Hangman

Crime
Thriller

⭐A 2018 Top Rated Read⭐

By Daniel Cole

Paperback 384 pages

Publisher Trapeze (15th Nov 2018)

ASIN B06XRJH4M9
ISBN-13 978-1409168812

'A cracking thriller, fast-paced and gripping.' Netgalley reviewer


📕My Review

A body is discovered on the other side of the Atlantic with startling similarities to the Ragdoll murders. DCI Emily Baxter is called upon to investigate with FBI Agent Elliot Curtis and Damien Rouche of the CIA. The body has been strung up and the word 'BAIT' carved into its chest. As the investigation intensifies, another body is found, also carved with 'BAIT'. The nearby corpse of the killer is carved with 'PUPPET'. Baxter, Curtis and Rouche must work out how the victims are selected and just who the puppeteer is; the person pulling the strings.

This book was an incredible read. I really didn't think it would come anywhere close to its predecessor, Ragdoll, but how wrong was I! The characters were brought to life with such outstanding clarity that they literally leapt off every page. DCI Baxter was one tough lady who, despite trust issues and many faults, was sassy, loyal and dedicated to her job above and beyond the call of duty.

I thought the entire book was imaginative, creative and original from beginning to end. It was gritty, brutal, gory, real and pumping with adrenaline. The imagery and ingenuity was fantastic - the excellent scene inside the church is one that will stay with me for a very long time.

I'd love to say this book would make a fantastic movie but more often than not, movies disappoint. Let me put it bluntly - the book did not. If you get the opportunity to read Hangman, grab it with both hands! I enjoyed it so much I could burst with pleasure 😊.

I received an Advance Reader Copy. My thanks to NetGalley, Daniel Cole and Trapeze.

Barnsey's Books Rating ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Other reviews:

Ragdoll
Endgame

📗The Blurb

How do you catch a killer who's already dead?'

Eighteen months have passed, but the scars the Ragdoll murders left behind remain.

DCI Emily Baxter is summoned to a meeting with US Special Agents Elliot Curtis of the FBI and Damien Rouche of the CIA. There, she is presented with photographs of the latest copycat murder: a body contorted into a familiar pose, strung up impossibly on the other side of the world, the word BAIT carved deep into its chest.

As the media pressure intensifies, Baxter is ordered to assist with the investigation and attend the scene of another murder to discover the same word scrawled across the victim, carved across the corpse of the killer - PUPPET.

As the murders continue to grow in both spectacle and depravity on both sides of the Atlantic, the team helplessly play catch up. Their only hope: to work out who the 'BAIT' is intended for, how the 'PUPPETS' are chosen but, most importantly of all, who is holding the strings.

📘The Author

At 33 years old, Daniel Cole has worked as a paramedic, an RSPCA officer and most recently for the RNLI, driven by an intrinsic need to save people or perhaps just a guilty conscience about the number of characters he kills off in his writing.

He currently lives in sunny Bournemouth and can usually be found down the beach when he ought to be writing book two instead.

Daniel Cole on Twitter