This is the third in Kernick’s Bone Field trilogy, coming after the titular The Bone Field and its sequel The Hanged Man. While this book could be read on its own, I would highly recommend reading the previous two titles to get the most enjoyment from it.
The series focuses on a group of powerful and corrupt men who have children and adults - mostly vulnerable and easily missed, but not always - kidnapped to order so that they may be tortured and murdered for their sadistic pleasure. The three novels trace the unravelling of this network and the efforts of two disgraced former police officers - Ray Mason and Tina Boyd (Ray is a serving officer in the first novel, and disgraced by the third) - to solve the crimes and bring the perpetrators to justice.
Alastair Sheridan, one of those guilty of the offences is a wealthy city fund manager, and by this novel, he’s entered politics and is on the cusp of becoming Prime Minister. Cem Kalaman, the other remaining conspirator, is the head of a powerful organised crime syndicate. Sheridan, in particular, is determined to stop the investigations into him once and for all, his fellow perpetrators having been killed, the bodies of victims having been discovered, and it all reaches a crescendo in this final instalment.
Simon Kernick is a versatile crime writer and with this series, I feel that he’s moved into quite gothic territory. There’s a real dark feel to these novels and it’s not just the horrendous crimes that the criminals have committed (which are never described in gratuitous detail) but rather the intersection between powerful men and the almost satanic cult that they’re a part of, and the near invulnerability that their wealth and power bring to them. It makes for a gripping trilogy and Die Alone is a suitable finish to it.
4 out of 5 stars
No comments:
Post a Comment