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Rina Walker #1
Harm
A debut crime novel by Hugh Fraser.
‘What makes an innocent girl become a contract killer?’
Acapulco 1974: Rina Walker is on assignment. Just another quick, clean kill.
She wakes to discover her employer’s severed head on her bedside table, and a man with an AK 47 coming through the door of her hotel room. She needs all her skills to neutralise her attacker and escape. After a car chase, she is captured by a Mexican drug boss who needs her radiant beauty and ruthless expertise to eliminate an inconvenient member of the government.
Notting Hill 1956: Fifteen-year-old Rina is scavenging and stealing to support her siblings and her alcoholic mother. When a local gangster attacks her younger sister, Rina wreaks revenge and kills him. Innocence betrayed, Rina faces the brutality of the post-war London underworld - a world that teaches her the skill to kill...
“Hugh Fraser’s Harm is the perfect combination of action, mystery and intrigue. It also features some superbly constructed characters, who develop over the course of the story - which is a rarity in mystery novels.”
(Benjamin Maio Mackay)
‘What makes an innocent girl become a contract killer?’
Acapulco 1974: Rina Walker is on assignment. Just another quick, clean kill.
She wakes to discover her employer’s severed head on her bedside table, and a man with an AK 47 coming through the door of her hotel room. She needs all her skills to neutralise her attacker and escape. After a car chase, she is captured by a Mexican drug boss who needs her radiant beauty and ruthless expertise to eliminate an inconvenient member of the government.
Notting Hill 1956: Fifteen-year-old Rina is scavenging and stealing to support her siblings and her alcoholic mother. When a local gangster attacks her younger sister, Rina wreaks revenge and kills him. Innocence betrayed, Rina faces the brutality of the post-war London underworld - a world that teaches her the skill to kill...
“Hugh Fraser’s Harm is the perfect combination of action, mystery and intrigue. It also features some superbly constructed characters, who develop over the course of the story - which is a rarity in mystery novels.”
(Benjamin Maio Mackay)
298 pages, Kindle Edition
First published June 28, 2015
63 people are currently reading
249 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 61 reviews
April 24, 2017
In my opinion "Harm" written by Hugh Fraser is an utterly mind blowing thriller that really hits the spot!! It's gritty, hard hitting, often brutal and with a really thrilling story line I was hooked from the first shocking pages. This explosive story is about Rina Walker a paid assassin who is hired to kill a drug dealer in Mexico, but when the deal goes drastically wrong, things go from bad to worse not knowing who to trust or rely on and we are taken on a seriously wild ride of violence, action and murder! "What makes an innocent girl become a contract killer?" - considering how resilient and tough she has become through her brutal upbringing it's a typical example of nature v nurtured with Rina's learned behaviour being explicitly nurtured. However, I really admired Rina, she's such a likeable bad ass, sexy, strong, nothing scares her and she knows exactly how to get what she wants using mind or body!
I love books that have a couple of timelines running through them and I particularly liked reading about Rina's younger years where I felt really strong emotions. The two stories intertwined seamlessly and balanced the story perfectly. Hugh's vivid descriptions of people, living conditions and places are outstanding, and with his expressive and hard hitting writing prose this makes the book so much harder to put down.
I've taken so much to Rina I can't wait to read the second in the series "Threat" and I understand there's a third "Malice" coming out this year. It's very hard to believe this is a first novel - (Hugh Fraser is better known as TV's Captain Hastings in David Suchet's Poirot) - Hugh has done exceptionally well writing this book and has gone on to now be recognised as a fantastic crime writer.
With a stunning photographic cover showing the two different ages of Rina this is a brilliantly printed book published by Urbane Publications that I can't recommend highly enough. An amazing 5 stars!
I love books that have a couple of timelines running through them and I particularly liked reading about Rina's younger years where I felt really strong emotions. The two stories intertwined seamlessly and balanced the story perfectly. Hugh's vivid descriptions of people, living conditions and places are outstanding, and with his expressive and hard hitting writing prose this makes the book so much harder to put down.
I've taken so much to Rina I can't wait to read the second in the series "Threat" and I understand there's a third "Malice" coming out this year. It's very hard to believe this is a first novel - (Hugh Fraser is better known as TV's Captain Hastings in David Suchet's Poirot) - Hugh has done exceptionally well writing this book and has gone on to now be recognised as a fantastic crime writer.
With a stunning photographic cover showing the two different ages of Rina this is a brilliantly printed book published by Urbane Publications that I can't recommend highly enough. An amazing 5 stars!
March 18, 2019
**Beware...spoilers**
This book popped up on one of those "sponsored products" feed and once I read the blurb about a female assassin, I was hooked and looked forward to reading the entire series.
However, the story did not deliver any coherent plot, and I will go as far as to say this must have been written by an old guy for other old guys since no female author would create a white/female/lesbian/assassin whose character arc developed from traumatic and demeaning rape events suffered between the ages of 14-15.
Once I got to the fourth childhood rape scene, I had to go look up the author's bio and sure enough: old guy; who apparently has serious nostalgia for the 60s and 70s. Further, the plot seemed simultaneously simple and convoluted with zero attention given to the nuances of character relationships and development. All the scenes moved briskly, I mean we went from London to Acapulco to Texas all in less than 48 hrs. How? Why? I think Fraser didn't know how to create deep scenes that would keep the reader's attention, therefore, he decided to go with the shock factor.
I sighed and promptly returned to the good people at KU. Not for me.
April 24, 2018
Harm flicks between past and present so that we get see Rina as a young adult and how she has become the person she is in the present. You certainly don’t get many strong female protagonists in the line of work that Rina finds herself in so was good to get to know her better in the earlier years.
I have to admit my favourite chapters were the ones set in the 1950’s. Don’t get me wrong, present day, well the 1970’s, were full of action and highly entertaining but Rina’s past really drew me in and helped me understand her so much better. Her home life is dismal to say the least and she has to be carer for her alcoholic mother as well as bringing up her younger brother and sister. They have no money and you wouldn’t think that things could get any worse than what they already were but sadly they do.
With the alternating chapters between past and present, it felt like you were getting two stories for the price of one. All I can say is it felt a bit like Martina Cole meets Rob Sinclair as we have the rawness and grittiness of organised crime in the 1950’s and then in the present day we have the thrills and action of an assassin. Pretty much the best of both worlds.
Harm is a great start to a new series with a stellar female protagonist. The author really drew me into the story with Rina’s past ensuring that I kept turning those pages as I was well and truly invested in her story. A gripping and thrilling read that will have you go through an abundance of emotions.
