The Payback: (Dennis Milne: book 3): a punchy, race-against-time thriller from bestselling author Simon Kernick (Dennis Milne, 3)

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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. Yes, exactly. He can’t be one hundred per cent sure because, like everyone else, he’s convinced she’s dead, but he looks into it more deeply and he opens up a real can of worms, finding out first that she is still alive (although in hiding), and then that he’s being set up for her murder. People around him start dying and he finds himself on the run. It’s a hugely pacy book, with short chapters and a whole load of twists and turns. You always think you know what is going to happen but then Coben produces another twist and once again you don’t know where you are. And he manages to carry this on right the way through the book, which is no mean feat. I highly recommend this thriller- if you’ve read other books by Simon you’ll love this and if you haven’t it’s a perfect one to start with. Five stars from me. 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 three threads and characters all stood out and all were very distinctive from each other. The detective, the mother, the missing child and the couple in the funeral home. Blimey when you see how it all goes down and how they all come together.It is the first of his books that I have come across, but I trust it will not be the last. Read it if you enjoy complicated storylines well-handled, multiple plot twists, continuous tension, and a satisfying ending without annoying plot devices that involve reaching too far.

Fish is a detective who works for the Met investigating kidnaps, particularly a group of kidnappers called the Vanishers who snatch young people for ransoms. However Fish has many secrets of his own and his first person narration leads the reader to suspect that he is not a particularly nice character and certainly knows more about the kidnappers than it first appears. Far be it from me to reveal too much about this book as it will spoil the enjoyment as well as all the wonderful twists. Every time I felt I had worked out what was happening the author threw another spanner in the works! I defy you to figure out who was behind events in the book- there were so many layers to peel away! 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! Before we start with your five books, I would love to know what you think makes something a thriller as opposed to a straightforward crime novel.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.

High up amongst the penthouse suites, a skilled and dangerous killer is hunting a quarry who's eluded him for far too long.This was the first book from my Harrogate haul. Not out until October but get this on your TBR! It's really hard to describe the plot as it soon spirals into something I was swept away with, But let's just say there are a lof of people in this book who lie or who don't know what they're saying. As the book progresses, we are introduced to a number of stories, all interlinked in some way and we are drip fed snippets of information as we make our way through the story. I don't want to say too much more for fear of any spoilers however the way it all comes together is simply masterful. 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.

The book that really stood out for me in this excellent series is A Dance at the Slaughterhouse, in which Scudder is hired to find out whether a guy has murdered his wife or not. Basically the man and his wife were supposedly ambushed in their apartment by a couple of burglars who they disturbed after a night out. The man was beaten and his wife was murdered. The wife’s brother suspects that there is something amiss and thinks that the husband is responsible, so he hires Scudder to look into it and we soon find ourselves in the real dark underbelly of New York. You often talk to police officers as part of your research – so do you agree with the book’s theory? 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. A group of kidnappers, and a crooked cop who knows how the system works is also on the investigation team. Once again, I was treated to an excellent, gritty and gripping plot filled with twists, turns and tension that had me reading way into the night with anticipation as to how it was all going to end. The pacing of the story is perfect with each chapter moving the story on at speed.Although you’ll get different answers from different people, for me I think that a thriller is more plot-related. Characterisation is important but I think less so than the plot. Pace is also essential in a thriller, whereas it doesn’t have to be in a regular crime novel. Clearly there are crime novels which have pace as well but the mix tends to be more focused towards characterisation. And as the story unfolded and I learnt more about the detective at the heart of it I genuinely couldn't get enough. Briefly, the demotion doesn’t bother Fisher as he has one last job to complete before he retires to the beach in Thailand. We follow Fisher as he tries to keep his police colleagues from discovering who the Vanishers are, where the kidnapped daughter is and of course his Jekyll and Hyde life. The First 48 Hours is no exception with an opening chapter that subverts expectations straight away. 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.