Review: Solid 3-1/2 stars
Rating: 4 out of 5
Date: 04 26, 2011
Too good for three, just missed four.Lorne Simpkins is a prickly Detective Inspector who is not very likeable due to her own ego, selfishness and control issues.  She works long hours, gets little credit and is tired of stroking male egos.  Strange as it seems, she has been surrounded by her besotted late partner Pete, Tom her unhappy husband, ex-lover boss Sean, medical examiner Jacques, and her retired Chief of Detectives father--all having tender feelings for her in spite of her stubbornness.  Her daily mother-daughter relationship is less than stellar, but Charlie, her daughter, has her unconditional love.Lorne has been obsessed with the Unicorn, a master of escape, for eight years.  Confrontation with Unicorn appears ready to explode in 23 hours 59 minutes and 30 seconds.  The Unicorn is a devious vile madman who enjoys murder, sadistic torture and young girls among other despicable behaviors.  His descent into madness has increased with his power and feelings of invincibility.  He uses corruption and blackmail among high-level officials to aid his plans.The entire book is about Loren versus Unicorn.  Loren has plans for Unicorn and he in turn has definite plans for her--match the determined inspector against a highly intelligent and resourceful psychopath as the deadly game continues.It is a Brit novel and contains some British slang and spelling.  Editing could definitely have been improved.  Dialogue is sometimes stilted but overall, quite natural.  Some British terms such as SAS (Special Airforce Service) and ART (Armed Response Team) were not in my everyday American vocabulary.  The writing is straightforward without much embellishment.  It is a decent story, but you tend to feel more empathy for those inexplicably drawn to Lorne rather than Lorne herself.  I'm about to read Final Justice with the hope of finding out just what quality draws this loyalty and friendship to Lorne.