I have to admit my favourite chapters were the ones set in the 1950’s. Don’t get me wrong, present day, well the 1970’s, were full of action and highly entertaining but Rina’s past really drew me in and helped me understand her so much better. Her home life is dismal to say the least and she has to be carer for her alcoholic mother as well as bringing up her younger brother and sister. They have no money and you wouldn’t think that things could get any worse than what they already were but sadly they do.
With the alternating chapters between past and present, it felt like you were getting two stories for the price of one. All I can say is it felt a bit like Martina Cole meets Rob Sinclair as we have the rawness and grittiness of organised crime in the 1950’s and then in the present day we have the thrills and action of an assassin. Pretty much the best of both worlds.
Harm is a great start to a new series with a stellar female protagonist. The author really drew me into the story with Rina’s past ensuring that I kept turning those pages as I was well and truly invested in her story. A gripping and thrilling read that will have you go through an abundance of emotions.
November 18, 2017
As a debut novel, it has everything you could wish for in this crowded market.
It is a credible thriller about a female contract killer. Set in 1974 across Mexico and Texas, USA it is a tale of what can go wrong on a hit.
The book continues with this story every other chapter. I'm between we have our protagonist growing up in 1956 as a 15-year-old carer for her alcoholic Mum and two younger siblings.
Both stories are quite riveting and the younger version of our trained assassin is seen as a product of her poverty filed existence. Leaving school early, not really mastering reading and writing but streetwise, prepared to do almost anything to keep her family alive. The question of nature or nurture is explored in part and the harshness of her decisions leaves you lacking real empathy for her.
As an adult, a simple contract blows up in her face and she falls under the control of drug lords and DEA agents and never gains control of her own destiny.
Her past has taught us if nothing else she is a survivor and perhaps what drives her on is a love for her family.
Full of action scenes, rough violence and sexual exploitation abound. What lets the story down for me is the constant changing of sides and motivation. However, this is a product of her upbringing, Rina does not really know who to trust and all relationships seem to end suddenly or with violence.
Where the book fails is that in the process we never get close to any character and In Rina we have an antihero figure who it is hard to like and get behind.
There is so much here for further books and it will be interesting to see where that goes.
It is a credible thriller about a female contract killer. Set in 1974 across Mexico and Texas, USA it is a tale of what can go wrong on a hit.
The book continues with this story every other chapter. I'm between we have our protagonist growing up in 1956 as a 15-year-old carer for her alcoholic Mum and two younger siblings.
Both stories are quite riveting and the younger version of our trained assassin is seen as a product of her poverty filed existence. Leaving school early, not really mastering reading and writing but streetwise, prepared to do almost anything to keep her family alive. The question of nature or nurture is explored in part and the harshness of her decisions leaves you lacking real empathy for her.
As an adult, a simple contract blows up in her face and she falls under the control of drug lords and DEA agents and never gains control of her own destiny.
Her past has taught us if nothing else she is a survivor and perhaps what drives her on is a love for her family.
Full of action scenes, rough violence and sexual exploitation abound. What lets the story down for me is the constant changing of sides and motivation. However, this is a product of her upbringing, Rina does not really know who to trust and all relationships seem to end suddenly or with violence.
Where the book fails is that in the process we never get close to any character and In Rina we have an antihero figure who it is hard to like and get behind.
There is so much here for further books and it will be interesting to see where that goes.
June 13, 2018
I loved this audiobook - LOVED!
My God, I'm heading straight into what will hopefully be a terrific book 2, I mean one can't go wrong... gangland London (I used to live a couple of streets away from the main streets in the book - and that's always fun to read!), a lesbian contract killer with a dysfunctional family life and history.
Dual time periods, in alternating chapters, of her young self and Rina now. Beginning in the 50's and moving forward through time (a really interesting way to have written it) and the hope of a HEA for Rina - whichever way she swings - is all good for me!!
Then, to top it off, add ANNIE "The Dog's Bollocks of Narration" ALDINGTON to the mix and OMFG a whole other level of AWESOME is reached *sighs happily*
...it doesn't get much better than this friends!
My God, I'm heading straight into what will hopefully be a terrific book 2, I mean one can't go wrong... gangland London (I used to live a couple of streets away from the main streets in the book - and that's always fun to read!), a lesbian contract killer with a dysfunctional family life and history.
Dual time periods, in alternating chapters, of her young self and Rina now. Beginning in the 50's and moving forward through time (a really interesting way to have written it) and the hope of a HEA for Rina - whichever way she swings - is all good for me!!
Then, to top it off, add ANNIE "The Dog's Bollocks of Narration" ALDINGTON to the mix and OMFG a whole other level of AWESOME is reached *sighs happily*
...it doesn't get much better than this friends!
July 25, 2015
Totally gripping-I loved it! A great story with a strong and feisty female character. We follow our heroine back and forth from the colour and excitement of Mexico, to damp grey 1950's London. Twists and turns draw us in. What drives her? What is her secret? How far will she go? Can she survive everything that life throws at her? Certainly hope so, such a strong character surely must have many more adventures to come…..
August 20, 2015
Harm is a really excellent thriller from the pen of Hugh Fraser - Better known as Captain Hastings in ITV's Poirot -but about to be known for something quite different if this is anything to go by.
We meet Rina - she is a paid assassin - told over two timelines, one while she is "on a job" in the 70's and where everything that can go wrong is going wrong and also in flashback to the 50's showing us her path and what has led her to where she is today.
It's an intuitive bit of writing when it comes to character development - seeing how Rina was, what she went through, how she lived - all leading up to what she is doing now, running from drug dealers and generally getting into trouble. She's kick ass though so is likely to get out of it - hence the "thriller" aspect of the whole thing.
The real intrigue of this one though is in the human interaction and the examination of why we do the things we do. Rina as a youngster growing up had litte choice in the matter - living in poverty, with danger on the streets from lowlife criminals and even danger in her own home - some of it is really emotive stuff. But then even so its a bit of a jump from tough girl to killer and the hows and whys of that make for a great if often sad story.
In the "present" timeline there is a lot of action, a fair few edge of seat moments (which are not exactly missing in the past either) and a rollicking good adventure. Violence yes (Although you know you are going to love Rina when, upon awakening to find a severed head on her pillow does not immediately scream like a girl or even have a rabbit in the headlights moment) but also a lot of depth of plot and a growing understanding of just how Rina can do what she does and do it all with barely a flicker.
A really most excellent read - the ending was kind of abrupt for me but to be fair the story had been told and there may not have been a way within the narrative scope to even that ending up - still I hope that Rina returns. Ooh look. Rina Returns. I've come up with a title. Not a very good one granted - but as long as we get to see this character again I'm going to read it no matter what the title.
