Book Review: The Quaker, by Liam McIlvanney

Available in bookshops nationwide. 

Three women are murdered some weeks and months apart. DI Duncan McCormack is put in charge of why the murders haven’t been solved and why the murder squad haven’t managed to find the killer, getting him off the streets. There is fear amongst women as to where and who the killer will strike next.

McCormack is bought down from the Highlands in Scotland to Glasgow to join the investigation. He finds shoddy police work with nothing linking to anybody or where the murderer could have come from. The killer is nicknamed ‘The Quaker’ because of third hand memories of a man dressed in a suit, with a regimental tie and a religious pin on the lapel of his suit.

Who is The Quaker? Is he part of an organised crime syndicate or is he part of a network with a member of that syndicate inside the police force?

This is a ripper of a story with hardly a page where some new information isn’t imparted to the reader building up the profile of the killer. I found it difficult to put down the book at times but sleep is one of the necessary parts of life, so I was often waiting for another “spare” moment to pick up where I had left the off. The ending is superb.

Reviewed by Christine Frayling

The Quaker
by Liam McIlvanney
Published by HarperCollins NZ
ISBN 9780008259921

Book Review: American Blood, by Ben Sanders

Available in bookshops nationwide.

Ben Sanders is a New Zealand author. The film rights for this book have been sold to Warner Bros, and translation rights bought by publishers in Germany, Russia and Japan.

Marshall Grade is a former NYPD officer now in witness protection as a result of a botched undercover operation. He is now living in Santa Fe, New Mexico. Marshall infiltrated one of the biggest drug mobs but was outed with no idea of how it happened. All he knows is that he is a wanted man and there is a contract out on his life. The contract killer goes by the name of the Dallas Man. With no idea of who the Dallas Man really is, Marshall decides to track him down and at the same time, try to atone for past wrongs by investigating the disappearance of a woman by the name of Alyce Ray.

The local drug ring holds the clue to Alyce Ray’s disappearance. As Marshall digs more and more into her disappearance he gets tangled up even more in the seedier part of the drug world and old enemies come out of the woodwork to hunt him down.

This is a book full of action and intrigue with the story taking more twists and turns as each page and chapter gallops towards the finish line. As a thriller this book will not disappoint. I found myself wanting to put the boot into some of the villains myself.

If this book reaches the big screen I will be first off the rank to book my ticket.

Reviewed by Christine Frayling

American Blood
by Ben Sanders
Published by Allen & Unwin
ISBN  9781760291570