On the Radar — Social media noir. Is that a thing? We’re seeing more and more novels playing on theme of digital death dealers and the latest heads up the selection this month in Angela Clarke’s Follow Me. We’ve also got an exciting sounding audiobook, some police procedurals, pulp and a psychological thriller. Read on!
Follow Me by Angela Clarke
The strap line here reads ‘online, no-one can hear you scream’ so you don’t need to be psychic to work out that this thriller is going to involve social media. Sure enough, we have a confident and brazen murderer who is styled The Hashtag KIller – hence the double meaning in the book’s title. As he tweets both clues and his horrible intentions, journalist Freddie and her old school chum Naz – now a police officer – try to trip up and track down the #KILLER. Author Angela Clarke is a fashion writer, and this is her debut crime novel. Out now for Kindle and on 31 December as a paperback.
Buy now on Amazon
Passenger 23 by Sebastian Fitzek
We have reviewed two thrillers by German author Sebastian Fitzek – Therapy (2014) and The Child (2015). In this audiobook version of the 2014 novel the voices of Max Beesley, Rebecca Hall, Anthony Head, Robert Glenister, Tracy-Ann Oberman and Sian Phillips bringing the text to life. The nightmare unfolds on a transatlantic cruise ship. There are no police, and there is no chance of outside intervention. Undercover cop Martin Schwartz is very much on his own. You can check out this atmospheric trailer for the audiobook below, and our full review will be available shortly. Out on 17 December.
Pre-order here.
Twisted Justice by MA Comley
Mel Comley is a British author now living in France, and this police procedural is the 13th in her Justice series. DI Lorne Warner and DS Katy Foster investigate an explosion on a boat, which kills the owner. They rapidly discover that this was no accident, and with their pursuit of the killers pushing them up against a notorious criminal family, they need every ounce of their courage and experience to avoid becoming collateral damage in a brutal feud. Published on 31 December.
Pre-order now on Amazon
No Step Back by Alan Lloyd
Written with Nigel Williams, this is something of a police procedural, but with a difference. The author was a Royal Marines commando who later joined South Wales Police, retiring as a sergeant in 1986. The book is really a no-holds-barred autobiography. The central character is Darren Carr – a thinly disguised Alan Lloyd – and as the book progresses, he gives a grim but honest account of real life policing on the streets of a Welsh city. Alan Lloyd was awarded the MBE in 2003, and died in January this year. There is a free extract from the book available at this link, and the book will be on the shelves on 11 December.
Buy now on Amazon
Hard-Boiled Heart by Will Viharo
On the Radar is never really complete without a pulp novel to stir the senses and Will Viharo’s main character Vic Valentine fits the bill. Aside from the private detective you’ll meet buxom females (see the cover), a murder, one or two ghosts, and a debauched former film star. The action moves from foggy San Francisco to the chilly streets of Seattle, as Vic contemplates a mis-spent youth, the gentle decline of middle age, and a very uncertain future. Out now, this is the latest in a series that began back in 1995 with Love Stories Are Too Violent for Me and the publisher is the appropriately named Gutter Press.
Buy now on Amazon
Someone Out There by Catherine Hunt
As a divorce lawyer Laura Maxwell spends her life getting rich on the proceeds of broken lives and shattered dreams, but when her own perfectly controlled existence is threatened by a mysterious ‘someone’, her composure begins to melt away. First, she survives a near-fatal accident, and then another. Believing that this cannot be coincidence, she turns to her family for support but, to her horror, they think she is exaggerating. This is Hunt’s debut novel, and the psychological thriller explores how a woman’s self-assurance unravels in the face of a persistent stalker. The book came out for Kindle earlier this year, but will be available in print from 17 December.
Pre-order now on Amazon
To see last week’s new crime releases click here.