Good stuff.
Happy Reading Folks!
We meet Rina - she is a paid assassin - told over two timelines, one while she is "on a job" in the 70's and where everything that can go wrong is going wrong and also in flashback to the 50's showing us her path and what has led her to where she is today.
It's an intuitive bit of writing when it comes to character development - seeing how Rina was, what she went through, how she lived - all leading up to what she is doing now, running from drug dealers and generally getting into trouble. She's kick ass though so is likely to get out of it - hence the "thriller" aspect of the whole thing.
The real intrigue of this one though is in the human interaction and the examination of why we do the things we do. Rina as a youngster growing up had litte choice in the matter - living in poverty, with danger on the streets from lowlife criminals and even danger in her own home - some of it is really emotive stuff. But then even so its a bit of a jump from tough girl to killer and the hows and whys of that make for a great if often sad story.
In the "present" timeline there is a lot of action, a fair few edge of seat moments (which are not exactly missing in the past either) and a rollicking good adventure. Violence yes (Although you know you are going to love Rina when, upon awakening to find a severed head on her pillow does not immediately scream like a girl or even have a rabbit in the headlights moment) but also a lot of depth of plot and a growing understanding of just how Rina can do what she does and do it all with barely a flicker.
A really most excellent read - the ending was kind of abrupt for me but to be fair the story had been told and there may not have been a way within the narrative scope to even that ending up - still I hope that Rina returns. Ooh look. Rina Returns. I've come up with a title. Not a very good one granted - but as long as we get to see this character again I'm going to read it no matter what the title.
Good stuff.
Happy Reading Folks!
June 14, 2016
This is a freaking absolute must - read. It's easily, hands down; the best thriller/new crime novel that I've ever read! Hugh Fraser takes us on a wild ride with his main character, Rina, who I freaking love. But seriously. I'm so glad there's a sequel coming! Bring it!
July 18, 2015
Cracking read with a kick-ass heroine I hope we see more of. Loved it! Hope there's more to come.
July 30, 2015
Rina Walker is no ordinary women. Hired as an assassin in Acapulco, Mexico in 1974 she wakes to find her current employers severed head in her hotel room. After managing to escape she finds herself being captured by a Mexican drug dealer. Somebody badly wanted Rina in Mexico - but why?
She quickly discovers they need her skills to eliminate Enrico Gonzales, the Minister of Justice. She soon meets Lee, an American who was also captured for the same mission. As the mission begins, is there anyone Rina can trust? Trouble appears to be at every corner.
What caused Rina to take such an unorthodox career move? Family means the world to Rina and when her sister is under attack she does what comes naturally and defends her leading to the death of a local gangster. After covering up the death, she discovers someone else knows what happened and is prepared to blackmail her. It's 1956, Rina is only 15 and she soon finds herself delving into the murky underworld of London. How far will Rina go to protect her family?
As a debut novel I was very impressed. Loved the way each chapter jumps between the present day and the past. Rina is a very complex but likeable character you can't help but like and feel for. A women who never seems to have had it easy and who hides her real self away. I hope this isn't the last we've seen of her. Would love to learn more about her in future books.
She quickly discovers they need her skills to eliminate Enrico Gonzales, the Minister of Justice. She soon meets Lee, an American who was also captured for the same mission. As the mission begins, is there anyone Rina can trust? Trouble appears to be at every corner.
What caused Rina to take such an unorthodox career move? Family means the world to Rina and when her sister is under attack she does what comes naturally and defends her leading to the death of a local gangster. After covering up the death, she discovers someone else knows what happened and is prepared to blackmail her. It's 1956, Rina is only 15 and she soon finds herself delving into the murky underworld of London. How far will Rina go to protect her family?
As a debut novel I was very impressed. Loved the way each chapter jumps between the present day and the past. Rina is a very complex but likeable character you can't help but like and feel for. A women who never seems to have had it easy and who hides her real self away. I hope this isn't the last we've seen of her. Would love to learn more about her in future books.
July 18, 2015
Hugh Fraser's debut novel is full of excitement and drama that thrills and shocks and keeps you gripped at every turn. I was totally drawn into Rina's world and loved the contrast between her cold, harsh introduction to life and the heat and non-stop action in Mexico. The well-thought plot keeps you guessing, the characters are exciting and believable and I just hope this isn't the last we've seen of the superb Rina Walker. Brilliant.
October 7, 2015
Copy provided by the author in exchange for an honest review.
Whenever I hear the name Hugh Fraser, the very first thing that pops up in my mind is his very famous role of Captain Hastings from my favorite TV series „Hercules Poirot“. I was so delighted when I heard that he has written a book. But HARM is nothing like HERCULES POIROT series. So who ever expected a new Agatha Christie's novel must be very surprised. I am not using the word 'disappointed“ , because this book is far away from disappointing.
Meet Rina, modern and beautiful woman with faces, a contract killer, a death angel. She is a stunning woman, and men often mistake her beauty for stupidity. But she is far away from stupid. Most of everything, she is tough and knows how to survive. Life hasn't been easy for her. Men took advantages on her since young age. They still do, but now she lets them do that, and that's how she uses them.
Rina kills people for money, but she kills bad people, not just anyone. She has a sense for justice. She would never hurt an innocent person, enough harm has been done to her. It all started when she was a teenager. Her father's business partner rapes her many times. But when he tries to rape her nine-years-old sister, she kills him. His brother blackmails her, she has to murder another person for him. One act of violence triggers another one, one murder leads to another. In the world of gangs where local mafia rules the neighborhood, there is no going back.
The author has created a real kick-ass heroine. We can observe Rina's life since her early childhood till the present day. Rina is an anti-heroine. On one side, she kills people for money and she fights like hell when trapped. On the other side, she is in the search of little peace for herself far away from man's violence. 'Cause she has had it enough. We can follow the story of young Rina, a young girl full of hopes and dreams, all that destroyed by the fear of the shadow of the man entering her bedroom. Her mother is a person that I literally want to kill by myself, what kind of mother allows someone to rape her daughters and not even bother about it? Parallely, we follow Rina in the presence, chasing her next target and in the same time trying to escape being a target. He is not naive anymore, nor helpless at all. She fights not just for her, but for every abused woman that comes along her way.
HARM is a story centered around an assassin with a soul. Rina is a hell of a character. Fulfilled with adrenaline, violence, sex and kick-ass moments, this story is anything but boring. You might expect a nice old-fashioned murder like I did, but you'll find yourself positively surprised by the adrenaline rush that hits you from the very first page of the book. My advice: Don't expect anything, just read! You will totally enjoy this read!
