First and foremost, a large thank you to NetGalley, Ross Greenwood, and Boldwood Books for providing me with a copy of this publication, which allows me to provide you with an unbiased review.

Returning for the second novel in this new series, I place my trust in Ross Greenwood to deliver something with as much punch as the debut book. Things are definitely different than the first time we encountered DI John Barton, but it is up to the reader to decide if they enjoy the ride. Years ago, a young boy lives under the watchful eye of his mother, a woman who has tried to put the fear of God into her son. She accepts no frills in life and is happy to punish him severely by tossing him into a cellar for long periods of time. This creates a young man who sees the world as one where sinners need to be punished, knowing that as long as he repents his sins, he will be able to rest peacefully in the afterlife. This still unnamed young man heads off to university, where he is put through trials and tribulations, only to see his anger rise slowly and his target become clearer. Moving to the present, DI John Barton and the rest of his Major Crime team attend the funeral of one of their own, lost in the field when another serial killer has exacted revenge. Barton hopes for a quiet Christmas, seeking to soak up all the time with his family that might be possible. When a member of the team is called to the scene of an apparent suicide, Barton later attends to substantiate the case; an old man who was dying chose to hang himself. In the background, the killer watches as his kills help him feel a sense of relief against those who would try to block him from feeling happiness. The dead man turns out to be the father of the killer’s girlfriend, and he hopes this will bring them closer, but she burrows away to be with her sister and brother-in-law. Wanting to push away any impediments to his happiness, the brother-in-law is next to go, but it is made to look a drowning. From there, more killings, all apparently innocent accidents pile up, until Barton comes upon a skeleton hidden under a compost heap. The pieces begin to come together and murder becomes a word bandied about a little more freely. With the killer on the ropes, he begins what he feels is right, admitting that he might have been at the scene of a few of these accidents, but refuses to admit they were acts of aggression or murder. While repentance to a version of events might set him free, the fact that he is a cop within Major Crimes might turn his entire team against him, if they can find him. Greenwood does a masterful job at setting the scene in this piece, showing just how devious the game of cat and mouse can be. Recommended to those who enjoy a police procedural where both sides are constantly in search for one another, as well as the reader who enjoys getting inside the killer’s head.

I thoroughly enjoyed Greenwood’s debut and was pleased when I could get my hands on this one as well. He is able to tell a story effectively and with the added narrative touches that pull the reader in from the opening chapters. DI JOhn Barton is a great quasi-protagonist in this piece, offering leadership within Major Crimes while also balancing a busy home life. He is determined to get through the red tape and will not suffer fools. Forced to shepherd some of the newer recruits, Barton offers sage advice while not appearing to favour anyone. The cast of supporting characters does well to keep the reader entertain and enthralled, from cops to witnesses, and even the killer. The killer does comes across as being quite the odd character in the bigger scheme of things, acting in many ways one might not expect a person who has committed so many crimes. That said, there is a certain eeriness to him that makes the reader want to know more. Pacing out the crimes before squealing on himself at times seems an odd choice, but one that works well. Greenwood’s writing pushes the story forward and keeps the reader guessing, with two parallels narratives from Barton and the killer’s perspectives. They cross intermittently and the reveals throughout give the reader some sense of how things will come together, though there are enough twists to keep any spoilers at bay. After a slow start, the book picked up momentum and the short chapters push the story forward, as the reader wants to read ‘just a little more’. I am happy to see that Greenwood has more in store for his cast of characters, as I am eager to go on another adventure in the greater Peterborough area of England.

Kudos, Mr. Greenwood for another winner. I the unique flavour you bring to your writing and this series looks to be getting better as things move forward.

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A Book for All Seasons, a different sort of Book Challenge: https://www.goodreads.com/group/show/...netgalley32 s Pat2,310 467

The Soul Killer by Ross Greenwood is a solid, if somewhat uninspiring, police procedural that did not fully engage me until about 70%. From then on it was really quite good. I can see how some people would really enjoy this but it just didn’t grab me.

