Justice for the Damned

Steel City #3

by Ben Cheetham

Thirty years of fear. Thirty years of closed minds. It is all about to change.

A Sheffield prostitute has disappeared. With no family to fight for her, she's just the latest in a long line of missing girls stretching back three decades. Nobody cares about their names. Nobody remembers their faces. They are the unloved, the damaged, the forgotten, the damned...

Amongst the women working South Yorkshire's streets, rumours of a serial killer have long circulated. But the police's top brass don't want to know about it. Talk of serial killers panics the public and embarrasses the department...

But two very different detectives, each driven by their own dangerous obsessions, are being drawn into a murky world of perversion, murder and corruption that stretches from the streets to the corridors of power.

Genres: Crime, Audiobook, Mystery

368 pages, Paperback

First published March 1, 2015

About the author

Ben Cheetham is an award-winning writer and Pushcart Prize nominee. His writing spans the genres, from horror and sci-fi to literary fiction, but he has a passion for dark, gritty crime fiction. His short stories have been published in Swill Magazine, The Fiction Desk, Deadcore (Comet Press), The London Magazine, The Willisden Herald New Short Stories 3, The Grist Anthology of New Writing, Dream Catcher, Staple, Fast Forward: A Collection of Flash Fiction, Voice From The Planet (Harvard Square Editions), The Momaya Annual Review, Transmission, The Chaffey Review, and numerous other magazines.

Ben lives in Sheffield, UK, where - when he's not chasing around after his two-year old son - he spends most of his time locked away in his study racking his brain for the next paragraph, the next sentence, the next word.

Reviews

[John Morris · Rating 3 out of 5]

I think this would be harder to read if you havent read Angel of Death as its pretty much a continuation of that book. Definitely not for the sqeamish

[Nicky Mottram · Rating 5 out of 5]

Audio version of this book 📚- Another cracker of a read/listen !! Narrator was the same as book 1 so wasn’t looking forward to it but he improved a lot and didn’t do the daft female voices !!

[Pauline · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another good book In this series. Must be read in order to understand what is going on. Look forward to the next book.

[Martina Kovaříková · Rating 3 out of 5]

I first read the sequel book, so I had some idea where this book will lead to. But there were several things, which I did not see coming, including how twisted the story will be or some of the gruesome scenes and details, like torture. So be warned, if you really dont enjoy such scenes, this book is not for you, or be ready to skip them. There were moments when I had to.
Apart from those scenes, I really enjoyed the book, the plot line was interesting and there were some surprising twists and turns, that I did not see coming.

[David Highton · Rating 3 out of 5]

The third in the Steel City series - little overlap at al in the characters between the first and second books, but this book really follows on from the second and would make little sense if you have not read it. Rather nasty ending.

[Carole Yaffe · Rating 4 out of 5]

Quite gory, includes murder and torture!!

[CORY · Rating 5 out of 5]

This series so far as been great. 3 down, 1 to go.

[Grace Trudgill · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very dark, but just so good I couldn’t put it down!!!

[Abeer · Rating 5 out of 5]

A great series! It kept me on edge! I would love to read more books in this 'Missing Ones Trilogy' series by Ben Cheetham! Would truly recommend this series for everyone to read! DI Jim Monahan is one of the best main characters! Really sad that his wife got murdered by a child kidnapper and rapist!

[Fiona · Rating 3 out of 5]

Don't read out of order like me, otherwise it was good.

[Andrea · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wow what a great read . Kind of gory but the biggest thing that got me was Kong . Scary as hell

[Steve Matthewman · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent read !

[David · Rating 3 out of 5]

Disappointed with this as I found it weak in parts.

[James Casey · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is the first book that I have read of Ben Cheetham, it won’t be the last. I found it a thoroughly gripping story. Really well put together, a great plot, and at times completely unputdownable.
Prostitutes have been disappearing for years and still are but the trail is cold. The police force is full of dirty cops, but two who have honest hearts ( but are not completely clean themselves ) individually, hit on a trail. They separately believe that they are hunting just one man, but what gets uncovered is a filthy den of iniquity full of the top brass and the rich. The two are in more danger than they could ever imagine.
The book is full of dispisable characters and it has a shocking ending which I didn’t expect.
Well done Mr Cheetham, I am already a fan. 5/5

[Beth · Rating 3 out of 5]

I found this book harder to get into than the other steel city thrillers, however once I did I found it fantastic! It showed a whole new side to crime as well as the city I used to live in. Fast paced and energetic, a great read!

HAPPY READING!!!

[Ms Rachel Bolsover · Rating 5 out of 5]

Brilliantly unputdownable

I love the books by Ben Cheetham. I can't seem to put them down. The plot has many twists and turns. The character of Monahan is complex and hard faced but lovable. A must read hence the full stars.

[Pam · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wow!!! A brilliant book that pulls no punches, I dont like giving away the storyline so what I will say, Is that if you like crime books, then this is a Must read. :)

[Peter Chambers · Rating 4 out of 5]

As fast moving and enjoyable as the earlier books in the series.

[Francesca · Rating 5 out of 5]

I'm so pleased I discovered this author! Just fabulous, I've now read 3 of the series and they just get better and better. This one especially was a can't put down book! Going straight into the next instalment:)