Dark Lies by Nick Hollin @vonmaraus @bookouture #blogblitz #DarkLies

Thrilled to join the blog blitz for Dark Lies (previous In The Blood) by Nick Hollin today! My thanks to Noelle at Bookouture for the opportunity and the review copy.

Author : Nick Hollin
Title : Dark Lies
Series : Detectives Rhodes and Radley #1
Pages : 275
Publisher : Bookouture
Publication date : March 26, 2018

The people of London fear for their lives when a twisted serial killer called The Cartoonist starts targeting young mothers, leaving their bodies on display in their homes with speech bubbles drawn from their lips. He has a terrifying story to tell, but first, the right people need to be listening.

Nathan Radley has a brilliant and dangerous talent. Formerly one of the best criminal psychologists on the police force he’s renowned for getting deep into the minds of the murderers he hunts. But for the past year he has lived in isolation, haunted by this gift and his own dark desires.

DI Katie Rhodes’ career is spinning out of control. She’d sworn never to knock on her old partner Nathan’s door again, but when she sees his distinctive birthmark drawn in chocolate on one of the victims, she knows she doesn’t have a choice.
As the body count rises and the clues become more and more personal, Katie and Nathan join forces for one final case together.

Why is The Cartoonist using Katie and Nathan’s own dark secrets as calling cards on his victims? What does he want, and how many more innocent lives will be taken before they can crack his disturbing riddle?

To find a murderer, first you need to think like a murderer. The Cartoonist doesn’t just know this, he’s counting on it.

Bloody hell, Mr. Nick Hollin, sir! Where have you been hiding?!

A serial killer is targeting young mothers and leaving messages. But for whom and why? DI Katie Rhodes is on the case but she’s been struggling for a while now due to another investigation she hasn’t been able to solve. Katie calls in the help of her former colleague, Nathan Radley. Nathan used to be a criminal psychologist but has apparently gone right over the edge and has been living in isolation for almost a year. I don’t know about you but they don’t exactly sound like the people you put your faith in, do they? Will they be able to catch The Cartoonist?

Now, I must admit I found myself just a little bit lost in the beginning. There were a lot of references to events that happened in the past, which made me feel like I’d missed a book somewhere. However, the titbits that were slowly being revealed had me so intrigued that I couldn’t stop reading. And I’m so glad I did because this one is an absolute corker!

I suppose you’d call this a more character driven crime thriller. Personally, I almost forgot about the hunt for the serial killer sometimes as we dig into the lives of Katie and Nathan and why they are the way they are. While this is a two person team, Nathan completely stole the show for me. He’s an absolutely fascinating character, damaged beyond belief and his story had me totally engrossed. You just never know which way he’s going to swing which adds a whole new level of intensity.

The pace at the start might be a bit on the slow side for some but it picks up as the plot unfolds and I found myself so immersed that the outside world almost ceased to exist. This is one brilliantly written, cleverly plotted and totally addictive book. I found it gripping, compelling, utterly absorbing and quite frankly, it blew my mind. Highly recommend you give this one a go and I’ll be sitting right here, waiting for book two in the series.

Dark Lies is available now!

Amazon US | Amazon UK | Kobo | Goodreads

From bookbinder to gardener to forensic analyst, Nick has enjoyed an extremely varied working life. At home his interests are equally diverse, but nothing beats books. Collecting, reading, writing, they have always been a passion in one form or another. A graduate of Royal Holloway’s Creative Writing Masters, he’s fulfilling a long-held dream of being published and hopes to be at this for a good while yet. He lives in Cambridgeshire with his partner, young son and cat.

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