Do No Harm by Jack Jordan

Do No Harm by Jack Jordan
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Time taken to read - 2 days

Pages - 432

Publisher - Simon & Schuster

Source - Review copy

Blurb from Goodreads

My son has been taken. And I’ve been given a choice…
Kill a patient on the operating table. Or never see him again.

The man lies on the table in front of me.
As a surgeon, it’s my job to save him.
As a mother, I know I must kill him.
You might think that I’m a monster.
But there really is only one choice.
I must get away with murder.
Or I will never see my son again.

I’VE SAVED MANY LIVES.
WOULD YOU TRUST ME WITH YOURS?



My Review

Oooft, fast paced/tense! We have Anna, renowned surgeon, Margot who is a theatre nurse and Rachel is a cop. We bounce between the three as the story unravels, we meet the characters, get to know them and from the very beginning - well even the blurb we know the jist. A surgeon is told - kill your patient or you kids dies instead and leave absolutely no room for second guessing.

So talk about a bunch of characters you don't like, meet this lot, individuals who should be trusted but are dodgy. Anna, surgeon, cold fish, unlikeable even a self saboteur in some instances (pre this horrible predicament), Margot, nurse and has some very questionable life choices/work *ethic*.

We bounce from one disaster to another, shady behaviours and choices and I don't just mean the bad guys, offt. Thrilling, shocking, violent, murders it is a very full bag and keeps the reader enrapt and guessing, what is coming next!

I didn't like a lot of the characters but even the dodgy/shady ones I absolutely wanted to know what was coming next. I also wanted to slap a few of them lol, sometimes you love to love characters and sometimes the ones you hate are just as captivating - if not more so, 4/5 for me!

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RR - Dead Men and Broken Hearts by Craig Russell

Dead Men And Broken Hearts by Craig Russell
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Time Taken to Read - 5 days

Publisher - Quercus

Blurb from the back cover

Investigator Lennox just can't stay out of trouble. Lennox is looking for legitimate cases - anything's better than working for the Three Kings, the crime bosses who run Glasgow's underworld. So when a woman comes into his office and hires him to follow her husband, it seems the perfect case.

And, unusually for Lennox, it's legal.

But this isn't a simple case of marital infidenlity. When the people he's following start to track him, once more Lennox must draw on the violent, war-damaged part of his personality as he follow this trail of dead men and broken hearts.

My Review

This is my first encounter with this author. The main character is Lennox, private investigator turned legit, he was previously linked with Glasgows big crime bosses. His first case in the opening seems straight forward, a wife suspects something fishy going on with her husband and wants Lennox to check it out. Case number 2 is the Union looking to locate a member who has disappeared with something important and the Union want him found. Soon Lennox finds there is more to the cases than first appears and his safety and freedom may be on the line!

Lennox is quite an amusing character, some of his statements had me laughing out loud. The story itself for me seemed to take a wee bit of time to really get going. The story is build up and played out for a fair while before things really pick up. A lot of people like that but I felt it a bit slow going for the first half of the book but once things pick up it is quite interesting.

The book is set in Glasgow in the 1950s which, being from the city, I found really enjoyable as there are places I know and places I have never heard of. Twinkletoes is another character worthy of note, I haven't read any of the previous novels so I'm not sure if he has appeared before. He is a hardman, on the wrong side of the law but such an endearing character you can't help but love to read about, I would love a standalone book on him to read!

The book is filled with twists, turns, deception and secrets. The story is written in first person narrative and the chapters are fairly short which I love. Everything gets covered, explained and played out which I always enjoy in a book but I felt it took an age to get to some of it. The end has a big twist that I didn't see coming and as much as I felt the book dragged at a few parts I found myself picking it up every spare minute I had. I think I may pick this author up again and will start from the beginning. Thanks to RealReaders for giving me the chance to read a new author in exchange for an honest review, 3/5 for me this time.

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ARC - Guilt By Degrees by Marcia Clark

Guilt by Degrees by Marcia Clark
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Time Taken To Read - 3 days

Publisher - Mulholland Books

Blurb From Goodreads

Someone has been watching D.A. Rachel Knight--someone who's Rachel's equal in brains, but with more malicious intentions. It began when a near-impossible case fell into Rachel's lap, the suspectless homicide of a homeless man. In the face of courthouse backbiting and a gauzy web of clues, Rachel is determined to deliver justice. She's got back-up: tough-as-nails Detective Bailey Keller. As Rachel and Bailey stir things up, they're shocked to uncover a connection with the vicious murder of an LAPD cop a year earlier. Something tells Rachel someone knows the truth, someone who'd kill to keep it secret.

Harrowing, smart, and riotously entertaining, GUILT BY DEGREES is a thrilling ride through the world of LA courts with the unforgettable Rachel Knight.

My Review

The press release I got with this one had some big names with good comments associated with it but I always reserve my own judgment as my taste varies. I have to say, I agree with pretty much all of the comments that came with it but I digress, onto the actual story and review.

District Attorney Rachel Knight is our main character along with her buddy, Detective Bailey Keller and they make quite the team. Rachel barges into a case being poorly handled by the prosecution, about to be dropped and takes it on. A homeless man murdered with very little to go on, until she starts digging. Slowly more pieces are revealed showing there is more to the case than initially thought that will put people at risk including Rachel.

Ah it isn't very often I really like a character so quickly, especially in a court type kind of book. However Rachel takes on the murder of a homeless man that no one else really cares about and that alone made me warm to her instantly. She is a tad impulsive and has a name for it in her work but continues to fight for justice and like a dog with a bone won't let go.

Her past comes into play during the book and it isn't until later you find out why and it had me thinking all kinds of theories and conspiracies. The story is quite compelling and I have to admit, I was dragged in very quickly. The chapters are really quite short, you know how I love them, which means you can dip in and out, however it also means "just one more chapter" turns into 2am when it's a work night! Ignore the fact it took 3 days for me to read this because the reality is, had I not had loads of assignments and projects due in I would have devoured this book in one sitting.

The pace is quite good and well balanced, it isn't a murder every two minutes kind of book however there are lots of twists and depths within it which keeps it interesting and you hooked. My biggest complaint has to be I was left hanging, I absolutely hate this! It is a fabulous trick by authors because you are guaranteed, well I am, to having to get the next book to find out where the story goes and get closure. Sorry to be vague but I don't do spoilers and they say it is a good author who keeps the reader wanting more, I am just very impatient! This was my first encounter with Marcia Clark and it won't be my last, 4/5 for me this time. A huge thanks to Kerry Hood & Mulholland books for sending me an ARC copy of this book and for introducing me to another new author. The book will be available from all good retailers from 11th April 2013, in paperback and ebook for £6.99 - you can find Marcia on facebook and twitter

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