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The style of writing is lively, engaging and colourful with scenes springing to life before your eyes. I like the contrast between the different perspectives. Whilst the lead character is despicable, he’s also amusing with a clutch of one-liners and a wry sense of humour. He thinks on his feet, he has to. The kidnappers point of view couldn’t be more different as this is cold, chilling, creepy and violent. The mothers narrative is fascinating as you witness the lengths she is prepared to go to. The storyline builds, the tension and suspense mounts as nefarious, savoury and unscrupulous characters try to do their worst. The ending is excellent, methinks just desserts?? Maybe, maybe not.
Becca is a barrister asked to defend killers and seemingly impervious to the fact she might be getting guilty criminals off scot free. When something awful happens to her daughter she is forced to choose between her family and her personal belief in the law- how far will she go to protect her own flesh and blood? Without giving away any spoilers it's a kidnapping procedural with a difference and brings its apparently disparate plots together in an intriguing way. I love this book; this really is a thriller, and a beautifully written one. For me, Dennis Lehane is one of the best American thriller writers alive today. This is one of his early books from his Kenzie and Gennaro series – a male and female partnership of private investigators based in Boston. He wrote five books featuring them in the 1990s.There are very few redeeming qualities among the array of characters that feature in the story. Many of the characters come across as caricatures of criminals, their driving force is self-preservation and they are more than willing to double-cross each other if that means they'll escape. Tell me about your next book, Tell No One by Harlan Coben, which sounds like a very tense thriller and is all about a doctor losing (or is it finding) his wife?
The story revolves around a detective hunting down cold-blooded killers, but as the plot unfolds, you begin to question whether he knows more than he's letting on. Alongside him is a mother who must defend a murderer to protect her kidnapped daughter. The moral dilemmas and tension in this situation are palpable. And then there's a cunning couple attempting the perfect crime. I enjoyed The First 48 Hours as it is a clever novel with plenty of twists and turns. I did not find it as gripping as I thought it would be and that is due, I think, to the continually changing point of view. The majority of the novel is told in the first person from the first person perspective of a morally ambiguous detective, Fish with the lawyer, the couple and some other characters making contributions as and when required. The story involves multiple POV, and three apparently unrelated plot lines which intersect smoothly at the right point. This is a writer clearly experienced with delivering a gripping and unusual story, which is remarkably hard to put down.
Simon Kernick Complete Book List
A group of kidnappers, and a crooked cop who knows how the system works is also on the investigation team. This was a great read, well plotted and full of some interesting but rather unsavoury characters. I can’t say I liked any of the main protagonists although I did feel sorry for Becca’s predicament and my sympathy increased as the book progressed. Delfina was particularly nasty and I was really hoping she wouldn’t evade justice!
The First 48 Hours” is a verd thriller where three enthralling storylines are connected by secrets, danger, and a constant race against time. A committed detective is assigned the task of solving a chilling murder case. The second storyline features a mother who is defending her own child accused of murder and thirdly a couple planning what they believe to be the perfect crime. There are some good twists along the way that worked well for me - some of the recent 'twist masters'' works have felt like they just want to add one after another after another to the point you find them so contrived it's spoils the story. Here, they're relevant, appropriate and germane to the overall plot. I've not read many of this author's books and that's not for want of trying to fit them into an already bulging TBR but, what I have read had been top notch. I really do need to get my act together! The book then moves to a completely different character, Becca Barraclough, a successful defense barrister who believes that everyone deserves the best defense possible, no matter what they've been accused of. It's her job to try and plant reasonable doubt in the jury's mind. You immediately wonder how Becca's storyline is connected to the Vanishers, and then her daughter is kidnapped. This time around it isn't money that the kidnappers demand. This is a brilliant book because it turns crime fiction on its head. It is a story told by a retired detective to a crime writer who has just given a lecture on crime writing at a police conference. The detective is talking about one of his former colleagues and how he became obsessed with this case about a little girl who was found murdered in some woods on the outskirts of a small Swiss town in the 1950s. The detective who finds the girl was just about to leave his job to go and work overseas, but he makes a promise – a pledge – to the girl’s parents that he will find her killer and bring him to justice, and that pledge takes over his life. It is an immensely moving scene when he talks to the girl’s parents, and very difficult to read.I can’t say that I liked any of the characters, with perhaps the exception of the lawyer, Becca, as she is a victim too, but even then, what she chooses to do is not sympathetic. This makes it difficult to identify with them and get caught up in their plights. You often talk to police officers as part of your research – so do you agree with the book’s theory? THREE STORIES. TWO DAYS. DOES ONE SECRET CONNECT THEM ALL? THE FIRST 48 HOURS.... MAY ALSO BE THEIR LAST.
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