My opinion; 4,5 / 5.
Whenever I hear the name Hugh Fraser, the very first thing that pops up in my mind is his very famous role of Captain Hastings from my favorite TV series „Hercules Poirot“. I was so delighted when I heard that he has written a book. But HARM is nothing like HERCULES POIROT series. So who ever expected a new Agatha Christie's novel must be very surprised. I am not using the word 'disappointed“ , because this book is far away from disappointing.
Meet Rina, modern and beautiful woman with faces, a contract killer, a death angel. She is a stunning woman, and men often mistake her beauty for stupidity. But she is far away from stupid. Most of everything, she is tough and knows how to survive. Life hasn't been easy for her. Men took advantages on her since young age. They still do, but now she lets them do that, and that's how she uses them.
Rina kills people for money, but she kills bad people, not just anyone. She has a sense for justice. She would never hurt an innocent person, enough harm has been done to her. It all started when she was a teenager. Her father's business partner rapes her many times. But when he tries to rape her nine-years-old sister, she kills him. His brother blackmails her, she has to murder another person for him. One act of violence triggers another one, one murder leads to another. In the world of gangs where local mafia rules the neighborhood, there is no going back.
The author has created a real kick-ass heroine. We can observe Rina's life since her early childhood till the present day. Rina is an anti-heroine. On one side, she kills people for money and she fights like hell when trapped. On the other side, she is in the search of little peace for herself far away from man's violence. 'Cause she has had it enough. We can follow the story of young Rina, a young girl full of hopes and dreams, all that destroyed by the fear of the shadow of the man entering her bedroom. Her mother is a person that I literally want to kill by myself, what kind of mother allows someone to rape her daughters and not even bother about it? Parallely, we follow Rina in the presence, chasing her next target and in the same time trying to escape being a target. He is not naive anymore, nor helpless at all. She fights not just for her, but for every abused woman that comes along her way.
HARM is a story centered around an assassin with a soul. Rina is a hell of a character. Fulfilled with adrenaline, violence, sex and kick-ass moments, this story is anything but boring. You might expect a nice old-fashioned murder like I did, but you'll find yourself positively surprised by the adrenaline rush that hits you from the very first page of the book. My advice: Don't expect anything, just read! You will totally enjoy this read!
My opinion; 4,5 / 5.
May 2, 2020
Nope given it up.......
May 10, 2017
I enjoyed this, perhaps more than I should have. It was a very cinematic book, one that was a quick read and you could picture unfolding like a film before your eyes. It was set in two different time periods, alternating between the 50s and the 70s. When it started the 70s felt like period Bond, very flash, very dangerous, and the 50s was hardcore poverty and reality, eventually the two periods both shifted slightly into having crime, danger, and real human drama. Rina I found likeable, she was queer in a time when such things weren't accepted. She was poor and trying to care for her family as best as she could. She was also amoral in that she did whatever it took to protect herself and the people she cared about.
There were a couple things that bothered me about the book, one was the use of rape as a plot device. Something I'm not sure male authors should really do. It was a triggering point in one part of the story, but felt unnecessary in others. As a woman whose been sexually assualted it's not really something I think is appropriate to include in entertainment. It was used to justify murder and sexual promiscuity, which kinda defeated the gender equality of her as a female antihero. In that male antiheros never have to suffer like that to justify their attitudes.
The other thing was there were about three times when the lesbian talked about sex or masturbation in a VERY male way. Which made me go, er no it really doesn't work like that. This was the first lesbian mystery/crime novel that I've read that has been written by a (presumably) straight male, instead of a queer woman, and I'm afraid that it showed. But despite the "technical difficulties" Hugh still wrote an interesting and likable queer woman as his heroine.
I shall definitely be reading the 2nd volume.
There were a couple things that bothered me about the book, one was the use of rape as a plot device. Something I'm not sure male authors should really do. It was a triggering point in one part of the story, but felt unnecessary in others. As a woman whose been sexually assualted it's not really something I think is appropriate to include in entertainment. It was used to justify murder and sexual promiscuity, which kinda defeated the gender equality of her as a female antihero. In that male antiheros never have to suffer like that to justify their attitudes.
The other thing was there were about three times when the lesbian talked about sex or masturbation in a VERY male way. Which made me go, er no it really doesn't work like that. This was the first lesbian mystery/crime novel that I've read that has been written by a (presumably) straight male, instead of a queer woman, and I'm afraid that it showed. But despite the "technical difficulties" Hugh still wrote an interesting and likable queer woman as his heroine.
I shall definitely be reading the 2nd volume.
April 9, 2016
Acapulco 1974: Rina Walker is on assignment. Just another quick, clean kill. She wakes to discover her employer's severed head on her bedside table, and a man with an AK-47 coming through the door of her hotel room. She needs all her skills to neutralise her attacker and escape. After a car chase, she is captured by a Mexican drug boss who exploits her radiant beauty and ruthless expertise to eliminate an inconvenient member of the government. Notting Hill 1956: Fifteen-year-old Rina is scavenging and stealing to support her siblings and her alcoholic mother. When a local gangster attacks her younger sister, Rina wreaks violent revenge and murders him. Innocence betrayed, Rina faces the brutality of the post-war London underworld - a world that teaches her the skills she needs to kill...
An interesting and fast-paced thriller with good characters.
Brilliant writing. The author doesn't hold back with his descriptive dialogue.
The problem I found was the flow of the book. It wasn't difficult to switch between the two time periods, but within the same time periods, the book jutted and skipped, missing out what I thought were important parts.
A good read, though.
An interesting and fast-paced thriller with good characters.
Brilliant writing. The author doesn't hold back with his descriptive dialogue.
The problem I found was the flow of the book. It wasn't difficult to switch between the two time periods, but within the same time periods, the book jutted and skipped, missing out what I thought were important parts.
A good read, though.
December 4, 2016
Most people would be familiar with Hugh Fraser as an actor than a writer. He was the dashing and urbane Captain Hastings to David Suchet's Poirot.
Hugh has turned his not inconsiderable talents to writing. "Harm" is his first novel. Rina Walker is an assassin. The story swaps between 1956 when she started down the path, and 1974 when most of the novel takes place. In 1974 Rina goes to Mexico to take out the head of a drug cartel...everything goes to hell and Rina finds herself fighting for her very survival.
"Harm" is well written and well plotted and zaps along at an almost frenetic pace. Hugh Fraser also has a lovely way with the English language, his turn of phrase being both colourful and picturesque.
"Harm" is an excellent addition to the thriller genre. A warning for the more faint hearted. It is violent. Graphically so in some places. And some of the violence is sexual. It may not be your cup of tea, so considered yourself duly warned.
