One Last Prayer for the Rays

I enjoyed reading this book. It had a good story to it. I liked the variety of characters in it. I hope to read more books by this author.

My first read by this author. 12 year old Paul disappears and DCI Michael Yorke thinks local recently released local murderer Thomas Ray may have taken him. Then a discovery makes that theory impossible so DCI Yorke must look again.
I found the story all absorbing from the start the pace kept up and carried me with it. It laid out the gory detail and the nastiness of some of the characters without sugar coating which I loved to see.
I did not particularly warm to any of the characters but was gripped by it and would recommend.

Thank you NetGalley and BooksGoSocial for the eARC.
Wow, this was some read! Couldn't put it down and just loved it. Hope the 2nd book in this new series is published very soon.
DCI Micheal Yorke and his team are very likeable, but you can't say the same thing about the Ray family...they are seriously nasty. The action starts with the kidnapping of 12-year old Paul Ray and is quickly followed by the disappearance of another family member. Another Ray is a cold killer...it's therefore not easy to have any empathy for the Ray family.
There are parts that are horrifying, but mostly left to your imagination, which I liked. The story is compelling, fast paced and well written, definitely a must read and highly recommended.

This book was very well written and DCI Yorke is a formidable officer. The Ray family is twisted and dark, with secrets that should have been told long ago. Revenge, mayhem and evil.. Not for the faint of heart.

Every parent's nightmare; a twelve year old boy has gone missing from school and DCI Michael Yorke believes he knows exactly where to look first, a recently released local murderer named Thomas Ray. But when Ray is found savagely murdered Yorke has to do a deep dive on Ray's family for answers before the clock runs out. Holy moly, strap in, because these people are the absolute worst.

This one makes you sleep with the lights on, in the best way!

Thank you to Wes Markin, BooksGoSocial and NetGalley for giving me this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

One last Prayer for the Rays is one brilliant crime thriller you need to get your hands on if you haven't already! It's riveting, suspenseful and intrigued me from the get-go. It sure was unputdownable and I found myself captivated by the storyline and setting. Wes Markin introduces us to Detective Michael Yorke, a tough and relentless officer of the law with a mysterious past (which is unveiled in A lesson in Crime/Defined- a short story on Yorke's past which can be downloaded from the author's website https://wesmarkinbooks.weebly.com/). In the beginning, the number of characters introduced was surely overwhelming so remembering them was the only place I struggled. However, once you get past the many names, you enter the best part of the story. Never a dull moment, reading every chapter is a sheer delight! I found the pace set very well. The ending too was just brilliant!
So here goes another series I WILL definitely be following. I'm highly impressed that this is Wes Markin's debut novel and he' already set the bar very high with it. Can't wait for the next!
Thank you NetGalley, Wes Markin & BooksGoSocial for an arc!

When 12-year-old Paul Ray goes missing from school, Detective Michael York and his team are called in to investigate. But this may be more than just a child playing hooky ... in the restroom is a pool of blood .. and the words IN THE BLOOD painted on the wall in that blood.

Everyone is the village knows of the Ray family. For years ... generations .. they've all been pig farmers and more than that .... at least one member of the family in each generation has been demented .. or just plain evil.

The most obvious suspect is Thomas Ray .. who has recently been released from prison for murder. And Yorke has a connection. But when they find Thomas dead ... Yorke and his team have to delve through the family history to find all the people who may have a grudge against the family.

Where is the boy? Is he still alive? Or a pawn in a bigger. more evil game?

WOW! The story starts with a bang and the suspense just grows and grows until the surprising ending. The characters are memorable and I'm looking forward to discovering more about Yorke in the next books.

Many thanks to the author / BooksGoSocial / Netgalley / TBC Reviewer Request Group (FB) for the digital copy of this awesome crime fiction. Opinions expressed here are unbiased and entirely my own.

I really wanted to read this book after reading some amazing reviews. I am very glad to say that I was not disappointed. A new author for me and I will definitely be looking out for more of their work. This book is an exceptional crime thriller, I was riveted to this book and nothing was going to make me put it down.
Every parents nightmare, a twelve year old boy has gone missing. DCI Michael Yorke knows where to look first, a convicted murderer has just been released by the name of Thomas Ray. Unfortunately Thomas Ray has been found brutally murdered and so now DCI Yorke need to look closer to home and what he finds is shocking.
This book grabs you by the throat and does not let you go. It is brutal, distressing and at times heart breaking. A debut author and book a masterpiece and I think the start of another addictive series for me. An easy five stars and so Highly Recommended.
I would like to thank the author, BooksGoSocial and Netgalley for the ARC in return for giving an honest review.

A dark and gritty book about a missing boy and the family from hell.DCI Yorke has a tough case to solve after his suspect is found dead.I can highly recommend this book and look forward to the next.5*

This book had me turning the pages from start to end. I would say that this is one of the best crime books that i have read in a while and cannot wait to read more by this author. A well written book with a twist at the end that i didn't see coming. Highly recommended.

