TG Reid

I am a huge fan of crime thrillers, and am so picky about the authors I choose as my favourites. I can confidently say that this book had put Reid firmly into the spot of my favourite thriller author. I was completely won-over by this book!

The book is based in the Campsie Fells area (a place I use to visit a lot for walks) and I loved the level of detail that went in to bringing to life the region and truly showing the way the small communities interact. The details were excellent and vivid, making it easy to feel as if you are a part of the story.

Reid created characters, especially the main character, that were well-rounded, unique and very believable. It made it very easy to fall into the story and honestly become hooked on read ‘just one more page.’

I loved the pace and flow of the story. It was perfect for a crime thriller, and made it exciting and perfect for and twists that may or may not be thrown your way.

Overall, this is a very well-written story. It is vivid, exciting and has the twists you hope for in a good thriller. I highly recommend this book. Five stars all the way!… (mehr)

From the start of the book DCI Bone did not appear to be at all a "happy camper". He snapped at his team and grumbled constantly to himself, but I guess since he was recovering from an injury, that he had received in the first book, that it was understandable. It just unnecessarily took up story space. He and his team were doing a good job with the murder investigation since soon they had WAY too many possible suspects. Bone soon whittled them down and of course, solved the case. The author has created some great characters that seem almost like real people with their banter and teasing among themselves and the glimpses we are allowed to see in their families...especially Bone and his ex-wife and his son. The plot is again really intriguing making this second book a welcome addition to what is going to be an outstanding series.… (mehr)

This is the third in series featuring a Scottish crime unit led by Detective Chief Inspector Duncan Bone. As the story begins, DCI Bone has been treating himself at his counsellor’s advice for his PTSD after handling the “Peek-a-boo” serial killer case; as Bone was moving in to arrest the suspect, the latter set off an explosive device, killing himself and almost killing Bone in the process. He has been staying in a caravan by a lake for the last three months, swimming every day, eating better, and dealing with this demons.

Bone’s partner, DI Rhona Walker, has been Acting DCI in Bone’s absence, but is eager for Bone to return. The opportunity arises after a number of calls from Barnock Prison Hospital for high-risk patients, requesting Bone’s presence. One of the inmates, Malcolm Lee, is terminally ill with only days to live, and is insisting on talking to DCI Bone and only Bone.

When Bone goes to see him, Lee confesses to a crime of many years ago. A group of 14-year-old boys murdered another in 1979, and Lee tells Bone where to find the evidence.

Bone comes back to work to spearhead the investigation. Soon the team of DI Rhona Walker, DI Mark Mullens, DS Sheila Baxter, and DC Will Harper, not only find a body, they find a number of high-level people who might have been involved. Suggestions of blackmail and money laundering complicate the case. Then bodies start piling up, and of course Bone gets into mortal danger as well.

Evaluation: This is a face-paced thriller full of twists and turns from the very first pages to the very end. It was quite entertaining, enough so to get me to order the next in the series right away.… (mehr)

This is the second in series featuring a Scottish crime unit led by Detective Chief Inspector Duncan Bone. As the story begins, DCI Bone is in therapy for PTSD after handling the “Peek-a-boo” serial killer case; as Bone was moving in to arrest the suspect, the latter set off an explosive device, killing himself and almost killing Bone in the process. But Bone’s marriage didn’t survive the trauma, and he doesn’t get to see his six-year-old son Michael as much as he would like.

Bone has been on leave from the Rural Crime Unit of (fictional) Kilwinnoch Police Station in central Scotland. His boss, DSU Roy Gallacher, called him to come back to work to help with a missing person case. Richard Jones, a photographer and head of the Geography Department at Kilwinnoch Academy, has been missing for four days. The Head Office in Edinburgh ordered the RCU to help with the case since “the guy is a local bloody hero.”

It isn’t long before Jones’ body was found at Braeburn Falls in the Campsie Fells (a range of hills in central Scotland). Jones is not just dead but has been crucified. Bone rejoins his partner, DI Rhona Walker, along with DI Mark Mullens, DS Sheila Baxter, and DC Will Harper, and they start chasing clues. They found that Jones was a hero for some, but a troublemaker to others, particularly to those accused of environmental destruction; Jones was an environmental activist. Furthermore, there had been some very public altercations with a fellow teacher at his academy.

As in the previous book, some dark comic relief is provided by Andrew Cash, Chief Forensic Pathologist at SOC, who tends to wax philosophical about the vagaries of existence during autopsies. (Example: “Isn’t it so odd to think of all that life and love and ambition and desire reduced to a bucket of malodorous jelly?”)

Bone struggles with both real demons and his inner demons as he finds the killer and almost gets killed himself in the process.

Evaluation: This is a face-paced and terrifying thriller full of twists and turns from the very first pages to the very end. It was quite entertaining, enough so to get me to order the next in the series right away.… (mehr)