Hugh has turned his not inconsiderable talents to writing. "Harm" is his first novel. Rina Walker is an assassin. The story swaps between 1956 when she started down the path, and 1974 when most of the novel takes place. In 1974 Rina goes to Mexico to take out the head of a drug cartel...everything goes to hell and Rina finds herself fighting for her very survival.
"Harm" is well written and well plotted and zaps along at an almost frenetic pace. Hugh Fraser also has a lovely way with the English language, his turn of phrase being both colourful and picturesque.
"Harm" is an excellent addition to the thriller genre. A warning for the more faint hearted. It is violent. Graphically so in some places. And some of the violence is sexual. It may not be your cup of tea, so considered yourself duly warned.
November 28, 2017
This story features simplistic, unrealistic action sequences with fairly good main character development. It starts with a florid scene description, which made me hesitate about reading on, but the author recovers by chapter 2 and paints a convincing picture of Rina's backstory, which is told in alternating chapters with good effect.
April 3, 2020
This was one twisty read! Now when I read the blurb I feel like such a fool. This blurb is so naughty! It doesn't actually tell you how crazy of a read this book is going to be. I love when blurb trick me into a even better read. Something which I wouldn't have excepted in a million years.
This is how I felt read this book -
When I started reading it, I was looking in one direction. Then the author turns me around to a different direction. So I am now like - Ok, I have to look here. The a couple of chapters in the author turns me around again. Ok, so I am looking here now. Ok, I can do that. Not even a couple of pages in and the author make me do a 360. I am like - Woah! Hold it! I need to breathe!
This is how the book felt to me.
Also, I loved the simultaneous play of 1956 and 1974. It felt as if I was reading two books in one. There's never a dull moment in the book and I was biting my nails through most of it.
But, beware, this book has some pretty graphic violence and abuse. Some many be not comfortable reading it.
Other than that, if you're looking for a thriller read with a badass female assassin, Harm by Hugh Fraser is for you.
This is how I felt read this book -
When I started reading it, I was looking in one direction. Then the author turns me around to a different direction. So I am now like - Ok, I have to look here. The a couple of chapters in the author turns me around again. Ok, so I am looking here now. Ok, I can do that. Not even a couple of pages in and the author make me do a 360. I am like - Woah! Hold it! I need to breathe!
This is how the book felt to me.
Also, I loved the simultaneous play of 1956 and 1974. It felt as if I was reading two books in one. There's never a dull moment in the book and I was biting my nails through most of it.
But, beware, this book has some pretty graphic violence and abuse. Some many be not comfortable reading it.
Other than that, if you're looking for a thriller read with a badass female assassin, Harm by Hugh Fraser is for you.
March 30, 2023
Loved this book first time with this author will definitely be reading more
November 6, 2015
Wow – what a rollercoaster and a stonking debut from Hugh Fraser. This was another one of those books that you can't put down. It is evident from the start that Rina is a very strong female lead character. As we delve into her background, we find that she’s had such a hard life looking after her young siblings and alcoholic mother but surrounded by an amazing female support system. She's suffered so much that it's not surprising she has turned into a contract killer - she has nothing left to lose.
The writing was so vivid, perhaps too vivid sometimes – the scene near the end with Carmela still churns my stomach when I'm thinking about it now! There are some surprising twists as you don't know who is on which side in Mexico, and the way the deal goes down between Lee and Manuel really was inspired - all I'll say is metal joints! The flashbacks to Rina's teenage life in Notting Hill really captured the essence of the era; men in dark smoky pubs and women at home with the kids living in poverty. Rina reminds me of Sydney Bristow in Alias and I wouldn't be surprised to see Harm picked up for the small screen.
There were a few same-sex love scenes but they were written with enough subtlety so as not to disturb even the most faint-hearted reader. With her history, it's hardly surprising that Rina would avoid men at all costs.
Hugh's writing is excellent; I really hope it's not the last we hear of Rina Walker!
I received this book from the author in exchange for an honest review.
The writing was so vivid, perhaps too vivid sometimes – the scene near the end with Carmela still churns my stomach when I'm thinking about it now! There are some surprising twists as you don't know who is on which side in Mexico, and the way the deal goes down between Lee and Manuel really was inspired - all I'll say is metal joints! The flashbacks to Rina's teenage life in Notting Hill really captured the essence of the era; men in dark smoky pubs and women at home with the kids living in poverty. Rina reminds me of Sydney Bristow in Alias and I wouldn't be surprised to see Harm picked up for the small screen.
There were a few same-sex love scenes but they were written with enough subtlety so as not to disturb even the most faint-hearted reader. With her history, it's hardly surprising that Rina would avoid men at all costs.
Hugh's writing is excellent; I really hope it's not the last we hear of Rina Walker!
I received this book from the author in exchange for an honest review.
May 17, 2016
Consider Poirot’s bemused Captain Hastings and the stern but fair Duke of Wellington in TV’s Sharpe. These portrayals give absolutely no clue to the hard-hitting style and content of actor Hugh Fraser’s first crime novel.
Rina Walker is a contract killer. When a planned hit in Mexico goes badly wrong Rina is seized by a drug gang who want to use her lethal skills.
The action is fast and brutal – the book certainly lives up to its title of Harm – and the story runs in tandem with the no-holds-barred account of Rina’s childhood in a London slum and how she became a killer.
Both storylines are full, fast and compelling, almost books in themselves. Each tends to slow the pace of the other but Rina and her two stories are strong enough to drive the narrative forward. I look forward to Fraser’s second Rina Walker novel, Threat, which is due out in June.
Rina Walker is a contract killer. When a planned hit in Mexico goes badly wrong Rina is seized by a drug gang who want to use her lethal skills.
The action is fast and brutal – the book certainly lives up to its title of Harm – and the story runs in tandem with the no-holds-barred account of Rina’s childhood in a London slum and how she became a killer.
Both storylines are full, fast and compelling, almost books in themselves. Each tends to slow the pace of the other but Rina and her two stories are strong enough to drive the narrative forward. I look forward to Fraser’s second Rina Walker novel, Threat, which is due out in June.
December 21, 2015
Don’t let ‘the image’ of Hugh Fraser color your opinion of what you ‘think’ this read might be like.
I was pleasantly and hugely surprised at the depth of violence and despair of the characters, and from the first chapter the pace of this quite brilliant novel grips and intrigues.
Rina, the central character, is one that grabs your sympathy, approval and admiration. She is a ruthless killer, and not one to be crossed but she is also loyal and a born survivor. This story is split, telling of Rinas growing up, a poverty stricken and very tough existence and a predicament that she now finds herself in.