My thanks to Netgalley and the Publishers for my copy. This is my honest review.

Dark, gritty and good. When a boy goes missing from school and all that is left behind is a pool of pig's blood and a scrawled message on the wall stating "in the Blood.", DCI Michael York races to find him. Was he kidnapped? And if so why? and does the pig's blood and scrawled message reference the boy's pi farming ancestry? As York digs deeper, and time passes with no sign of the boy, uglier secrets come to the surface. Great police procedural.

Wow what a great book! I was totally hooked right from the start. The Ray family are well known in the area for events that have happened in the past. Paul Ray has disappeared from his school and all that is found is a lot of blood but no body! DCI Michael Yorke races against time to try to solve the case.

An amazing debut novel which will keep you on the edge of your seat throughout. This is a dark and chilling read with some excellent characters. The story is action packed, with some really gruesome moments and a good twist. Wes Markin has created a wonderfully dark and sinister atmospheric thriller. I really could not put this book down and I can't stop thinking about the evil Ray family! This is the first book in the DCI Michael Yorke series and I am looking forward to reading more from this author.

I am pleased to have a new author and a new series to add to my reading list and will eagerly be looking forward to the next book in this series. Thank you to Netgalley, BooksGoSocial and the author for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Powerful, focused and intense ... and then it gets better. Get your money down early on" One Last Prayer For The Rays.."
Wes Markin's ripping, gutsy prose and a witty wreck of a protagonist makes this exceptionally compelling, and have the reader completely engaged..

ONE LAST PRAYER FOR THE RAYS is a remarkably astonishing novel, a mystery amazing in both its depth and breadth. From the explosive and sad commencement, right through to the oh no! epilogue, the author kept my attention totally riveted to the page, as he unfolded characters who have to be read to be believed. Total suspension of disbelief here, and an incredible introduction to abnormal psychology of several stripes!

Set in and around Salisbury, England, a fount of civilization for millenia, the mystery focuses on one particular lineage, the Rays, which generation after generation have produced monsters. Seemingly, only three are left, a brother and sister, and the brother's young son. The son, Paul, is intelligent and gifted, attending Salisbury's Cathedral School. Hopefully he will remain free of the cursed taint of his family history. All that is upended when he is found missing from school, and the clues point to injury or fatality.

This is the first book in a new crime fiction series, featuring DCI Michael Yorke, by author Wes Markin. This novel provides non-stop action. Hold on tight as this is a new author to watch out for! I really like series books and this book is no different. Even though there are a lot of characters that are being introduced all at once this book promises to be a winner. I enjoyed the story line throughout this novel. The Ray family are well known and not for being the best neighbors. It proved to be a real page turner that I was enthralled by and really didn't want to put down until I'd reached the end. I

Fantastic debut novel! I found myself enjoying this book more and more. Fast paced and with all the twists you expect from a story like this! Bring on number 2!

A really good, entertaining crime story. Well written at a good pace to keep the reader interested.

this is not my usual choice of book. Truth told, if I had realized the genre of book it is I probably would not have read it. I would have missed out on a throughly good read. This book is a fast paced, never a dull moment read. I enjoyed it.

3.5 stars rounded up

This debut mystery novel, also the beginning of a new series, has many good and also some weak points.


Without going into too much detail, the author succeeded in creating a haunting horror atmosphere, a plot full of thrilling suspense charged with tension. There are many subplots in the story to deal with, many different characters, but it doesn't feel overloaded, as one could guess.

Short chapters, the ongoing scene change, all this make the novel to a real page-turner and a thrill-packed ride.


What I missed was a good structured police procedural. There was an investigation team, but there wasn't a real investigation IMO. Everything happened somehow by chance. I'd like to see more of DCI Michael Yorke as a team leader, the whole investigation felt partly amateurish.


Overall a thrilling read with a creepy atmosphere and many evil characters to loathe. Be prepared!

It is a story that sounds rather cliche, police looking for missing child, but this is far from cliche. The book is dominated by the horrible Ray family and all their misdoings and one thing I liked about this book, was the way in which the author did not sugar coat anything. Everything was so raw and real. It had me captivated from the start and it did not slow down, it kept a nice steady pace throughout. Well written. This was a wonderful start to the series.

One Last Prayer for the Rays is an intense story where detective Michael Yorke faces his most harrowing case yet.

When 12-year-old Paul disappears from school, Yorke’s only clue is a pool of animal blood. Fearing the worst, he turns toward the most obvious suspect, recently released local murderer, Thomas Ray.

Definitely has enough twists and turns to keep you engrossed in the story until the very end. Highly recommend.

I was excited to read this book after seeing some reviews. It did not disappoint. A new author for me and I will definitely be looking out for more of their work. This book is a great crime thriller, I had a hard time putting it down. Highly recommended.