great

This is the 1st book I've read from this author it was really good could not stop listening to it

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Excellent

Highly recommended, hit the spot for a great audio crime listen. I listen to audio books virtually every day while I work, this was the best for a while. Looking forward to trying others by this author.

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2 people found this helpful

An excellent read!

This fictional storyline was so true to life- how the vulnerable are exploited. The storyline and narrator were excellent! Another gripping and captivating book 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟

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Timely, compelling - but ARRRRGH, "SOCO"!!

This was a very enjoyable story, albeit a bleak reminder of some recent tragic events.

I'd have rated this a 5 star review were it not for the female narrator not knowing how to pronounce "SOCO". Does nobody proof listen?! "SOCK-OH," not "SOE-CO." Drove me to distraction.

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5 people found this helpful

Simply outstanding

Human trafficking, police corruption, murder and intrigue, this one has it all, including the ability to bring me to tears no less than seven times and a most delightful ending, it has one of those too.

Former DS Carter from 'Duplicity' and 'Into the Darkness' is persuaded out of his gloomy retirement to investigate suspected corruption after a burnt warrant card is discovered in a room with a poor dead girl, which is the start of this woeful tale.

Ms Hodge paints marvellous pictures with her words, not always pleasant but always intriguing.

The narration from all three performers is excellent, I wholeheartedly recommend this book.

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2 people found this helpful

interesting

good story on a few different topics makes you think about what is happening narrators was good to

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1 person found this helpful

A brilliant story, almost 5 stars but...

This is a fantastic story and should be a 5 star review.

The problem is that one of the female narrators is awful. It’s not just that she simpers in a monotone through a gritty and gripping story but that in her attempts at received pronunciation she mispronounces everyday words. For example; SOCO is pronounced to rhyme with rock (o), not so-co. I don’t understand why this was edited when it was recorded. It is very grating, if it hadn’t been such a good story I would have stopped listening.

One that I definitely wished I’d read for myself, rather than listening to it.

I will definitely listen to more stories by this author but I will be avoiding that narrator in future.

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4 people found this helpful

couldn't stop listening

I really got into this. kept me engaged throughout the story. compelling and emotive.

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1 person found this helpful

One for the Crime and Thriller Top Drawer!

I love it when I try a new author and they deliver a cracking read. That's just what happened here!

Warren Carter is not a new character having appeared in previous Hodge novels, 'Duplicity' and 'Into the Darkness' which saw him enter retirement. Hitting the fast-forward button, tricky investigations and grisly murders drag the now lacklustre Carter out of his stupour of grief and an aimless retirement and thrust him front and centre into a fast-moving and challenging investigation. As things develop he meets old colleagues and Hodge introduces us into an engaging set of characters and a quite original mystery.

This is very well executed police procedural story-telling and it includes a challenging ending that wraps it all up very nicely. Hodge balances the mystery and its slow reveal very well with the need for progression and action. The character chemistry is also well-balanced and Carter and the other detectives are given considerable depth.

The three narrators do a very decent job of carrying the story. Each takes on one of the major characters and this works well to distinguish them and their POVs but this format also has the weakness that two of them must voice all of the characters from time to time meaning that each appears as two distinctive voices, one for each narrator. This isn’t a big issue but it can sometimes mean a double take to recognise who is talking.

That aside, and for me at least that is a relatively minor thing this is a thoroughly entertaining read and means that my list of authors to follow has just grown by one.

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10 people found this helpful

Gripping and well narrated

I haven’t enjoyed a novel this much for ages. The narrators bring to life a well-written and thoroughly researched story that grips all the way through.
The characters are believable and likeable

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