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Max Wolfe #4
Die Last
‘Story-telling as hard-hitting as a leather sap, dialogue that packs all the punch of Wolfe’s favourite triple expresso … and an affection for London that makes this crime writing to die for’ - GQ
“Tony Parsons puts you right there in every scene he writes. I love that kind of storytelling and I’m a D.C. Max Wolfe fan.” – James Patterson
12 DEAD GIRLS
As dawn breaks on a snowy February morning, a refrigerated lorry is found parked in the heart of London's Chinatown. Inside, twelve women, apparently illegal immigrants, are dead from hypothermia.
13 PASSPORTS
But in the cab of the abandoned death truck, DC Max Wolfe of West End Central finds thirteen passports.
WHERE IS SHE?
The hunt for the missing woman will take Max Wolfe into the dark heart of the world of human smuggling, mass migration and 21st-century slave markets, as he is forced to ask the question that haunts our time.
What would you do for a home?
‘Brilliant’ Peter James
‘Spectacular’ Lee Child
‘A must-read’ Jeffery Deaver
Praise for Tony Parsons…
“It’s all as addictive as your favourite boxset…it contains more twists than a contortionist caught in a tornado” (The Shortlist)
"Told with clarity and insight ... Confirms Parsons has earned a place at the very pinnacle of British crime writing" (Daily Mail)
“Tense…with a dose of dry wit” (The Daily Express)
“A taut always engaging thriller” (The Sun)
“I put my life on hold while I was reading because I couldn't tear myself away from the gripping story... It's complicated, brutal but Tony Parsons has managed to weave the brutality into a truly brilliant story” (Bestselling Crime Thrillers)
“It's a brilliant crime novel, a thrilling procedural. Max Wolfe is a wonderfully endearing character, smart and tough and vulnerable, and with Scout (and Stan too) Tony has created so much warmth and tenderness, in a world, a genre, so often devoid of it. His research is wide, deep, impeccable - from forensics to the psychology, procedure to protocol. And boy does he know how to create suspense, and convincing plot lines, which snake and weave, and surprise right until the very end. This is a complex, shocking, very contemporary story, told with utter conviction and authority. I was hooked from page one. Crime writing has a brilliant new star” (Henry Sutton)
“Superbly crafted crime drama that grips from start to finish” (The Sunday Post)
“Fast paced and gripping” (The Scotsman)
‘[Tony Parsons'] writing pedigree is first class. It shows in this terrific thriller, and Max Wolfe is a class act, a brilliant character that has to feature again ... Absolutely stunning!’ (Books Monthly)
“Tony Parsons puts you right there in every scene he writes. I love that kind of storytelling and I’m a D.C. Max Wolfe fan.” – James Patterson
12 DEAD GIRLS
As dawn breaks on a snowy February morning, a refrigerated lorry is found parked in the heart of London's Chinatown. Inside, twelve women, apparently illegal immigrants, are dead from hypothermia.
13 PASSPORTS
But in the cab of the abandoned death truck, DC Max Wolfe of West End Central finds thirteen passports.
WHERE IS SHE?
The hunt for the missing woman will take Max Wolfe into the dark heart of the world of human smuggling, mass migration and 21st-century slave markets, as he is forced to ask the question that haunts our time.
What would you do for a home?
‘Brilliant’ Peter James
‘Spectacular’ Lee Child
‘A must-read’ Jeffery Deaver
Praise for Tony Parsons…
“It’s all as addictive as your favourite boxset…it contains more twists than a contortionist caught in a tornado” (The Shortlist)
"Told with clarity and insight ... Confirms Parsons has earned a place at the very pinnacle of British crime writing" (Daily Mail)
“Tense…with a dose of dry wit” (The Daily Express)
“A taut always engaging thriller” (The Sun)
“I put my life on hold while I was reading because I couldn't tear myself away from the gripping story... It's complicated, brutal but Tony Parsons has managed to weave the brutality into a truly brilliant story” (Bestselling Crime Thrillers)
“It's a brilliant crime novel, a thrilling procedural. Max Wolfe is a wonderfully endearing character, smart and tough and vulnerable, and with Scout (and Stan too) Tony has created so much warmth and tenderness, in a world, a genre, so often devoid of it. His research is wide, deep, impeccable - from forensics to the psychology, procedure to protocol. And boy does he know how to create suspense, and convincing plot lines, which snake and weave, and surprise right until the very end. This is a complex, shocking, very contemporary story, told with utter conviction and authority. I was hooked from page one. Crime writing has a brilliant new star” (Henry Sutton)
“Superbly crafted crime drama that grips from start to finish” (The Sunday Post)
“Fast paced and gripping” (The Scotsman)
‘[Tony Parsons'] writing pedigree is first class. It shows in this terrific thriller, and Max Wolfe is a class act, a brilliant character that has to feature again ... Absolutely stunning!’ (Books Monthly)
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First published January 1, 2017
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889 people want to read
About the author
Tony Parsons
66 books891 followersThere is more than one author in the Goodreads database with this name.
Tony Parsons (born 6 November 1953) is a British journalist broadcaster and author. He began his career as a music journalist on the NME, writing about punk music. Later, he wrote for The Daily Telegraph, before going on to write his current column for the Daily Mirror. Parsons was for a time a regular guest on the BBC Two arts review programme The Late Show, and still appears infrequently on the successor Newsnight Review; he also briefly hosted a series on Channel 4 called Big Mouth.
