Luke Delaney

This book is more convoluted than a writhing snake...

The gimmick of the book is the fact that the main detective has the ability to put himself in the killer's shoes, and sort of empathizing with him. I think I've never came across something remotely similar.

Apart from its convoluted nature (inline with today's Crime Fiction standards), I've kind of liked it, but with some reservations. The author, new to me, took some well-trodden ground, and wrought havoc with my expectations.

The plotting is excellent, the narrative convoluted and sparky at times . He weaved his cast with the hand of an artisan and created a set of convincing protagonists. There’s a rich density to the layering of points-of-view, but the most unsettling feature of the book is the author's use of first-person-narration amongst various third-persons’ (victims, police, suspects), making the overall effect quite effective.

The pervasive use of the "I" pronoun in the book, without identifying the source of the voice made me start doubting my initial assumptions about the culprit.

The bad part for me was the palpable artificiality. I felt I was being lead in one direction, and then, all of a sudden, another red herring, to plant the seeds of doubt. This happened several times, putting me out of the story in consequence.
"… (mehr)

The Rule of Fear – A Stunning Standalone Thriller

Luke Delaney has become one of the most popular crime writers in Britain with his DI Sean Corrigan series has written an absolutely stunning standalone thriller in The Rule of Fear. This is a gripping and twisted crime thriller that shows that absolute power corrupts absolutely, this really is a cracking read.

Jack King is stabbed when he answers what is thought to be a domestic call and discovers that a family has been killed by the father, then attempts to kill him. A few months on he is on desk duty wanting to get back on the streets, when he is called in to see Superintendent Gerrard’s with Inspector Johnson in attendance, when he is offered the chance to lead a new unit when going back on active duty.

He jumps at the chance to be seen as a proper ‘thief taker’ before continuing with his police career on the up, and the Grove Wood Estate is where he would earn his reputation as a copper’s copper. As he and his team take on the estate they decide to operate by a different set of rules, with less of the bureaucracy and the team is successful and the chiefs love his crime figures showing he is on top of what he is doing.

What we see as the longer King is on the Estate the more the Estate sucks him in, and possibly suffering from PTSD he may not be in the best position to manage himself or a team. When a female colleague is seriously attacked and put in hospital King’s life begins to spiral out of control. His life and mental condition is in chaos and he has discovered away of pain management none of his colleagues or senior managers would agree with.

As King starts to spiral out of control he is dragging down his team with him, even when they want out and be real police officers. The problem for them is that King has hit self-destruct mode and taking the law in to his own hands, as judge, jury and executioner he makes some very serious enemies.

As a paranoia takes control and making all the wrong decisions in life come to the fore, he even deems those trying to help him as enemies. It is clear things are not going to end well as his life and career begin to fall to pieces, how it will end nobody is sure, or can they save Jack King?

An excellent standalone thriller watching a police officer spiral out of control and watching everything he touches turning to dust. There is something about watching a police man fall in to the traps that others have set, he had the opportunities to get out but is drunk on power. A truly excellent thriller and a break from the police procedural thriller, this is a new spin on the theme.… (mehr)

It was definitely a book that was hard to put down, but it annoyed me for a couple of reasons. Firstly, as someone who is fussy about English grammar, I found the book was not very well written - a lot of sentences ending in prepositions ("Prop me up against the wall - where I can watch him from."). Also, it annoyed me just how right DI Sean Corrigan was throughout the book - the things that he imagined or guessed nearly always turned out to be correct, even when he had no evidence for them. This just seemed too unrealistic to me.
Like I said at the beginning though, it was a book that was hard to put down, and I read all of it!… (mehr)