Rod Reynolds

Black Reed Bay – A highly addictive detective.

Black Reed Bay is the opening salvo in a new detective series from Rod Reynolds, and what an excellent introduction. Reynolds already an expert as a crime writer, still gives a gripping narrative throughout the book, with a nice twisty ending that even I did not see coming.

Reynolds brings the experience of his four previous novels to bare and already has a reputation for perfectly pitched books. He knows how to keep the reader hooked and draws them in deeper. While Reynolds the clues around the novel he makes sure you cannot join the dots so easily, and that is what makes him a very special writer.

A young woman makes a distressing call in the middle of the night, running for her life from someone who is about to kill her. At the time she is in an exclusive beachside neighbourhood, which happens to be miles from her own home. Many saw her but did not see where she went.

With nobody seeing Tina Grace since her disappearance Detective Casey Wray is the lead investigator along side her partner Detective Dave Cullen. There seem to many leads that go nowhere and plenty of suspects that they can find no incriminating evidence. This is a case that is a puzzle, that tests Wray and the rest of her team at the station house.

One thing is clear, somebody does not want them investigating this crime and trying to scare Wray from the case. Unfortunately for the criminals she is not easily put off and will not be happy until she has solved the case and brought the relevant people to justice. As that is what the Police do.

With many twists and turns and unseen circumstances, that throws Wray various ways, she is also caught in the middle of office politics between her chief and Police Headquarters. She needs to deal with the noise and keep her focus. Some how she does keep her focus and she does resolve everything, but how it ends is a juicy twist.

This is a breathtaking introduction to a new detective series and I cannot wait until I meet Detective Casey Wray again. This is a highly addictive detective series.… (más)

Black Night Falling – A Superb Suspense Thriller

Back Night Falling is the superb follow-up to Rod Reynolds debut thriller The Dark Inside, and it is absolutely stunning. It is hard to believe that this story set in America is written and researched by a British author, his hard work pays off and delivers a suspense thriller of the old school. With excellent prose, an eye for detail, and an ear for the accents of 1946 Arkansas and a knowledge of the American automobile of the times. Black Night Falling will not leave you disappointed as it delivers everything the reader wants.

Charlie Yates is a washed up journalist, who has just about escaped from Texarkana, six months previously, and with a new wife has escaped to the safety of the west coast and the sun. He may not be able to command a spot on one of the major papers these days at least he still has a job even if it is a more local rag than the LA Times.

An old acquaintance asks for his help once again in the deep south, but can he really trust Jimmy Robinson after what happened down in Texarkana. When he does turn up to help Robinson, he is too late, he had been killed in a fire at his boarding house cum bar, and the report says he had started it by being drunk and falling asleep.

Charlie Yates knows something is off, and working on a gut instinct looks in to what had brought Robinson to Hot Springs, try and find the story he was working on. When he finds that the story had links back to what happened back in Texarkana, he has reason to be perturbed and fearful for him and his new wife.

With cryptic notes and a few pictures, Yates is able to slowly able to piece together what Robinson was investigating when he was killed. Yates works out that it was finding what happened in the murder of three people had been successfully covered up and that by kicking that stone over had cost him his life. The picture that he gets of Hot Springs, is one of a town that has been built of gambling and prostitution and that there are just as many secrets hidden in the town and many people wanting to keep them hidden.

Like an old fashioned whodunit, Black Night Falling is a brilliant suspense thriller with plenty of twists and turns, and even though there are hints the clues to the ending are well hidden. This really is a welcome throwback to old school detective novels, which thrill and keep you in suspense in equal measure and Reynolds succeeds at this throughout the book.

Black Night Falling is a brilliant suspense thriller that will keep the reader hooked from beginning to end and delivers on every level. It is really good to read this brilliant follow-up to The Dark Inside and Black Night Falling will leave you wanting more of Charlie Yates and Rod Reynolds writing.… (más)