He is the author of the multi-million selling novel, Man and Boy (1999). Parsons had written a number of novels including The Kids (1976), Platinum Logic (1981) and Limelight Blues (1983), before he found mainstream success by focussing on the tribulations of thirty-something men. Parsons has since published a series of best-selling novels – One For My Baby (2001), Man and Wife (2003), The Family Way (2004), Stories We Could Tell (2006), My Favourite Wife (2007), Starting Over (2009) and Men From the Boys (2010). His novels typically deal with relationship problems, emotional dramas and the traumas of men and women in our time. He describes his writing as 'Men Lit', as opposed to the rising popularity of 'Chick Lit'.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tony_Par...
Tony Parsons (born 6 November 1953) is a British journalist broadcaster and author. He began his career as a music journalist on the NME, writing about punk music. Later, he wrote for The Daily Telegraph, before going on to write his current column for the Daily Mirror. Parsons was for a time a regular guest on the BBC Two arts review programme The Late Show, and still appears infrequently on the successor Newsnight Review; he also briefly hosted a series on Channel 4 called Big Mouth.
He is the author of the multi-million selling novel, Man and Boy (1999). Parsons had written a number of novels including The Kids (1976), Platinum Logic (1981) and Limelight Blues (1983), before he found mainstream success by focussing on the tribulations of thirty-something men. Parsons has since published a series of best-selling novels – One For My Baby (2001), Man and Wife (2003), The Family Way (2004), Stories We Could Tell (2006), My Favourite Wife (2007), Starting Over (2009) and Men From the Boys (2010). His novels typically deal with relationship problems, emotional dramas and the traumas of men and women in our time. He describes his writing as 'Men Lit', as opposed to the rising popularity of 'Chick Lit'.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tony_Par...
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April 29, 2024
EXCERPT: Prologue
The Girl from Belgrade
The first thing they took was her passport.
The man jumped down from the cab of the lorry and snapped his fingers at her.
Click-click.
She already had her passport in her hands, ready for her first encounter with authority, and as she held it out to the man she saw, in the weak glow of the Belgrade streetlights, that he had a small stack of passports. They were not all burgundy red like her Serbian passport. These passports were green and blue and bright red – passports from everywhere. The man slipped her passport under the rubber band that held the passports together and he slipped them into the pocket of his thick winter coat. She had expected to keep her passport.
She looked at him and caught a breath. Old scars ran down one side of his face making the torn flesh look as though it had once melted. Then the man clicked his fingers a second time.
Click-click.
She stared at her kid brother with confusion. The boy indicated her suitcase. The man wanted the suitcase. Then the man with the melted face spoke in English, although it was not the first language of either of them.
‘No room,’ he said, gesturing towards the lorry.
But she gripped her suitcase stubbornly and she saw the sudden flare of pure anger in the man’s eyes.
Click-click, went his fingers. She let go.
The suitcase was the second thing he took. It was bewildering. In less than a minute she had surrendered her passport and abandoned her possessions. She could smell sweat and cigarettes on the man and she wondered, for the first time, if she was making a terrible mistake.
She looked at her brother.
The boy was shivering. Belgrade is bitterly cold in January with an average temperature of just above freezing.
She hugged him. The boy, a gangly sixteen-year-old in glasses that were held together with tape on one side, bit his lower lip, struggling to control his emotions. He hugged her back and he would not let her go and when she gently pulled away he still held her, a shy smile on his face as he held his phone up at head height. They smiled at the tiny red light shining in the dark as he took their picture.
Then the man with the melted face took her arm just above the elbow and pulled her towards the lorry. He was not gentle.
‘No time,’ he said.
In the back of the lorry there were two lines of women facing each other. They all turned their heads to look at her. Black faces. Asian faces. Three young women, who might have been sisters, in hijab headscarves. They all looked at her but she was staring at her brother standing on the empty Belgrade street, her suitcase in his hand. She raised her hand in farewell and the boy opened his mouth to say something but the back doors suddenly slammed shut and her brother was gone. She struggled to stay on her feet as the lorry lurched away, heading north for the border.
By the solitary light in the roof of the lorry, she saw there were boxes in the back of the vehicle. Many boxes, all the same.
Birnen – Arnen – Nashi – Peren, it said on the boxes. Grushi – Pere – Peras – Poires.
‘Kruske,’ she thought, and then in English, as if in preparation for her new life. ‘Pears.’
The women were still staring at her. One of them, nearest to the doors, shuffled along to find her space. She was some kind of African girl, not yet out of her teens, her skin so dark it seemed to shine.
The African gave her a wide, white smile of encouragement, and graciously held her hand by her side, inviting the girl from Belgrade to sit down.
She nodded her thanks, taking her seat, and thinking of the African as the kind girl.
The kind girl would be the first to die.
ABOUT 'DIE LAST': 12 DEAD GIRLS
As dawn breaks on a snowy February morning, a refrigerated lorry is found parked in the heart of London's Chinatown. Inside, twelve women, apparently illegal immigrants, are dead from hypothermia.
13 PASSPORTS
But in the cab of the abandoned death truck, DC Max Wolfe of West End Central finds thirteen passports.
WHERE IS SHE?
The hunt for the missing woman will take Max Wolfe into the dark heart of the world of human smuggling, mass migration and 21st-century slave markets, as he is forced to ask the question that haunts our time.
