Today it's my turn on the BlogTour Steel and Shadows by Stuart Field. It's a combination of police procedural, thriller and mystery all in one action-packed read.
About the Author
Stuart Field was born in the UK, in the West Midlands. He spent his early years in the army, seeing service in all the known (and some unknown) hotspots around the world. He now lives in Germany with his wife Ani. When not engaged in highly confidential security work, he writes thrillers which
perhaps mimic his life-experience more than the reader would like to believe.
Follow @StuartField14 @CrimeSceneBooks on Twitter, Buy Steel and Shadows
About the book
No-nonsense NYPD detective Sam McCall is investigating one of the deadliest and most complex cases of her career when the mysterious, yet infuriatingly intriguing, John Steel insinuates himself into the department. What appears at first to be the work of a serial killer soon encompasses a cast including violent Russian gangsters, creepy psychiatric doctors, the homeless community and ghosts from the past for both McCall and Steel. This fast-paced thriller combines grit and glamour, the
well-drawn characters engage the reader from the outset and the Big Apple is beautifully captured in all its majestic, romantic, seedy, grimy colour. This debut novel keeps the reader gripped from start to finish with a breathtaking joyride through a wild series of unexpected twists and turns, inevitably falling into the pitfalls of thinking you’ve solved the mystery, only to find yourself wrong-footed on the next page.
The story reminded me of a mixture of Die Hard action meets love hate relationship of Lethal Weapon, except instead of two male leads you have McCall and Steel in the starring roles. Steel is charming and polished, whilst McCall is more brusque and down to earth. McCall is never quite sure whether she wants Steel to fall down the nearest manhole or slide naked into her shower. Either way it makes for some interesting tension in this unwanted and unusual work relationship, and on top of that Steel seems to end up allegedly dead quite a lot.
Steel should fill out an application form for the Justice League, they could probably use Steel aka Mr Indestructible on their team. The man literally survives entire buildings falling on him. Perhaps the trauma he went through as a young man has made him feel as if nothing can touch him. The guilt of being the sole survivor of the attack on his family has made him reckless with his own safety.
This isn't just fast-paced it whizzes, there is so much going on at times it felt as if there were too many sub-plots shooting along at the same time. The book starts off with the traumatic incident that takes the lives of Steel's family and then hops straight into the sub-plot about a serial killer who targets specific women.
The relationship between McCall and Steel promises to deliver plenty of future book material. There is an undeniable spark between the two of them, despite the fact their working relationship can be a bit erratic because of the way Steel works. It's kind of the act first and tell everyone what you are up to after the fact relationship.
Field brings the action, there is no doubt about that, and he also brings an element of mystery to the story when it comes to Steel and this strange shadowy figure which appears now and again. It's a combination of police procedural, thriller and mystery all in one action-packed read.
Buy Steel and Shadows (John Steel thriller series Book 1) at Amazon Uk or go to Goodreads for any other retailer. Publisher: Crime Scene Books, Pub Date 11 October 2018
Coming in 2019:
Hidden Steel (John Steel thriller series Book 2) Steel Justice (John Steel thriller series Book 3)
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