Today it is my great pleasure to wish a happy publication day to Robert Bryndza as his latest thriller, Nine Elms, is released in ebook today. The first in a brand new series featuring Lecturer and Investigator, Kate Marshall, I have absolutely no doubt this is going to be a brilliant series. Before I share my thoughts on the first book, my thanks must got to publisher, Sphere, for providing me with an advance copy of the book for review. Here’s what it’s all about:
About the Book
From the breakthrough international bestselling author of The Girl in the Ice, a breathtaking, page-turning novel about a disgraced female detective’s fight for redemption. And survival.
Available from: Amazon | Kobo | Waterstones | Google Play | Apple Books
Kate Marshall was a promising young police detective when she caught the notorious Nine Elms serial killer. But her greatest victory suddenly became a nightmare.
Fifteen years after those catastrophic, career-ending events, a copycat killer has taken up the Nine Elms mantle, continuing the ghastly work of his idol.
Enlisting her brilliant research assistant, Tristan Harper, Kate draws on her prodigious and long-neglected skills as an investigator to catch a new monster. But there’s much more than her reputation on the line: Kate was the original killer’s intended fifth victim . . . and his successor means to finish the job.
My Thoughts
If there is one thing that Robert Bryndza can be relied upon for, it is to open up his books in such a way that readers are instantly hooked. Completely and utterly sucked into the book, so much so that you don’t want to turn away. The opening chapters of Nine Elms do exactly that, setting up the story instantly in a way that is equal parts gruesome and thrilling and with a delicious side order of the completely unexpected. We are introduced to our main character, Kate Marshall, but not as we will come to know her throughout the course of the book. Here we will find out just what it was that happened to end her career, even as it was only just starting …
After such a brilliant and pulse racing opener, my expectations were high and I have to be honest, every single one of them was met. This is a case which borders on the taboo, the nature of the crimes very difficult to digest (no pun intended here as you will come to understand when you read), but never portrayed in a way that will alienate or offend readers. The story is clearly divided into the then and now: the case which ended Kate’s career, and the one which is about to open up a whole new world of possibility.
When we meet her again, Kate is no longer a Detective but a college lecturer, providing the kind of insight her Criminology students appear to crave. She has moved from London live by the sea, and has tried desperately to put her past behind her, even though she has been left with a permanent reminder of her past, and not just bodily and mental scars. When a murder occurs near to her home, she is shocked by the startling similarities between the victim and those of the Nine Elms cannibal, but he is still safe behind bars and cannot possibly be responsible.So just who is the copycat, and how far are they willing to go?
Kate is a brilliant character. She is damaged by her past, but full of resolve and the kind of mental fortitude that the author instills so perfectly into his female characters. She has every reason to be fearful of what is happening around her, and to walk away, especially when the police don’t initially believe her claims of a copycat, but she won’t. She is strong in her own way, and very intelligent. Supported by her teaching assistant, Tristan, they made a formidable team and one I am looking forward to seeing develop.
The story picks up in pace as it moves towards its conclusion. The shocks keep on coming and the clues, and tension slowly build. We are faced with some very dark, and very skin crawling bad guys, and the threat oozes from each page, particularly when faced with the original killer. And then that ending … Wow. Just when you think things can’t get any more tense and that Robert bryndza can’t push things any further, he does, and in dramatic and truly effective style.
I really enjoyed the fact that the author has chosen to take us away from the regular police procedural, giving us a character who is flawed but likeable, with all the skills of a police detective but none of the procedures to hold her back. The story keeps you guessing to the end, the parallels between the current murders and the case that ended Kate’s career carefully drawn, holding back just enough info to keep us all in suspense. A brilliant start to the series and I am looking forward to seeing where the author takes us all next.
About the Author
Robert Bryndza is the author of the international #1 bestselling Detective Erica Foster series. Robert’s books have sold over 2.5 million copies and have been translated into 27 languages. He is British and lives in Slovakia.
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