What would you do for a home?
MY THOUGHTS: I have enjoyed this series but somehow missed reading Die Last (Max Wolfe #4) when it was published. I was excited when I found it on my shelf. Unfortunately, Die Last never really gripped me like Tony Parsons' books usually do. It may have been the content - human trafficking. I had this 'been there, done that' feeling.
Initially the whole human trafficking subject was treated with a great deal of empathy and compassion. I can only imagine how desperate you would have to be to agree to being smuggled into a foreign country; how frightened. But somewhere along the way the tone changed. It may have had something to do with Max's boss who didn't seem to have a very high regard for human life at all; not for that of her staff and certainly not for the refugees.
There's a bit of everything in Die Last - human traffickers, old style gangster families, Chinese tongs and corrupt businessmen.
The resolution to this left me stunned - in more ways than one. I didn't see it coming re who was behind the human trafficking. I liked that he did, in the end, get his just desserts, BUT I was with my favorite character, Edie Wrenn when she cried, 'Max, no! No, Max, no!' I couldn't see the justification of what he was doing - the wrong people were being punished and I just couldn't see the point to it.
While this isn't my favorite book of the series, it certainly is a thought-provoking one.
Die Last by Tony Parsons was published 22 February 2018. I listened to the audiobook of Die Last, superbly narrated by Colin Mace.
⭐⭐⭐.3
#DieLast #NetGalley
THE AUTHOR: Tony Parsons is a British award-winning journalist, broadcaster and bestselling author of contemporary books.
Born in Romford, Essex, Parsons dropped out of school aged sixteen in order to work on the night shift of Gordon's Gin Distillery in Islington, London, before being offered a journalism job on New Musical Express.
He for the next couple of years travelled with and wrote about legendary musicians such as The Rolling Stones, David Bowie, The Clash, The Sex Pistols and others, before eventually leaving his job to pursue writing.
Tony, whose books have been translated into over 40 languages, currently lives in London with his wife, daughter and their dog.
DISCLOSURE: Thank you to Random House, UK, Cornerstone, Arrow via NetGalley for providing a digital ARC of Die Last by Tony Parsons for review. All opinions expressed in this review are entirely my own personal opinions.
https://sandysbookaday.wordpress.com/...
The Girl from Belgrade
The first thing they took was her passport.
The man jumped down from the cab of the lorry and snapped his fingers at her.
Click-click.
She already had her passport in her hands, ready for her first encounter with authority, and as she held it out to the man she saw, in the weak glow of the Belgrade streetlights, that he had a small stack of passports. They were not all burgundy red like her Serbian passport. These passports were green and blue and bright red – passports from everywhere. The man slipped her passport under the rubber band that held the passports together and he slipped them into the pocket of his thick winter coat. She had expected to keep her passport.
She looked at him and caught a breath. Old scars ran down one side of his face making the torn flesh look as though it had once melted. Then the man clicked his fingers a second time.
Click-click.
She stared at her kid brother with confusion. The boy indicated her suitcase. The man wanted the suitcase. Then the man with the melted face spoke in English, although it was not the first language of either of them.
‘No room,’ he said, gesturing towards the lorry.
But she gripped her suitcase stubbornly and she saw the sudden flare of pure anger in the man’s eyes.
Click-click, went his fingers. She let go.
The suitcase was the second thing he took. It was bewildering. In less than a minute she had surrendered her passport and abandoned her possessions. She could smell sweat and cigarettes on the man and she wondered, for the first time, if she was making a terrible mistake.
She looked at her brother.
The boy was shivering. Belgrade is bitterly cold in January with an average temperature of just above freezing.
She hugged him. The boy, a gangly sixteen-year-old in glasses that were held together with tape on one side, bit his lower lip, struggling to control his emotions. He hugged her back and he would not let her go and when she gently pulled away he still held her, a shy smile on his face as he held his phone up at head height. They smiled at the tiny red light shining in the dark as he took their picture.
Then the man with the melted face took her arm just above the elbow and pulled her towards the lorry. He was not gentle.
‘No time,’ he said.
In the back of the lorry there were two lines of women facing each other. They all turned their heads to look at her. Black faces. Asian faces. Three young women, who might have been sisters, in hijab headscarves. They all looked at her but she was staring at her brother standing on the empty Belgrade street, her suitcase in his hand. She raised her hand in farewell and the boy opened his mouth to say something but the back doors suddenly slammed shut and her brother was gone. She struggled to stay on her feet as the lorry lurched away, heading north for the border.
By the solitary light in the roof of the lorry, she saw there were boxes in the back of the vehicle. Many boxes, all the same.
Birnen – Arnen – Nashi – Peren, it said on the boxes. Grushi – Pere – Peras – Poires.
‘Kruske,’ she thought, and then in English, as if in preparation for her new life. ‘Pears.’
The women were still staring at her. One of them, nearest to the doors, shuffled along to find her space. She was some kind of African girl, not yet out of her teens, her skin so dark it seemed to shine.
The African gave her a wide, white smile of encouragement, and graciously held her hand by her side, inviting the girl from Belgrade to sit down.
She nodded her thanks, taking her seat, and thinking of the African as the kind girl.
The kind girl would be the first to die.