The opening chapters were from the killer’s perspective. His childhood was unpleasant and his mother’s religious views confused the boy. These views were later twisted to rationalise his urge to kill, not terribly original. Although what the author did really well was make you able to feel sorry for the killer at times. He seemed very confused about the meaning of life and the concept of heaven.. The police officers were pleasant but not stand out characters and I couldn’t help wondering if they would ever catch this killer.. The story was very readable but not particularly memorable. Thanks to Netgalley, Boldwood books and the author for my review copy.25 s TheBookWarren475 128

4.25 Stars — Ross Greenwood’s unique, contemporary suspense-laden Crime Thriller is every bit as good as the series first novel — The Snow Killer — In pretty much every way. Sure, it may offer a more mundane opening chapter or so, as well as being stripped of the originality of it’s predecessor — through no fault of its own — based purely on the fact that DI Barton’s second entry is just that, the second entry. Therefore the extremely engaging and somewhat unique dual-alternating-perspectives of DI Barton & ‘The Killer’, alternating chapter to chapter in non-sequential order, is therefore no longer a surprise and loses a teeny bit of ‘wow’ factor.

But what it loses in the aforementioned, it gains in slickness and poignancy, with Greenwood now really finding his comfort in this rotating-narrator style. Each chapter reads as a cliff-edge fall into the abyss of the Criminal mind and we can get a clear insight into the Killers psyche and decide for ourselves what specifically has lead them there and also to cogitate on how it could’ve been prevented.

The format of the novel also changes something by else. It makes the novel a far far more alluring and utterly enthralling audiobook experience. This is due to the obvious, but is brought to reality incredibly well by the quite frankly BRILLIANT David Thorpe, who steals the show and makes it impossible to return to the novel without at least reading using his powers of delivery in all roles. I hate to harp on it but now that I’ve returned to The Snow Killer in full via audiobook as well, Thorpe does such a stellar job with DI Barton, but especially the Killers that it’s quite breathtaking when you take a step back. The characters become even more captivating and alive on a visceral and emotional level it’s a thrill one cannot turn away from.

DI Barton returns for another go around, in his own rather mundanely-joyful manner, chasing a Killer that’s as dangerous as the Snow Killer and perhaps even more cunning and deranged. The author does a sound job of building tension through bringing the Killer and their psyche to life, clearly showcasing what’s lead them to where they are and it’s debut novel, The Soul Killer is dripping with charisma, relatability and a solemn-spirit that creates the odd vibe whereby the reader feels for the killer at the same time as rooting for DI Barton and his team because they’re so.. well, good!

This is not at all easy to do, but Greenwoods real next-level strength and ability is in doing it all in a way that’s not at all ‘too clever’ or remotely pretentious whilst continually escalating the suspense, throwing curveballs & creating gasps right to the end. This series is on another plane to most Crime Thrillers, in its entirety maintaining the balance of good vs evil and of suspenseful power without ever crossing over into a gimmick, a cheap sell or even an easy win. It stuns me that this hasn’t been made into a series yet — I can imagine Jed Mercurio turning this into a show of Line of Duty level awesomeness! It has everything, is intelligently simple, has numerous crescendo’s and elaborate mapping, and would translate well to TV because there’s not a lot of what you’d consider ‘expensive’ narrative that would rule it un-doable!

This isn’t a cross of Literary Fiction and Crime Fiction something from SA Cosby or Percival Everett, but it is incredibly good suspenseful crime thriller writing with a prose that’s nimble and consistent.

DI Barton has his hands full, and most of his team return here in fine form, inc an adversary that’s truly threatening and jarringly able — given how inherently evil they are — And it is a tension built around the quintessential suspense themes, done well and with a touch of panache. Unfortunately, there are a small (very) handful of shallow we say ‘eeek’ or cringe moments — that are entirely the exception not the rule, in which can — as with 90% of crime thrillers — easily be glossed over by the gripping nature of the narrative and the likability of the characters. By moments I mean the literal version, brief and in some sense ‘cinematic’ in intent that lane less than flat ergo the odd word in over-description or to over-clarify hence coming across tacky and unnecessary. But overall they can be forgiven and knock off a superfluous, mere 0.25 off of the rating — because even if rated 4.50 I’d of round-down to four so it’s not impacting but it is worth noting. It’s almost the whole gimmicky-feel of the title, but I believe this impacts far more negatively in a perception sense than anything else and costs perhaps more serious and literary inclined readers from ever considering this series which is a shame as the title — in my humble opinion — is ly due to the first novel initially being a standalone and conversely the natural Knick-on being the second novel when conceived, created the series theme and ‘gimmick’ — But this is no gimmicky and/or mundane thriller, this is a class-act up and down, left and right — I’ll battle anyone whom dates disagree…
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