they are so well protrayed).

The tension mounts with page as the relentess mix of secrets, lies, corruption and bodies piling up keep the lights on and the pages turning.

This is one of Michael Robotham's best books to date.

Grab your copy of The White Crow and enjoy the ride; its a wild one.

Thanks to NetGalley and Simon & Schuster Canada/Simon & Schuster for the privilege of reading and reviewing The White Crow.