ABOUT 'DIE LAST': 12 DEAD GIRLS
As dawn breaks on a snowy February morning, a refrigerated lorry is found parked in the heart of London's Chinatown. Inside, twelve women, apparently illegal immigrants, are dead from hypothermia.
13 PASSPORTS
But in the cab of the abandoned death truck, DC Max Wolfe of West End Central finds thirteen passports.
WHERE IS SHE?
The hunt for the missing woman will take Max Wolfe into the dark heart of the world of human smuggling, mass migration and 21st-century slave markets, as he is forced to ask the question that haunts our time.
What would you do for a home?
MY THOUGHTS: I have enjoyed this series but somehow missed reading Die Last (Max Wolfe #4) when it was published. I was excited when I found it on my shelf. Unfortunately, Die Last never really gripped me like Tony Parsons' books usually do. It may have been the content - human trafficking. I had this 'been there, done that' feeling.
Initially the whole human trafficking subject was treated with a great deal of empathy and compassion. I can only imagine how desperate you would have to be to agree to being smuggled into a foreign country; how frightened. But somewhere along the way the tone changed. It may have had something to do with Max's boss who didn't seem to have a very high regard for human life at all; not for that of her staff and certainly not for the refugees.
There's a bit of everything in Die Last - human traffickers, old style gangster families, Chinese tongs and corrupt businessmen.
The resolution to this left me stunned - in more ways than one. I didn't see it coming re who was behind the human trafficking. I liked that he did, in the end, get his just desserts, BUT I was with my favorite character, Edie Wrenn when she cried, 'Max, no! No, Max, no!' I couldn't see the justification of what he was doing - the wrong people were being punished and I just couldn't see the point to it.
While this isn't my favorite book of the series, it certainly is a thought-provoking one.
Die Last by Tony Parsons was published 22 February 2018. I listened to the audiobook of Die Last, superbly narrated by Colin Mace.
⭐⭐⭐.3
#DieLast #NetGalley
THE AUTHOR: Tony Parsons is a British award-winning journalist, broadcaster and bestselling author of contemporary books.
Born in Romford, Essex, Parsons dropped out of school aged sixteen in order to work on the night shift of Gordon's Gin Distillery in Islington, London, before being offered a journalism job on New Musical Express.
He for the next couple of years travelled with and wrote about legendary musicians such as The Rolling Stones, David Bowie, The Clash, The Sex Pistols and others, before eventually leaving his job to pursue writing.
Tony, whose books have been translated into over 40 languages, currently lives in London with his wife, daughter and their dog.
DISCLOSURE: Thank you to Random House, UK, Cornerstone, Arrow via NetGalley for providing a digital ARC of Die Last by Tony Parsons for review. All opinions expressed in this review are entirely my own personal opinions.
https://sandysbookaday.wordpress.com/...
February 21, 2019
There are some series that become so special for you that the characters feel like old friends. The Max Wolfe series by Tony Parsons is one of them for me. Now, it has been a while since I read the previous book in the series, but it didn't take me long to get back into the life of Max and his daughter Scout and of course their dog Sam.
READ THE REST OF THE REVIEW OVER AT FRESH FICTION!
READ THE REST OF THE REVIEW OVER AT FRESH FICTION!
April 8, 2018
For some reason I appear to be reading the DC Max Wolfe series in reverse order, not that this really makes any difference to my enjoyment of this first class creation by our very own home bred author Tony Parsons. What sets this crime series equal to and often above the everyday police procedural is the warmth and humanity that the author instils in Max Wolfe retaining so much of the charm from Parsons earlier books (Man and Boy, Man and Wife) Make no mistake Wolfe is a no nonsense operator with an unbreakable exterior yet at the same time shielding a gentle man possessing a deep understanding of the human psyche. Just observe this paragraph when Max is deep in concentration about his dead parents...."But I saw them both after they died, and the spark that had made them the man and woman they were had gone to some other place or dissolved from the Universe. I had no idea but their souls had flown".....
One early cold February morning in Chinatown central London a refrigerated lorry is discovered abandoned it's owner having taken flight. Discovered inside are the frozen remains of 12 women together with 13 passports. So the race is on to locate the identity of the only live witness to this senseless massacre. This story will take Max Wolfe into the core and past of London's criminal fraternity, and in so doing he will discover the senseless barbaric migration of a poor unsuspecting people making the journey to England for the start of what they hope is a new rich fulfilling life. They will ultimately discover that they are merely merchandise or goods to be traded effectively sold into the slavery of prostitution by evil men whose true intent is exploitation and greed...."Human Trafficking, Smuggling and Slavery, the CPS will call it. Enough to put someone away for fourteen years."....
The author is an expert at retaining the reader's attention with his tight descriptive prose using the colourful vibrant beating heart of London as his stage..."It was very cold and I was tired. I wanted to be under the same roof as my daughter and my dog. I wanted to be away from the liars and the desperate"...."a woman who had successfully carved a career from the desires of men".... Whatever the outcome there was never going to be a happy fix or a solution to the question of illegal immigration. DC Max Wolfe as a dogged investigator hunting out the evil but ultimately what he accomplishes is merely a sticking plaster over an open wound..."Of the twelve women we discovered on that freezing morning, only Hana Novak was ever identified and claimed. I felt we had failed them all and everyone who loved them"........
Many thanks to the good people at netgalley and the publisher Random House UK, Cornerstone Arrow for a gratis copy in exchange for an honest review and that is what I have written......in a word Brilliant!
