politicalthriller

Dead Letters – Michael Brissenden

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A dead politician, a mother’s letters from the grave, a daughter’s quest for answers.

OMG I freaking loved this book!!!!  Corrupt politicians, dirty cops, mafia links, gangs, counter terrorism………..seriously, what’s not to love.

I was a little nervous going into this one, it’s not the usual type of book I’m drawn to but honestly, once I started reading I couldn’t stop.  It was so compelling and so intriguing it had me hooked from the very first page.

When a politician is shot in the early hours of the morning, veteran officer Sid Allen, with his own closet full of skeletons, is called to the scene to investigate.  It’s not every day a politician is murdered.  What does it mean?  Is it terrorist related?  Is it gang related? 

Also poking around the death is journalist Zephyr Wilde who was only ten when her mother Shirley was murdered twenty years earlier.  Shirley was the owner of a local brothel and had contacts in high places, so why after all these years had the case of her mother’s death still not been solved?  Did someone want it to stay buried, no matter what the cost?

It’s not long before Sid and Zephyr’s worlds come crashing into each other and as the body count rises so does the tension.  The chapters were fact paced in this political thriller and the author has done a fantastic job of holding the reader’s attention right through to the nail biting ending.

As an added bonus, set across the fabulous city of Sydney, it was so good to read a book where I actually knew the name of the streets and the suburbs.

Thank you sooooo much Hachette Australia for the opportunity to read this 5 star book.  I highly recommend running out to the bookshop now to grab a copy.

*****

A Necessary Death – Anne Holt

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I managed to squeeze in another thriller before year end.  A Necessary Death is a Norwegian crime thriller set across the backdrop of Oslo and into Norway’s rugged mountain ranges.

More of a political thriller, the story follows Selma Falck, an investigator who takes up the challenge of looking into the mysterious death of her son in law, a death she does not believe was an accident.

Unfortunately for Selma, looking into something others would prefer she leaves alone could have deadly consequences.  When she wakes in the middle of a burning cabin a top a snow covered mountain in the middle of nowhere her nightmare begins.  Badly beaten and bruised, naked and left for dead, Selma barely makes it out of the cabin before it explodes.  How did she get there?  Clearly someone wants her dead, but who? Now she must work out how to survive and make her way out of the mountain without dying from exposure.

The book is set across a six month period and jumps between past and present as the storyline is built and we try to understand how Selma came to be in this cabin.  The political backdrop to this book plays heavily across the storyline.  Right wing vs left wing.  Fanatics and conspiracy theorists, back-room dealings with deadly consequences, all in the name of protecting the country. These parts of the book were a little heavy for me but I still found it enjoyable, I just had to concentrate a bit harder to follow who was who.

Selma herself is a very flawed character.  Brusque, damaged and with a no nonsense attitude to life I really found myself liking her.  She didn’t pretend to be anything other than how she portrayed herself, it gave her credibility as a character.

This was book 2 in the Selma Falck series but can absolutely be read as a standalone book.

Thank you so much to Allen and Unwin for the opportunity to read this one.  Definitely recommend to anyone that loves a really good political thriller.