Coming 29th August from Penguin
Thank you kindly to the author, publisher and Netgalley.
Well, I have been waiting for this one – Tim Weaver’s series about Missing Persons Investigator David Raker is one of the best series out there at the moment – and considering the plethora of great crime fiction currently available that is saying something. But its nothing less than the truth.
In this instalment, David is recovering from his previous case and is living a quiet life in rural Devon. When an old friend of his asks him to investigate the disappearance of an entire family David is drawn once more into the world of the missing. As he digs deeper what he finds is disturbing and dangerous…
The novels are tagged as “David Raker Thrillers” but I always feel that “David Raker Mystery” would be more appropriate – the mystery element, as always, reigned supreme. Thats not to say they are NOT thrilling, they very much are – the action sequences are indeed edge of the seat stuff, especially as Mr Weaver makes no promises about the safety of any of his characters – yet still for me, the intricate plot weaving and attention to detail within those plots are very much what make these novels as good as they are.
I do adore David Raker for his tenacity. What he does is more than a job to him, its a calling. Despite the dangerous path many of his cases take he won’t give them up. Not even for love. The “I am who they have” attitude to those he tries to find is what drives him…when everyone else has given up on ever finding you, David Raker will not. If I were to have a missing loved one I would hope that someone like him were around. His character has evolved over the series beautifully – you could almost call him an Anti hero. If the law fails he will do whatever it takes to succeed – in this novel again he’s treading on toes, getting in the way and generally causing problems, for himself as much as anyone – but he’ll do what it takes. Sometimes at a huge cost…
Another terrific side of these books is the villains are always extremely villainous but somehow terribly realistic – you could easily imagine them out there in the world – you won’t find anyone twirling a moustache here, the bad guys are truly bad in a very entertaining and often horrific way.
You will be intrigued from the outset – The Marie Celeste style disappearance will immediately have you wondering…and thats it, you are hooked. And probably won’t stop reading until the end.
In the case of the Raker books I would highly recommend that you read them from the start, in order. Its not that you couldnt pick any one of them up and be perfectly happy, I just feel that Raker himself is a character who develops in such a way that you will miss out on the nuances if you havent been with him from the start. Which would be “Chasing The Dead”.
Happy Reading Folks!
