Vengeance Day by Simon Dinsdale
Liam Rafferty and Mary Sullivan are both Irish Republican dissidents. Their plan is to bring terror to the British mainland and avenge Liam's brother’s murder. Their former comrades in Belfast learn of his activities and order Mick McArthur, the Republican movement's intelligence chief, to stop them at any cost.
Detective Superintendent Christian Dane works the most serious crimes and is determined to get justice for the victims. He leads major inquiries in Essex. When Karen Teller, a veteran MI5 officer, receives a warning of an imminent terrorist attack, by an unknown dissident group, Dane is called in to investigate.
The only lead is a weekly call to Belfast made from a telephone box on the Essex coast. With Detective Constable Hayley Cross, Dane’s most capable officer, at his side they set to work tracking the terrorists down.
Working around hindrance from Chief Superintendent Brown of the Met Counter Terrorism Command Dane isolates and arrests some of the gang and confirms the threat is real. As he races to prevent the attack Rafferty's plans for him are revealed.
Dane must now risk everything to protect his family from Rafferty’s vengeance.
Review
‘Vengeance Day’ is a blistering action-packed thriller that leaves you wanting more! This is the second book that follows Detective Christian Dale but you can read it as a standalone quite easily. I hadn't read the first book but the author does such a good job of giving you the pertinent details that it was easy to pick up what’s going on. It does follow on start from the end of the first book so now I will be going back to read ‘Dark Shadow’ as I was intrigued by the premise!
Liam Rafferty is an Irish Republic dissident and is determined to enact revenge on the soldiers who killed his 15-year-old brother. One of those persons is Detective Superintendent Christian Dale who is about to return to work after being shot in the previous book. It just so happens that the group he is called to investigate is the one Liam is running. He is aiming to hit at the heart of the UK establishment and it is up to Dale to stop him in time!
This comes across as being an authentic and realistic portrayal of Irish dissidence and that probably is due to the author’s past lives of being in the army during the Troubles and then in the police force for 27 years! Wonder if he knew my dad?! Dale is like the police equivalent of Reacher as he will do anything to safeguard the public and those that he loves. The result of this is an action-packed book that is relentless, especially towards the end of the book. Dale is a very likeable protagonist but Dinsdale also managed to create a relatable character in Liam as you understand all this came from a place of trauma.
This was a brilliant read and I hope that there is more to come as I am now a Dale fan for sure! Let me know if you pick this one up.
