Saturday 11 May 2013

Books Read: Howard Linskey - The Dead

David Blake is back in Newcastle, running three cities, top boy. Life is sweet until his bent accountant is arrested for murder. The money man is nailed on for a life sentence until he puts five million pounds out of Blake's reach. Now Blake faces an agonising choice; fix the acquittal of a child killer or run out of the cash he needs to bankroll his empire.

Meanwhile Serbian gangsters are slowly taking over his territory and a crazed Russian Oligarch wants to use Blake's drug supply line for his own ends. Back at home, the Police are closing in, determined to take David Blake off the streets of Newcastle forever, and Blake's girl Sarah is asking awkward questions about the death of her father that he really doesn't want to answer.

As he fights for his life, David Blake slowly uncovers a shocking truth about his own past, turning over stones until he finally reveals a secret known only to The Dead.

The Dead is the first book that I've read by this author so probably wasn't a good one to start with as it is book 3 in a series but as I received it to review for Real Readers I decided to go it a go without reading the other 2 books first.  That being said it can be read on it's own as you're given an intro into the main characters in the book early on so it can be read as a standalone.

David Blake is now the top honcho in Newcastle's criminal world and manages to combine his legit and illegal businesses effortlessly with a little help from his accountant Henry Baxter.  But his world could come crumbling down when Baxter is arrested for drink driving and later also charged with murder as Baxter knows all the financial ins and outs of Blake's businesses including where his money is hidden in Offshore accounts.  So does Blake risk leaving Baxter rotting in jail or does he do everything in his power to get the charges dropped? 

But that's not all that Blake has to worry about as he has foreign criminals trying to encroach on his patch and girlfriend Sarah wanting answers about her father's death... I can't really go into any more detail without giving spoilers away.

As you might expect from a book about the criminal underworld there was plenty of violence within the storyline but it wasn't too OTT and didn't feel like it had been added for the sake of it.

This is one of those books that surprises you, if I'd been asked up front if I wanted to review it I would probably have said no but once I started reading I found myself drawn into the storyline and finished reading it within a few days.

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