This is an impressive and action-packed thriller, and was a one sit read for me. I just had to get to the end to see how it all panned out for her.
It is one that will astonish.
I was pleasantly and hugely surprised at the depth of violence and despair of the characters, and from the first chapter the pace of this quite brilliant novel grips and intrigues.
Rina, the central character, is one that grabs your sympathy, approval and admiration. She is a ruthless killer, and not one to be crossed but she is also loyal and a born survivor. This story is split, telling of Rinas growing up, a poverty stricken and very tough existence and a predicament that she now finds herself in.
This is an impressive and action-packed thriller, and was a one sit read for me. I just had to get to the end to see how it all panned out for her.
It is one that will astonish.
February 1, 2016
Hugh Fraser is best known as an actor. His first novel is hopefully his last. Odd and confusing tale with more lesbian sex than a man has any business writing about. I read to the end which is something I guess.
December 16, 2016
Brutal and compulsive
This story races along and pulls the reader with it, there's little time to stop and think as Rina lurches from one mind-numbingly awful situation to another. A thrill ride, yes, but not for the faint-hearted.
This story races along and pulls the reader with it, there's little time to stop and think as Rina lurches from one mind-numbingly awful situation to another. A thrill ride, yes, but not for the faint-hearted.
September 13, 2025
I did not know that the actor who played Captain Hastings in the "Agatha Christie's Poriot" TV series and the Duke of Wellington in "Sharpe" series had written a crime novel, so my curiosity was pinched. I was warned that the action would be violent, so I took my abhorrence of violence out of the equation as much as I could.
The warning was valid. The heroine is a contract killer, the first victim was supposed to be a drug lord, but she wakes up to find the severed head to the man who had hired her on her bedside table, and the mutilated body of the second of her accomplices in the intended set up sting in her bathroom. [Reminded me of "The )] So, of course, like a heroine would do, she escapes through he window and down to the parking lot, seen by all. And forces a taxi driver out of his cab. And leaves behind a gasping crowd who are soon chasing her. And the killers of her "coworkers" force her of the road and abduct her. To the home of a rival drug lord. She is told that he wants her to kill the Mexican Minister of Justice (the victim she was hired to kill in the first place) and to get her into the embassy party (the Minister is a sucker for "northern blondes"), she will pose as the wife of an American drug enforcement agent. Who actually is a DEA, but her potential new employer does not know that. (I think.) Just when she, the DEA, the Minister and his wife (with whom our heroine feels an erotic buzz that is reciprocated) goes off to get acquainted later, the car is shot full of bullet holes, and everyone but her and the DEA (who is missing when she wakes up) is dead. It just goes on a roller coaster ride from there.
The scenes when she was a fifteen year old girl who is the unwilling plaything of a ganglord's son in her home in the East End is interspersed among the scenes of her in Mexico in the 1970s. If you have read "Rumpole of the Bailey", you will remember Rumpole is the "brief" for the Timson clan (a family of South London thieves who nick loads of frozen food and have a feud with a rival criminal family, the Molloys) That is sort of the situation here, except that the two families running the rackets here are deadlier rivals than John Mortimer's characters were allowed to be. This was like the Kray twins of real life, or the Capulets and Montagues of Verona in Shakespeare's play "Romeo & Juliet." Frazer's heroine and her family were caught between them. Her beauty and aloofness have made her a prize. When the ganglord's son rapes her 12 year old sister, our heroine decides to entice the rival ganglord's son to kill him or at least be framed for his murder. Her friends end up betraying her to the police afterwards. The ganglord watched her trial. He liked the way she had manipulated his son and the rival, so he manipulated the testimony so that she would be set free, but she had to work as his executioner-for-hire.
I preferred the backstory to the adventures in Mexico. It was more realistic somehow, and I could feel for those characters.
I would have given it 3 and 3/4 stars if it was possible. It was a thriller, and Mr Fraser strung the familiar tropes along [the decapitated head of "The Godfather", the feuding rivals, the undercover agent, the Minister of Justice getting his shares of profit or else, the harem locked in the basement, etc. which must have come from a James Bond novel.] But it was not "a keeper".
The warning was valid. The heroine is a contract killer, the first victim was supposed to be a drug lord, but she wakes up to find the severed head to the man who had hired her on her bedside table, and the mutilated body of the second of her accomplices in the intended set up sting in her bathroom. [Reminded me of "The )] So, of course, like a heroine would do, she escapes through he window and down to the parking lot, seen by all. And forces a taxi driver out of his cab. And leaves behind a gasping crowd who are soon chasing her. And the killers of her "coworkers" force her of the road and abduct her. To the home of a rival drug lord. She is told that he wants her to kill the Mexican Minister of Justice (the victim she was hired to kill in the first place) and to get her into the embassy party (the Minister is a sucker for "northern blondes"), she will pose as the wife of an American drug enforcement agent. Who actually is a DEA, but her potential new employer does not know that. (I think.) Just when she, the DEA, the Minister and his wife (with whom our heroine feels an erotic buzz that is reciprocated) goes off to get acquainted later, the car is shot full of bullet holes, and everyone but her and the DEA (who is missing when she wakes up) is dead. It just goes on a roller coaster ride from there.
The scenes when she was a fifteen year old girl who is the unwilling plaything of a ganglord's son in her home in the East End is interspersed among the scenes of her in Mexico in the 1970s. If you have read "Rumpole of the Bailey", you will remember Rumpole is the "brief" for the Timson clan (a family of South London thieves who nick loads of frozen food and have a feud with a rival criminal family, the Molloys) That is sort of the situation here, except that the two families running the rackets here are deadlier rivals than John Mortimer's characters were allowed to be. This was like the Kray twins of real life, or the Capulets and Montagues of Verona in Shakespeare's play "Romeo & Juliet." Frazer's heroine and her family were caught between them. Her beauty and aloofness have made her a prize. When the ganglord's son rapes her 12 year old sister, our heroine decides to entice the rival ganglord's son to kill him or at least be framed for his murder. Her friends end up betraying her to the police afterwards. The ganglord watched her trial. He liked the way she had manipulated his son and the rival, so he manipulated the testimony so that she would be set free, but she had to work as his executioner-for-hire.
I preferred the backstory to the adventures in Mexico. It was more realistic somehow, and I could feel for those characters.
I would have given it 3 and 3/4 stars if it was possible. It was a thriller, and Mr Fraser strung the familiar tropes along [the decapitated head of "The Godfather", the feuding rivals, the undercover agent, the Minister of Justice getting his shares of profit or else, the harem locked in the basement, etc. which must have come from a James Bond novel.] But it was not "a keeper".
