Review: An Intriguing British Crime Thriller!
Rating: 4 out of 5
Date: 05 5, 2012
John Ray never wanted anything to do with his father's criminal activity, and education was his ticket out of that lifestyle. After graduating from Cambridge and going abroad to Spain, John worked as a corporate accountant for two firms in London and Manchester for fifteen years. Two years ago, all that changed when his older brother Joe was gunned down in a gangland murder, and he found himself back in the Yorkshire town of Leeds, bound and determined to turn the family secondhand automobile dealership into a respectable business. He rebuilt the dealership with a young family friend, Owen "Freddy" Metcalfe, and was reaping the benefits of success, when Freddy is accused of murdering a young prostitute in one of John's cars, with counterfeit money found in the spare tire. John is determined to prove that Freddy is innocent, and with the help of his police detective girlfriend, Denise Danson, he becomes a pseudo-crime investigator, while at the same time dodging the stigma of his crime family's past. Can John prove that Freddy is innocent .... or does his own criminal past come back to haunt him?Hope Road is an intriguing fast-paced British crime thriller that will engage the reader to join in the murder investigation. The storyline is well written and is multi-layered with complex subplots like the underworld crime world, counterfeiting, money laundering, drugs, sex, murder and betrayal. The author weaves a story that is filled with many thrilling twists and turns, it's dizzying pace keeps the reader turning the pages in order to find out what happens next, and engages the reader to figure out the identity of the real killer. The characters are realistic, complex and down right fascinating, each character provides the story with depth and makes it that much more compelling. I loved John Ray, the author provides the reader with a main character that is complex and like a puzzle that engages them to figure out who and what this man really is all about. The attention to detail is fabulous, as an American reading a British novel, I found the British language, the description of the area (Leeds, Yorkshire, etc), and the British criminal police procedure of investigation very interesting. I thought I would have a hard time getting through the story since I am not used to reading a British novel, but I found that the British terminology was easy to figure out, and actually it was a really fascinating read. As a murder mystery suspense thriller fan, I was pleasantly surprised with this British crime thriller, the suspense, intrigue and surprise ending has made me a new John Barlow fan.Hope Road is the first novel in the LS9 crime series, which will be comprised of nine novels, and will take the author a decade to complete. The first installment in this series set the bar for what is to come down the road, and I look forward to reading the rest of the novels. Crime thriller fans, this novel is a must read. Whether you're into American or British style of writing, this novel is worth looking into, and chances are the rest of the novels in the series will prove to be just as good a read as this one was!Disclaimer: I received a copy of the book from the author in exchange for my honest review and hosting a virtual book event on my book review blog site.