One early cold February morning in Chinatown central London a refrigerated lorry is discovered abandoned it's owner having taken flight. Discovered inside are the frozen remains of 12 women together with 13 passports. So the race is on to locate the identity of the only live witness to this senseless massacre. This story will take Max Wolfe into the core and past of London's criminal fraternity, and in so doing he will discover the senseless barbaric migration of a poor unsuspecting people making the journey to England for the start of what they hope is a new rich fulfilling life. They will ultimately discover that they are merely merchandise or goods to be traded effectively sold into the slavery of prostitution by evil men whose true intent is exploitation and greed...."Human Trafficking, Smuggling and Slavery, the CPS will call it. Enough to put someone away for fourteen years."....
The author is an expert at retaining the reader's attention with his tight descriptive prose using the colourful vibrant beating heart of London as his stage..."It was very cold and I was tired. I wanted to be under the same roof as my daughter and my dog. I wanted to be away from the liars and the desperate"...."a woman who had successfully carved a career from the desires of men".... Whatever the outcome there was never going to be a happy fix or a solution to the question of illegal immigration. DC Max Wolfe as a dogged investigator hunting out the evil but ultimately what he accomplishes is merely a sticking plaster over an open wound..."Of the twelve women we discovered on that freezing morning, only Hana Novak was ever identified and claimed. I felt we had failed them all and everyone who loved them"........
Many thanks to the good people at netgalley and the publisher Random House UK, Cornerstone Arrow for a gratis copy in exchange for an honest review and that is what I have written......in a word Brilliant!
May 4, 2018
I read The Slaughter Man, my first time reading Tony Parsons last month and now this and I may actually have found one of my new favourite authors. I've really been enjoying these books.
Not sure I want to work with Max Wolfe though; he really is a death magnet. Without spoiling the 'who' his work colleagues are always getting themselves murdered. I've never seen such a police death total since I started reading these books!
This one is all about people trafficking, the fastest growing crime at present times. I work for the civil service and have been on a few courses about this subject and how to try and spot someone. There's a lot of realism in this book which like my first read is one of the reasons I'm enjoying this author.
I'm finding this series really easy to read and really fast. There's some really good descriptive prose in here and I have each character so clear in my head, even the dog. I found a Max Wolfe short story in the mess of books that's in my kindle so that's goig on my next few books to read and then I can't wait to go back and pick up the first few books. I love these.
Free arc from netgalley
Not sure I want to work with Max Wolfe though; he really is a death magnet. Without spoiling the 'who' his work colleagues are always getting themselves murdered. I've never seen such a police death total since I started reading these books!
This one is all about people trafficking, the fastest growing crime at present times. I work for the civil service and have been on a few courses about this subject and how to try and spot someone. There's a lot of realism in this book which like my first read is one of the reasons I'm enjoying this author.
I'm finding this series really easy to read and really fast. There's some really good descriptive prose in here and I have each character so clear in my head, even the dog. I found a Max Wolfe short story in the mess of books that's in my kindle so that's goig on my next few books to read and then I can't wait to go back and pick up the first few books. I love these.
Free arc from netgalley
February 26, 2018
I would like to thank Netgalley and Random House, Cornerstone for a review copy of Die Last, the fourth novel to feature DC Max Wolfe of the Met.
The department is outraged when they find a refrigerated lorry with 12 dead women in it in Chinatown. The women have been trafficked and all died of hypothermia but there are are 13 passports in the cabin so who and where is the missing woman?
I thoroughly enjoyed Die Last which has a compulsive plot and some likeable characters. People trafficking is always an emotive subject but Mr Parsons handles it with panache, not shying away from either the seedier side of it or the violence of the traffickers nor missing the desperation of the trafficked. I thought the scenes from the camp in Northern France were excellent in their portrayal of this desperation. The plot itself has plenty of twists, turns and action as Max takes another pounding so it is a page turner which held my interest throughout. I do, however, think as I do with all the novels in the series that the answers come a little too easily and serendipitously to ring completely true.
Mr Parsons' real strength as a writer lies in his characterisation. He has a great understanding of human frailty and brings this to his characters. The villains are not entirely bad and often have redeeming characteristics (with one or two exceptions) and his police personnel are not superheroes, just motivated people doing the best they can. I hated Max's boss, DCI Whitestone, for her cold, callous nature throughout most of the book until she offered an explanation and it all made sense. Max is a single parent who works too many hours to spend quality time with his daughter. It bothers him but his dedication to his job seems to win mostly. It is a dilemma we can all sympathise with.
Die Last is a good read which I have no hesitation in recommending.
The department is outraged when they find a refrigerated lorry with 12 dead women in it in Chinatown. The women have been trafficked and all died of hypothermia but there are are 13 passports in the cabin so who and where is the missing woman?
I thoroughly enjoyed Die Last which has a compulsive plot and some likeable characters. People trafficking is always an emotive subject but Mr Parsons handles it with panache, not shying away from either the seedier side of it or the violence of the traffickers nor missing the desperation of the trafficked. I thought the scenes from the camp in Northern France were excellent in their portrayal of this desperation. The plot itself has plenty of twists, turns and action as Max takes another pounding so it is a page turner which held my interest throughout. I do, however, think as I do with all the novels in the series that the answers come a little too easily and serendipitously to ring completely true.