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
December 10, 2016
http://audiothing.blogspot.com.au/
Review
I loved this story!
It isn’t often that I get so deeply immersed in a story so quickly. Half-way through the first chapter I knew I’d find it hard to stop reading, or, in my case, listening ….
Rina, beautiful, strangely compelling Rina, discovered that the reason for her abduction was because the drugs lord needed her to kill an enemy. His logic for choosing Rina was because of her ability to attract men and, of course, her job skills. Her pay off would be generous but would she live to collect?
From then on there follows an amazing adventure made all the more hairy by Rina not knowing who she can trust …
The story moves between 1974, Rina’s adult years and 1956, when Rina was fifteen years old and caring for both her siblings and her incapacitated mother, they were living a desolate and demeaning hand to mouth existence. People did what they had to do in order to make life a little more tolerable, Rina, at fifteen years old, committed her first hit.
The story is utterly compelling from the very beginning to the very end, the characters are vibrant and diverse, and the writing style is clean, uncluttered and flows beautifully.
The vivid descriptions of the living conditions endured by the poor are quite moving: the over crowding; the unsanitary conditions and the ever present fear of eviction.
It’s the use of the parlance of those times and the inclusion of little details which adds both authenticity and flavour to the story. Not many people have to “pull the chain” in the lavatory these days, and certainly nobody has to deal with the old telephone kiosks with their button A and button B.
The story stayed with me long after I finished it, wondering how Rina came to be that person who kills for money, the bigger question though is how on earth did the author get me to be rooting for her!
Narrator
Narrated by Annie Aldington, a renowned British actress and voiceover artist. Her talent is obvious from the very start of this high quality recording. For me, one of the most important qualities of a good narrator is the ability to produce well differentiated and consistent characters, a talent that Annie has in abundance. I also admire her ability to portray emotion - or lack of - in her characters, there no overacting here. Excellent job which added to my enjoyment of this book.
Source: Own copy
Review
I loved this story!
It isn’t often that I get so deeply immersed in a story so quickly. Half-way through the first chapter I knew I’d find it hard to stop reading, or, in my case, listening ….
Rina, beautiful, strangely compelling Rina, discovered that the reason for her abduction was because the drugs lord needed her to kill an enemy. His logic for choosing Rina was because of her ability to attract men and, of course, her job skills. Her pay off would be generous but would she live to collect?
From then on there follows an amazing adventure made all the more hairy by Rina not knowing who she can trust …
The story moves between 1974, Rina’s adult years and 1956, when Rina was fifteen years old and caring for both her siblings and her incapacitated mother, they were living a desolate and demeaning hand to mouth existence. People did what they had to do in order to make life a little more tolerable, Rina, at fifteen years old, committed her first hit.
The story is utterly compelling from the very beginning to the very end, the characters are vibrant and diverse, and the writing style is clean, uncluttered and flows beautifully.
The vivid descriptions of the living conditions endured by the poor are quite moving: the over crowding; the unsanitary conditions and the ever present fear of eviction.
It’s the use of the parlance of those times and the inclusion of little details which adds both authenticity and flavour to the story. Not many people have to “pull the chain” in the lavatory these days, and certainly nobody has to deal with the old telephone kiosks with their button A and button B.
The story stayed with me long after I finished it, wondering how Rina came to be that person who kills for money, the bigger question though is how on earth did the author get me to be rooting for her!
Narrator
Narrated by Annie Aldington, a renowned British actress and voiceover artist. Her talent is obvious from the very start of this high quality recording. For me, one of the most important qualities of a good narrator is the ability to produce well differentiated and consistent characters, a talent that Annie has in abundance. I also admire her ability to portray emotion - or lack of - in her characters, there no overacting here. Excellent job which added to my enjoyment of this book.
Source: Own copy
December 15, 2023
I picked this up on the urging of a friend of mine who was very much 'Hugh Fraser wrote a book! And it's absolutely nothing like Poirot!'. It was on my library app so I thought I would check it out.
Rina Walker is an assassin for hire and she gets embroiled in a conflict between the DEA in America and the Mexican drug cartels in the present. In the past, we see how she survives the streets she lives on and gets into the assassin business in the first place.
This is a fast-paced thriller and I mean, you can barely breathe so much action happens on every page. Rina is competent and clued in, though she does dragged around a bit in the middle of the book as the cartel bosses and the DEA decide what to do with her. I liked her as a character, I found her interesting and sympathetic, as well as fairly competent at her job. The two timelines were handled very well too, I wasn't left with cliffhangers all the time and I was equally interested in both.
That said, this book could have slowed down at certain points and given both the plot and the characters room to breathe. which means any character depth is just skipped over to focus on the next bit of action.
I do appreciate the fact that Rina is very attracted to women (though some acknowledgement that adult woman/teenage girl is just as wrong as adult man/teenage girl would have been good). It makes a nice change from these sorts of thrillers. I'm interested in continuing the series.
3.5 stars!
Rina Walker is an assassin for hire and she gets embroiled in a conflict between the DEA in America and the Mexican drug cartels in the present. In the past, we see how she survives the streets she lives on and gets into the assassin business in the first place.
This is a fast-paced thriller and I mean, you can barely breathe so much action happens on every page. Rina is competent and clued in, though she does dragged around a bit in the middle of the book as the cartel bosses and the DEA decide what to do with her. I liked her as a character, I found her interesting and sympathetic, as well as fairly competent at her job. The two timelines were handled very well too, I wasn't left with cliffhangers all the time and I was equally interested in both.
That said, this book could have slowed down at certain points and given both the plot and the characters room to breathe. which means any character depth is just skipped over to focus on the next bit of action.
I do appreciate the fact that Rina is very attracted to women (though some acknowledgement that adult woman/teenage girl is just as wrong as adult man/teenage girl would have been good). It makes a nice change from these sorts of thrillers. I'm interested in continuing the series.
3.5 stars!
February 13, 2018
Hugh Fraser_HARM
Like many other novels the lure and first chapter sounded promising. However the good part there ended. From there on it appeared to tell a story of a detective who was either a drug runner, murdered her husband or was doing her job. I just couldn't follow. Maybe it was a book to read rather than listen to.
Chapters often seemed to end with the lead female character in a state of undress and heading for a bedroom with another female, only to find to be followed by a page, or chapter, which was apparently unrelated.
At one instance Rina, the lead character was in Mexico preparing for a drug running rip into the United States. Lo and behold turn the page, so to speak, and she was boarding a plane, in the USA, bound for England.
