Firewatching by Russ Thomas
Firewatching by Russ Thomas
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Publication date - 1 March 2020
Publisher - Simon and Schuster UK
Thanks to @netgalley and Simon and Schuster UK for the ARC.
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ONE WRONG MOVE
A body is found bricked into the walls of a house. From the state of the hands, it’s clear they were buried alive and had tried to claw their way out before they died. Soon, the victim is linked to a missing person’s case and DS Adam Tyler is called.
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WILL IGNITE
As the sole representative of South Yorkshire's Cold Case Review Unit, Tyler recognises his role for what it is – a means of keeping him out of the way following an ‘incident’. When this case falls in his lap, he grabs the opportunity to fix his stagnating career.
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THE CITY
When he discovers he has a connection to the case that hopelessly compromises him, he makes the snap decision not to tell his superiors. With such a brutal and sadistic murder to unpick, Tyler must move carefully to find out the truth, without destroying the case or himself.
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Meanwhile, someone in the city knows exactly what happened to the body. Someone who is watching Adam closely. Someone with an unhealthy affinity with fire . . .
What is it with impressive debuts at the moment? Russ Thomas has written a stonker of a book that is filled with so many twists and turns that is undeniable tense as we came to the conclusion of the story!
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The main character of DS Tyler is complex, what with being gay, a father who was a supposedly bent copper, trouble fitting in with his colleagues but is strong, determined, tends to disobey orders and doesn’t mix well with others. There are a lot of hints throughout the story about his past etc which I’m hoping means there is going to be a series!
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I did love that fact that it was PC Rabbani, the Asian policewoman who was determined to get her big break in this case and work with CID, that found out the main points in the background to this case. I really hope that her character is developed more in any upcoming novels.
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The story itself, without giving too much away, is multi-layered to the point where towards the end you are ‘huh?!’ and I’m mainly talking about the parentage point here. In my opinion this was just one layer that was unnecessary. However, the story was complex, chilling, compelling, nerve churning and a delight to read. Bring on more! This book will set the charts on fire - see what I did there 🤣!