Mr Parsons' real strength as a writer lies in his characterisation. He has a great understanding of human frailty and brings this to his characters. The villains are not entirely bad and often have redeeming characteristics (with one or two exceptions) and his police personnel are not superheroes, just motivated people doing the best they can. I hated Max's boss, DCI Whitestone, for her cold, callous nature throughout most of the book until she offered an explanation and it all made sense. Max is a single parent who works too many hours to spend quality time with his daughter. It bothers him but his dedication to his job seems to win mostly. It is a dilemma we can all sympathise with.
Die Last is a good read which I have no hesitation in recommending.
March 12, 2018
This is a gripping and intelligent police thriller from Tony Parsons. It's the fourth in the Max Wolfe series, but I read it without having read the previous three and enjoyed it very much.
This time, DC Max Wolfe investigates people trafficking after twelve women are found dead in the back of a lorry. It's a well-researched and passionately angry story which it moves at a very brisk pace and kept me gripped throughout. Parsons writes very well; I found Max's narrative voice very convincing, the characters and background well painted and the story itself largely believable. There are some fairly significant implausibilities at times, one or two unlikely coincidences, but in a work of fiction like this I didn't find them too off-putting.
This is a very good, exciting read which makes important points while largely avoiding preaching or speechifying. I enjoyed it and can recommend it warmly.
(My thanks to Cornerstone for an ARC via NetGalley.)
This time, DC Max Wolfe investigates people trafficking after twelve women are found dead in the back of a lorry. It's a well-researched and passionately angry story which it moves at a very brisk pace and kept me gripped throughout. Parsons writes very well; I found Max's narrative voice very convincing, the characters and background well painted and the story itself largely believable. There are some fairly significant implausibilities at times, one or two unlikely coincidences, but in a work of fiction like this I didn't find them too off-putting.
This is a very good, exciting read which makes important points while largely avoiding preaching or speechifying. I enjoyed it and can recommend it warmly.
(My thanks to Cornerstone for an ARC via NetGalley.)
October 18, 2018
4.5 stars. I've really enjoyed this series to date. In this book an abandoned refrigerated lorry is found with 12 dead women inside. But there are 13 passports. The race is on to find the last woman before the traffickers can silence her for good. This quest leads DC Max Wolfe down some very dark alleys indeed.
April 26, 2018
Another excellent novel from Tony Parsons who has not only written an clever and absorbing read but raised the nasty trade of people trafficking.
The story is rather gruesome at the start; a group of illegal women stowed in the back of a lorry brought into the U.K. for prostitution or slave labour.
Unfortunately they were in a refrigerated vehicle that when the temperature rose the thermostat kicked in.
Dumped in Chinatown, London the police have 12 bodies but 13 passports.
A dark tale about family ties set against this terrible growing problem of not just bringing asylum seeking refugees into the country but exploiting economical migrants who wish for a better life.
London is always beautifully used as a location in any of the Max Wolfe series and here in book 4 the backdrop is wonderfully arranged from Chinatown to the Old Bailey.
Since it is a novel and the author has so much to say; it is interesting to see the role of camps in France full of desperate people but control by political motivations and less worthwhile beliefs.
The scope of the book may by far-reaching and those involved cold to their exploitation of others. That this is an increasing issue is justification enough for such a detailed fiction within this unseen world of corruption but the crime saga does not quite work for me.
I enjoyed the book enormously but found it a little too complete. No rough edges left, everything too neatly tied up. Max mad one moment then back onside the next. As usual his life is placed in real danger on a number of times yet he questions other officer’s risks never seeing his own.
It is finally interesting to see how little the police seem to know other than by turning suspects or going undercover all of which seem totally incompetent. The author would have us believe for this novel at least that the Chinese community know their own and police their people more effectively.
Never truly gripped me and I hope more thought and plot preparation went into book 5, down next to read.
The story is rather gruesome at the start; a group of illegal women stowed in the back of a lorry brought into the U.K. for prostitution or slave labour.
Unfortunately they were in a refrigerated vehicle that when the temperature rose the thermostat kicked in.
Dumped in Chinatown, London the police have 12 bodies but 13 passports.
A dark tale about family ties set against this terrible growing problem of not just bringing asylum seeking refugees into the country but exploiting economical migrants who wish for a better life.
London is always beautifully used as a location in any of the Max Wolfe series and here in book 4 the backdrop is wonderfully arranged from Chinatown to the Old Bailey.
Since it is a novel and the author has so much to say; it is interesting to see the role of camps in France full of desperate people but control by political motivations and less worthwhile beliefs.
The scope of the book may by far-reaching and those involved cold to their exploitation of others. That this is an increasing issue is justification enough for such a detailed fiction within this unseen world of corruption but the crime saga does not quite work for me.
I enjoyed the book enormously but found it a little too complete. No rough edges left, everything too neatly tied up. Max mad one moment then back onside the next. As usual his life is placed in real danger on a number of times yet he questions other officer’s risks never seeing his own.
It is finally interesting to see how little the police seem to know other than by turning suspects or going undercover all of which seem totally incompetent. The author would have us believe for this novel at least that the Chinese community know their own and police their people more effectively.
Never truly gripped me and I hope more thought and plot preparation went into book 5, down next to read.