Unfortunately the narrator, in my opinion did little to help separate characters, plots or settings. As previously stated I believe narrators make or break audio books. In this case the narrator was middle of the road leaning towards the lower end of the scale.
As mentioned, I read the blurb, and liked the concept of the plot. However, I did spik the date mentioned and di not note that it was 1974 and magazines were still apparently publishing articles about how Jackie Kennedy decorated the Whitehouse.
I also listened to an included preview of the author’s next offering, which after Harm, I won't be borrowing.
It will be interesting to see the Goodreads reviews for Harm, as I am giving it a lowly ONE star.
It was interesting to see other readers' ratings. Apparently I am only one of two who feel this way.
Like many other novels the lure and first chapter sounded promising. However the good part there ended. From there on it appeared to tell a story of a detective who was either a drug runner, murdered her husband or was doing her job. I just couldn't follow. Maybe it was a book to read rather than listen to.
Chapters often seemed to end with the lead female character in a state of undress and heading for a bedroom with another female, only to find to be followed by a page, or chapter, which was apparently unrelated.
At one instance Rina, the lead character was in Mexico preparing for a drug running rip into the United States. Lo and behold turn the page, so to speak, and she was boarding a plane, in the USA, bound for England.
Unfortunately the narrator, in my opinion did little to help separate characters, plots or settings. As previously stated I believe narrators make or break audio books. In this case the narrator was middle of the road leaning towards the lower end of the scale.
As mentioned, I read the blurb, and liked the concept of the plot. However, I did spik the date mentioned and di not note that it was 1974 and magazines were still apparently publishing articles about how Jackie Kennedy decorated the Whitehouse.
I also listened to an included preview of the author’s next offering, which after Harm, I won't be borrowing.
It will be interesting to see the Goodreads reviews for Harm, as I am giving it a lowly ONE star.
It was interesting to see other readers' ratings. Apparently I am only one of two who feel this way.
July 10, 2020
Rina Walker is a contract killer, she has taken on a job in Mexico where different cartels are using her has a pawn in their games, it is 1974. In 1956, we see how Rina became the hard woman she is.
I liked how the chapters alternate between the two timelines, sometimes it was a little frustrating because I wanted to know what was coming next. I preferred the 1956 in London part, it is really two different stories that happened to the same person, I guess some of the earlier timeline explains actions Rina does in the second one, her reactions to certain situations, but each one could be a novella in itself and could function without the other half.
I wasn't sure in the beginning if I was going to stick with it, the level of violence was a little overwhelming because I am not normally attracted to overly violent books, the name of the author attracted me to this one, but I'm glad I read on because it is good and interesting. It's well written and the characters are not cardboard (some are, but not the principals) and you do see the evolution of Rina through it all and at the end I thought she still had a tender side. I'll give a heads up that I would have liked having, there is a couple of rape scenes in this (which is where I ask myself do I continue with this?), they are not as graphic or detailed as in other writings, but they are there and did disturb me (especially the first one).
I will continue with this series so that's my recommendation even if I felt a little uncomfortable for a while, I totally got in the story and I want to know what comes next for Rina.
I liked how the chapters alternate between the two timelines, sometimes it was a little frustrating because I wanted to know what was coming next. I preferred the 1956 in London part, it is really two different stories that happened to the same person, I guess some of the earlier timeline explains actions Rina does in the second one, her reactions to certain situations, but each one could be a novella in itself and could function without the other half.
I wasn't sure in the beginning if I was going to stick with it, the level of violence was a little overwhelming because I am not normally attracted to overly violent books, the name of the author attracted me to this one, but I'm glad I read on because it is good and interesting. It's well written and the characters are not cardboard (some are, but not the principals) and you do see the evolution of Rina through it all and at the end I thought she still had a tender side. I'll give a heads up that I would have liked having, there is a couple of rape scenes in this (which is where I ask myself do I continue with this?), they are not as graphic or detailed as in other writings, but they are there and did disturb me (especially the first one).
I will continue with this series so that's my recommendation even if I felt a little uncomfortable for a while, I totally got in the story and I want to know what comes next for Rina.
April 15, 2018
Harm
Hugh Fraser
Crime Novel
Rina Walker series Book 1
The strong female lead character is both antiheroine and heroine. She may be considered sociopathic but she is motivated in these actions through love of family. The story splits the telling of RIna’s background and her current involvement in drug smuggling and assassinations in Mexico. Rina Walker grows up in the slums of London in the late 1950s. You could say she’s a product of her environment. Absent father, drunk mother. Surrounded by thieves, prostitutes and living with street gangs would certainly impact her outlook on life.
Hugh Fraser references several popular songs of the period and I think it’s appropriate to use another to describe Rina’s life. Born under a Bad Sign fits the bill perfectly. Like the character of the song, Rina could say, “Bad luck and trouble's my only friend,”
Each scene plays out in an unexpected manner much in the way real life never follows a script. Rina tries to execute carefully crafted plans, but the bad guys never play their part as expected and Rina is left to cope and adjust to the changes.
The story is told in a frank and brutal fashion. The scenes and language are absolutely appropriate for the story. And the attention to details of the period(s) is appreciated for it lends a lot of credibility to the tale. I often forgot this is a work of fiction.
It’s hard to believe this is a debut novel because it is so well crafted. I expect to read the rest of the series and hope Mr. Fraser chooses to keep it going for a long time.
Hugh Fraser
Crime Novel
Rina Walker series Book 1
The strong female lead character is both antiheroine and heroine. She may be considered sociopathic but she is motivated in these actions through love of family. The story splits the telling of RIna’s background and her current involvement in drug smuggling and assassinations in Mexico. Rina Walker grows up in the slums of London in the late 1950s. You could say she’s a product of her environment. Absent father, drunk mother. Surrounded by thieves, prostitutes and living with street gangs would certainly impact her outlook on life.
Hugh Fraser references several popular songs of the period and I think it’s appropriate to use another to describe Rina’s life. Born under a Bad Sign fits the bill perfectly. Like the character of the song, Rina could say, “Bad luck and trouble's my only friend,”
Each scene plays out in an unexpected manner much in the way real life never follows a script. Rina tries to execute carefully crafted plans, but the bad guys never play their part as expected and Rina is left to cope and adjust to the changes.
The story is told in a frank and brutal fashion. The scenes and language are absolutely appropriate for the story. And the attention to details of the period(s) is appreciated for it lends a lot of credibility to the tale. I often forgot this is a work of fiction.
It’s hard to believe this is a debut novel because it is so well crafted. I expect to read the rest of the series and hope Mr. Fraser chooses to keep it going for a long time.
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