The Man of Hackpen Hill by JS Monroe

Cunningly complicated and complex, this story was convoluted in twisty surprising ways. D.I. Silas Hart and D.C. Strover have a curious crime to figure out in this tale of evil I fear may be all too true in real life. This is the third book Hart & Strover appear in but reading it without the previous books is easily done. That said, I did wonder about the two and wish I could remember them from the previous book though I do remember enjoying the story and wonder if they had lesser roles than the woman who lost her ability to remember faces.

What I liked:
* The crop circle messages that needed to be figured out
* Looking at the role of big pharmaceutical companies on patients through the drugs they create, the need to test them and the impact the drugs may have in the long and short run.
* Thinking about what it would have been like to be Jim, Bella, Erin, Conor or some of the others
* Thinking about what is “real” and what is not…and the realization that what might be real for me might not be real for someone else
* Being reminded that the mind is not the same in every person
* The aspects of family that Hart, Jim, and Bella had to deal with
* Wondering who might be in the big black cars and what they were up to
* Finding out who was in the big black menacing cars
* Not realizing the full truth and all of the story till it was concluded and all threads were tied up at the end
* That it stretched me and made me think

What I didn’t like:
* Exactly what I was meant not to like…people events, and all the rest
* Thinking about some of the issues in this book and wondering if they might be occurring in real time right now

Did I enjoy this book? Yes
Would I read more by this author? Yes
Note: This story has a significant amount of scientific information that will appeal to some while having other skim for the “meat” of the story.

Thank you to NetGalley and Head of Zeus for the ARC – This is my honest review.

4-5 Stars ( )