Matthew Frank

I very much enjoyed this, the debut novel by Matthew Frank.

The protagonist, Joseph Stark, is a war-torn veteran out of the Territorial Army, struggling with both physical and mental injuries while he begins his rehabilitation as a junior detective based at London's Greenwich police station.

Although the police-based part of the novel doesn't break new ground, Stark's character is so exquisitely drawn that you're compelled to keep reading.

There's a strong supporting cast of characters, too and I am looking forward to reading the next book in this series.… (mehr)

Between the Crosses – A Proper Hero

Between the Crosses is Matthew Frank’s follow-up book to his debut If I Should Die and his hero detective Joseph Stark VC. Once again Frank’s prose is as crisp and clear and direct as the bullets that fly around this thriller. Stark is for want of a better phrase a defective detective, with more issues than a psychiatrist can handle but you cannot help wanting him to win through.

No longer a trainee detective Joseph Stark finds himself involved in a double murder case, where there seems to be a lack of leads on the surface. When they can link the current double murder with a twenty-year-old murder cold case, things take a twist for the worst. Especially as they begin to make links, witnesses disappear or just turn up dead.

As the Murder Incident Team are under pressure and missing a leader, one is brought in who seems intent on doing more damage to the team and in particular Stark. The inspector will do anything and everything to provoke a response from Stark who manages to maintain control of his responses during the provocation with a superior officer.

At the same time, Stark’s personal life is in full melt down, he has split from his girlfriend Kelly even though he loves her, but thinks it is for the best. His PTSD controls his sleep and his thoughts, he may have a VC but he still fights that battle every day of his life, and like most men unable to express how he really feels to his counsellor.

Stark and some of the things he does drives his sergeant Fran Millhaven mad, but she learns slowly she comes to realise that he is always assessing what is happening as if he is back in Helmand province. But it is his army training that will eventually come to the aid of both and might just spare more deaths.

DC Joe Stark is a terrific hero whose faults you can overlook as you hope that as he investigates further he will finally find peace. Joe Stark has yet to confront his PTSD and be honest with himself, just something else he must fight besides crime and an inspector, whether he willing too is a different matter.

Between the Crosses is a highly readable, exciting and plausible crime thriller with plenty of dead bodies, it is one hell of a powerful novel.… (mehr)