January 26, 2018
Zu Beginn der Reihe um Max Wolfe hatte ich noch meine Probleme mit der Geschichte, aber inzwischen mag ich die Bücher von Tony Parsons echt gerne. Vor allem gefällt es mir wie er aktuelle Themen in seine Fälle einbindet.
Auch in "In eisiger nacht" geht es wieder um ein solches aktuelles Thema: Flüchtlinge und Menschenhandel. Parsons hat das Thema auf eine sehr interessante und realistische Weise in seine Geschichte einfließen lassen, so dass es mich inzwischen gar nicht mehr stört, dass die Fälle an sich nicht so spannend sind. Für mich sind diese aktuellen Thema teilweise deutlich interessanter, das soll aber nicht heißen, dass Langeweile aufkommt. Die Geschichte ist dennoch spannend und konnte mich am Ende dann doch noch sehr überraschen.
Max Wolfe ist für mich ein sehr sympathischer Ermittler, der zwar auch so seine Probleme hat, aber diese bleiben weitesgehend im Rahmen und er ist nicht so kaputt wie viele andere Ermittler. Dies ist für mich ein großes Plus dieser Reihe.
Wie auch die vorherigen Teile der Reihe lassen sich die Bücher durch einen angenehmen Schreibstil sehr flüssig und unterhaltsam lesen. Ich bin gespannt, ob es weitere Fälle mit Max Wolfe geben wird.
Auch in "In eisiger nacht" geht es wieder um ein solches aktuelles Thema: Flüchtlinge und Menschenhandel. Parsons hat das Thema auf eine sehr interessante und realistische Weise in seine Geschichte einfließen lassen, so dass es mich inzwischen gar nicht mehr stört, dass die Fälle an sich nicht so spannend sind. Für mich sind diese aktuellen Thema teilweise deutlich interessanter, das soll aber nicht heißen, dass Langeweile aufkommt. Die Geschichte ist dennoch spannend und konnte mich am Ende dann doch noch sehr überraschen.
Max Wolfe ist für mich ein sehr sympathischer Ermittler, der zwar auch so seine Probleme hat, aber diese bleiben weitesgehend im Rahmen und er ist nicht so kaputt wie viele andere Ermittler. Dies ist für mich ein großes Plus dieser Reihe.
Wie auch die vorherigen Teile der Reihe lassen sich die Bücher durch einen angenehmen Schreibstil sehr flüssig und unterhaltsam lesen. Ich bin gespannt, ob es weitere Fälle mit Max Wolfe geben wird.
December 15, 2017
Quite disappointing, whilst I still enjoyed reading about the life of Max Wolfe, an excellent character. The story didn't really do a lot for me!
Max also needs to find another move and stop punching people in the heart!
Max also needs to find another move and stop punching people in the heart!
April 6, 2018
excellent everyone should read this book
January 31, 2018
London, an einem frostigen Wintermorgen. Bei einem Einsatz erwartet Detective Max Wolfe ein schrecklicher Anblick: In einem Kühllaster liegen zwölf erfrorene Frauen. Offenbar hatten sie noch versucht, sich aus ihrem eisigen Gefängnis zu befreien - vergeblich. Alles deutet darauf hin, dass sie von Schleusern illegal ins Land geschafft wurden. Doch warum mussten sie sterben? Als man im Führerhaus des Lasters nicht zwölf, sondern dreizehn Pässe entdeckt, schöpft Max Hoffnung: Wo ist die dreizehnte Frau? Lebt sie vielleicht noch? Auf der Suche nach ihr tauchen Max und seine Kollegen tief in die dunkle, gefährliche Welt des Menschenhandels ein - und nicht jeder von ihnen wird lebend zurückkehren ...(Klappentext)
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Dies ist der 4. Teil der britischen Krimi-Reihe rund um Detective Max Wolfe.
Für mich war es der erste Tony Parsons-Krimi überhaupt und daher hatte ich keinerlei Vorkenntnisse bezüglich der vorherigen 3 Teile. Diese benötigt man meiner Meinung auch nicht.
Ich hatte keinerlei Schwierigkeiten in den Krimi hinein zu finden. Das liegt daran, dass der Autor immer wieder Informationen bezüglich der vergangenen Geschehnisse einfließen lässt. Dies jedoch keineswegs ausschweifend, sondern sehr gut in die Handlung integriert. Immer nur so viel, wie man für den aktuellen Fall benötigt, um der Handlung folgen zu können und gewisse Reaktionen und auch Handlungen der Protagonisten selbst zu verstehen.
Bezüglich der Privatsituationen der Charaktere, allen voran des Hauptprotagonisten Max Wolfe, wird hierbei aber auch gleichzeitig die Neugierde des Lesers geweckt, die mich persönlich dazu anregt mir auch die vorherigen Teile zu zulegen.
Dies ist jedoch nicht der einzige Grund. Es liegt vor allem am flüssigen und sehr bildhaften Schreibstil des Autors. Der Plot ist fesselnd und die Thematik dieses Krimis hochaktuell - Flüchtlinge, Schlepper, Flüchtlingscamps und Menschenhandel. Dies wird hier aus verschiedenen Perspektiven beleuchtet, sowohl von der polizeilichen, als auch von Flüchtlingen und Schleppern selbst. Hier gibt es kein bloßes schwarz-weiß oder gut-böse Schema.
Der Autor schafft es zudem die entsprechende Atmosphäre an den Leser zu transportieren, ob nun spannungsgeladen oder bedrückend.
