The Skeleton Road: A chilling, nail-biting psychological thriller that will have you hooked (Karen Pirie)

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I didn't find this a comfortable book, although it kept me engrossed more or less without cease from beginning to end.

The skeleton cannot easily be identified, even with a bullet hole in the back of the skull and degraded evidence around the remains. There's a TON of slime in this one and a monster plucking hairs off a creature for a snack, so a little bit of gross factor. Working at ironic cross-purposes, the two investigative teams unwittingly duplicate, complicate and contradict each other’s discoveries as they leapfrog over repeated flashbacks to the hellish Dubrovnik landscape to come up, in miraculous synchronicity, with the real killer. What happened in the Balkans was horrific, and it is astounding how quickly the world has moved on, even though this only happened not so long ago. It is one of a series about Detective Chief Inspector Karen Pirie, but I found it worked as a standalone novel.I can understand how some readers might despair of keeping the many characters and plot clear in their minds. The siege of Dubrovnik in particular is told in harrowing but understated detail, bringing the conflict and those engaged in it to life in a way that news reports strive for but seldom achieve.

But it is a wild world out there, and Thrull's influence is making it even more sinister by the second. If they had been more serious and not so silly they might have been much more interesting to read about. While there, Maggie had fallen in love with a Croatian army officer, so stayed on once the war began. This won’t be an easy ride for the kids, as they travel through the Monster-Apocalypse wasteland they'll come across strange sightings, new creatures, and old foes.Told in a mixture of text and black-and-white illustration, this is the perfect series for any kid who’s ever dreamed of starring in their own comic book or video game. The story of Maggie’s relationship with Mitja is interwoven in a series of deeply personal first person narratives that go deep behind the scenes of the war-torn former Yugoslavia. In this gruesomely fascinating book, former journalist and renowned suspense novelist McDermid (The Skeleton Road) explains the science behind solving crimes. They are understandably surprised to find skeletal remains hidden in a high pinnacle that hasn't been touched by maintenance for years. The writing continues to be engaging, told from the perspective of self-proclaimed post-apocalyptic action hero Jack Sullivan.

There is never a dull moment during the apocalypse, but you really couldn't find a braver bunch to survive with than our heroes. Both are strong, independent women who forge a real, but fragile bond over the course of Karen’s investigation. As well as the flashbacks to the 90s there are investigations into the murder in Edinburgh as well as some civil service types chasing up connections between a series of assassinations internationally. I've already started the next book and is glad to see it's back on the normal track that I know and love!Much, much more than a mere police procedural “ The Skeleton Road” is actually three simultaneous narratives.