This is the kind of book that you really enjoy while you are reading it, but can't really remember for long after you are finished. ( )

This is Sean Slater's debut novel and I must say I really liked it. You get pulled in right from the start and it doesn't let you go until you close the book.

I thought the story was great. We all know that school shootng take place from the news but Slater made the plot really great. So no sully high school kid who goes on a rampage here.
No he made this story about. The background of Red Mask is well thought out and believable.

The characters are well developed. Striker is a tough man and cop, with the usual trouble for authority figures, although I must say I would hate Laroche to (he is an ass) and is trying to combine work and raising his 15 year old daughter Coutney. Courtney is a typical teenager, does everything she is told not to do and picks a fight about everything, but she is a smart girl. The relationship between father and daughter isn't that bad but a dad who is working a case 24/7 and a teenage girl combined, kind of screams trouble just like in real life.

The book is told from different points of view and that made it easier to get to know the different characters. The chapters from Red Mask's point of view gave you more insight on his motives and it made him look human eventhough everthing he does makes him a monster.

There are some very grisly and violent scenes in this book but I must say they weren't all that graphic which I thought was a shame but also makes sure that a lot of other people will be able to like this book. ( )

"When you're in a field full of horses, don't go looking for zebras. All you'll find is more horses."

From the blurb: In his first hour back from a six-month leave of absence, Detective Jacob Striker’s day quickly turns into a nightmare. He is barely on the scene at his daughter’s high school when he encounters an Active Shooter situation. Three men wearing hockey masks – Black, White and Red – have stormed the school with firearms and are killing indiscriminately. Striker takes immediate action. Within minutes, two of the gunmen are dead and Striker is close to ending the violence. But before Striker can react, Red Mask flees – and escapes. Against the clock, Striker investigates the killings for which there is no known motive and no suspect. Soon his investigation takes him to darker places, and he realizes that everything at Saint Patrick’s High is not as it appears. The closer he gets to the truth, the more dangerous his world becomes – until Striker himself is in the line of fire.

First note: not for the faint-hearted. A lot of people die in very nasty ways.

Now that we’ve got that out of the way...

Striker is a solid character and well set up for future books; another Striker novel is set to appear in 2012. His romance with his partner seemed daft, ill-conceived and unnecessary – it was as if romance had been deemed a necessary ingredient, and Felicia was the easiest way to shoe-horn it in (also – anyone else think of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert when they see the name Felicia?). Courtney is a proper piece of work – a rebellious teenager who is still devastated by her mother’s death and not really speaking to her father, although still cooking for him and clearly devoted to him; a paradox entirely suited to a 15-year-old. I wasn’t much of a fan of Felicia or the other policemen – “Noodles” and “Meatloaf” became characterised more by their large size and rude vocab than by their capabilities. Deputy Chief Laroche, however, was a great anti-hero – annoying, prissy, too concerned with the media image to actually do any policing. I hope he comes back in further instalments.

Slater is a bit overenthusiastic with plot – in the end, not only is there an international crime cartel, but there are 5 parties to an old crime, crime scenes all over town (it took until page 300 for me to realise that we were in Canada!) and generally a few too many strands involved. I would have liked to see it trimmed down to 400 pages rather than 512.

The characters have potential but I don’t think I’ll be returning for the second instalment. Reilly Steel appeals to me much more. ( )

A very muscular police action story. Lots of running and gunning and chasing people down and yelling in corridors and hating superiors and kicking down doors and drinking lattes and eating pastries (apparently Canadian cops don't eat plain old coffee and donuts) and ... you get the picture.

That is to say that this was a quick read and relatively enjoyable if not ultimately fulfilling. It's a cop book that's less a police procedural and more a novel wanting to be an action movie. I like that stuff, but Slater's a little heavy-handed and obvious throughout all of this and as I got into this book it became more and more of a chore to get through. Thankfully for the book I was on the train riding to Sacramento from the Bay Area and back so I had plenty of time to finish it.

Not bad just not all that great, either. ( )

The Survivor by Sean Slater
Reviewed by Moirae the fates book reviews

Columbine. Dunblane. Virginia Tech. Winnenden. But Saint Patrick's High?

In his first hour back from a six-month leave of absence, Detective Jacob Striker's day quickly turns into a nightmare. He is barely on scene five minutes at his daughter's high school when he encounters an Active Shooter situation. Three men wearing hockey masks - Black, White, and Red - have stormed the school with firearms and are killing indiscriminately.

Striker takes immediate action. Within minutes, two of the gunmen are dead and Striker is close to ending the violence.

But the last gunman, Red Mask, does something unexpected. He runs up to his fallen comrade, racks the shotgun, and unloads five rounds into the man, obliterating his face and hands. Before Striker can react, Red Mask flees - and escapes.

Against the clock, Striker investigates the killings for which there is no known motive and no known suspect. Soon his investigation takes him to darker places, and he realizes that everything at Saint Patrick's High is not as it appears. The closer he gets to the truth, the more dangerous his world becomes. Until Striker himself is in the line of fire.

And the violence follows him home. (Synopsis provided by goodreads)

This is one of those books that had me hooked in the first chapter. I have never read a book by this author before and I would read another. I liked this book. Slater has a knack for grabbing the reader’s attention and making them want to keep turning the pages!
I personally stayed up until I finished this book.

I found the characters to be strong, strong willed, strong opinioned ect. I do enjoy reading mysteries, especially ones where you can’t do anything until you have all the answers the who the why ect.

The character development was very strong in this book as was the dialog, this was a book in which I found Detective Striker to be a very believable and a very likeable character. I would recommend this book to anyone who likes suspense books and mysteries.

Overall rating
**** 4 out of 5 stars

Cover art:
The cover art kinda freaks me out.

Obtained:
I was sent an ARC by the publisher for review as part of the Mystery Suspense challenge hosted by Book Chick City. Thank you!

***THIS BOOK WILL BE OUT MARCH 2011*** ( )