A Price to Pay

DC Iona Khan #2

by Chris Simms

It starts with the death of a teenage runaway, killed when she leaps from a motorway bridge into the speeding traffic below. The girl’s identity remains a mystery – until the discovery of the dead girl’s details along with profiles of three other girls, all recently reported missing. And a further shocking discovery causes the whole file to be handed over to Greater Manchester Police’s Counter Terrorism Unit.

Detective Constable Iona Khan – still struggling for acceptance in the male-dominated CTU – little realises that, because of her close resemblance to the girl who leapt from the bridge, she is now in the sights of a sinister figure. Someone whose reputation for ruthlessness has attracted notoriety, even among those who trade in the most depraved of human markets …

Genres: Crime, Ebooks, Audiobook

192 pages, Hardcover

First published December 20, 2013

About the author

I was born and brought up in rural Sussex, three miles from the nearest shop. Childhood holidays – which lasted for weeks as my dad was a teacher – were spent in a secluded spot in the heart of Exmoor. Sitting round the campfire at night, the haunting cries of owls floating in from the blackness beyond the flames, he would read me the ghost stories of MR James. The short walk to the safety of my tent was always taken at a sprint.
Books that interested me growing up? Plenty of mysteries – especially the Alfred Hitchcock and The Three Investigators series. I also loved Roahl Dahl’s Tales of the Unexpected and read plenty of Pan Horror Stories, too.
Later, it was novels that gave insights into unusual minds: the twisted desires of Frederick in John Fowles’, The Collector; the tormented thoughts of Scobie in Graham Greene’s, Heart of the Matter; the violent urges of Francie in Patrick McCabe’s, Butcher Boy all had a major influence.
After school and university came a series of abysmal jobs punctuated by travelling. Quite a lot of travelling, actually. Then, just after my 30th birthday, the idea for my first novel came to me. I was broken down on the hard shoulder of a motorway in the early hours of the morning, waiting for a rescue vehicle to arrive. It’s about the driver of a van who roams the roads in the dead of night, looking for stranded motorists to murder…
Ideas for subsequent novels have occurred at all sorts of odd moments: glimpsing a derelict church from the window of a moving train; browsing a newspaper report about a walker who claimed he’d been attacked by a panther; half-reading a doctor’s surgery article on how some tinnitus sufferers don’t hear whistles or buzzes – they’re tormented by birdsong; listening to a radio program about a flotilla of yellow ducks that fell from a cargo ship and floated slowly across the Atlantic.

Reviews

[Liz Barnsley · Rating 4 out of 5]

Thank you to the author and publisher for the review copy via netgalley.

It starts with the death of a teenage runaway, killed when she leaps from a motorway bridge into the speeding traffic below. When a connection is made to three other missing girls, Greater Manchester Police’s Counter Terrorism Unit are called in. DC Iona Khan investigates, little realizing that she is now in the sights of a sinister figure.

This is the second novel in the Iona Khan series from Chris Simms but the first one I have read – this did not affect my enjoyment of this one but I believe I may have missed out on some backstory so would recommend that you read “Scratch Deeper” first if you have not.

In this instalment, Iona is drawn into a case concerning the seedy world of sex trafficking after a second hand laptop is found to contain information on girls who may have fallen prey to this…with danger lurking around every corner this will take her to a dark place that she may not emerge from unscathed..

The thing I loved about this one was Iona herself…determined to succeed within a police force that often, it has to be said, judges her based solely on her background, she is an intriguing character with great depth and sense of purpose.

The story is captivating and well written, it kept me turning the pages well into the night – and the disturbing subject matter is handled in a realistic style. There is an authentic atmosphere to this one and it gets you thinking, as all really good Crime fiction should.

Great pacing, great writing and a fascinating storyline all add up to a great reading experience.

All in all a great Crime thriller and certainly one that has made me want to track down the other novel in this series – and the DI Spicer books which sound equally compelling.

Happy Reading Folks!

[Nicky Mottram · Rating 4 out of 5]

Audio version of this book 📚- Good storyline, ok narration, looking forward to the next one

[Laurie Johnston · Rating 4 out of 5]

A unique police procedural.

The main character is young, petite and refreshingly feminine. Much appears to be made of her race, but that becomes germane to the plot, and the macho male manipulations are absolutely spot on!

(The title seems a bit misleading.)

[Caroline 'relaxing with my rescue dogs' · Rating 5 out of 5]

I found this on the audible plus catalogue and it was really good. I know now that there was a first book which makes sense and wish there was a third book in the series due to the way it was left. For a full understanding I might go back and read the first .

I really liked the narration the way she changed the characters was amazing.

[Victoria Davis · Rating 5 out of 5]

Couldn't put it down

Really loved this one, read the whole book in an evening. Fast paced, engaging main character, some lovely twists and back stories. Simms's best one yet I think.

[Michelle Hartman · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book was well written but I simply did not identify with the characters. I have however. put his other series on my to buy list because the writing was so good.

[Chickpea · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed listening to this free audiobook

[Allen · Rating 3 out of 5]

A great thriller about the investigation of a pre owned laptop that contains information on teenage girls that maybe linked to the sex trade industry.

This leads DC Iona Kahn to track down the purchaser's of laptop's. She is lead down a path where finding out the truth might put her in harms way.

Now I must locate the first book in the series Scratch Deeper.

[David Marshall · Rating 2 out of 5]

An interesting plot with contemporary relevance ruined by a distinct lack of awareness of the gender politics involved.

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