Ab dem ersten Drittel nimmt der Krimi dann auch gehörig an Fahrt zu. Es wird spannender, aber auch brutaler und bedrückender, was natürlich auch an der Thematik selbst liegt.
Dieser Krimi hält so viele Emotionen bereit, sodass einem schwindelig werden könnte und doch muss man immer weiter lesen.
Manchmal hätte ich mir jedoch bei gewissen Details und Handlungen mehr Tiefgang gewünscht. Manches wird einfach viel zu schnell abgehandelt oder gar nur am Rande erwähnt.
Leider war in gewisser Weise auch schnell klar wer dahintersteckt. Hier wiederum wäre bei so manchen Erwähnungen weniger besser gewesen.
Trotzdem enthält der Krimi, welchen ich persönlich eher im Thriller-Genre einordnen würde, durchaus auch überraschende Wendungen.
Fazit:
Im Großen und Ganzen hat mich dieser Krimi wunderbar unterhalten, was aufgrund der Thematik vielleicht etwas befremdlich wirken mag. Aber alle Handlungsstränge laufen hier gekonnt zusammen und es kommt zu einem schlüssigen und für mich stimmiges Ende.
Manchmal hätte ich mir mehr Details und manchmal wiederum weniger (bezüglich Auflösung) gewünscht.
Dieser Krimi weist deutliche Merkmale eines Thrillers auf und ist sicher nicht für jeden geeignet. Trotz der angeführten Mankos kann ich eine absolute Leseempfehlung aussprechen. Vor allem auch für Thrillerfans mit einem etwas stärkeren Magen.
Ich persönlich werde mir definitiv auch die vorherigen Teile dieser Max Wolfe-Reihe zulegen.
© Pink Anemone
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Dies ist der 4. Teil der britischen Krimi-Reihe rund um Detective Max Wolfe.
Für mich war es der erste Tony Parsons-Krimi überhaupt und daher hatte ich keinerlei Vorkenntnisse bezüglich der vorherigen 3 Teile. Diese benötigt man meiner Meinung auch nicht.
Ich hatte keinerlei Schwierigkeiten in den Krimi hinein zu finden. Das liegt daran, dass der Autor immer wieder Informationen bezüglich der vergangenen Geschehnisse einfließen lässt. Dies jedoch keineswegs ausschweifend, sondern sehr gut in die Handlung integriert. Immer nur so viel, wie man für den aktuellen Fall benötigt, um der Handlung folgen zu können und gewisse Reaktionen und auch Handlungen der Protagonisten selbst zu verstehen.
Bezüglich der Privatsituationen der Charaktere, allen voran des Hauptprotagonisten Max Wolfe, wird hierbei aber auch gleichzeitig die Neugierde des Lesers geweckt, die mich persönlich dazu anregt mir auch die vorherigen Teile zu zulegen.
Dies ist jedoch nicht der einzige Grund. Es liegt vor allem am flüssigen und sehr bildhaften Schreibstil des Autors. Der Plot ist fesselnd und die Thematik dieses Krimis hochaktuell - Flüchtlinge, Schlepper, Flüchtlingscamps und Menschenhandel. Dies wird hier aus verschiedenen Perspektiven beleuchtet, sowohl von der polizeilichen, als auch von Flüchtlingen und Schleppern selbst. Hier gibt es kein bloßes schwarz-weiß oder gut-böse Schema.
Der Autor schafft es zudem die entsprechende Atmosphäre an den Leser zu transportieren, ob nun spannungsgeladen oder bedrückend.
Ab dem ersten Drittel nimmt der Krimi dann auch gehörig an Fahrt zu. Es wird spannender, aber auch brutaler und bedrückender, was natürlich auch an der Thematik selbst liegt.
Dieser Krimi hält so viele Emotionen bereit, sodass einem schwindelig werden könnte und doch muss man immer weiter lesen.
Manchmal hätte ich mir jedoch bei gewissen Details und Handlungen mehr Tiefgang gewünscht. Manches wird einfach viel zu schnell abgehandelt oder gar nur am Rande erwähnt.
Leider war in gewisser Weise auch schnell klar wer dahintersteckt. Hier wiederum wäre bei so manchen Erwähnungen weniger besser gewesen.
Trotzdem enthält der Krimi, welchen ich persönlich eher im Thriller-Genre einordnen würde, durchaus auch überraschende Wendungen.
Fazit:
Im Großen und Ganzen hat mich dieser Krimi wunderbar unterhalten, was aufgrund der Thematik vielleicht etwas befremdlich wirken mag. Aber alle Handlungsstränge laufen hier gekonnt zusammen und es kommt zu einem schlüssigen und für mich stimmiges Ende.
Manchmal hätte ich mir mehr Details und manchmal wiederum weniger (bezüglich Auflösung) gewünscht.
Dieser Krimi weist deutliche Merkmale eines Thrillers auf und ist sicher nicht für jeden geeignet. Trotz der angeführten Mankos kann ich eine absolute Leseempfehlung aussprechen. Vor allem auch für Thrillerfans mit einem etwas stärkeren Magen.
Ich persönlich werde mir definitiv auch die vorherigen Teile dieser Max Wolfe-Reihe zulegen.
© Pink Anemone
January 16, 2019
Max Wolfe finds himself in the midst of a human trafficking ring that has devastating consequences, not only for the women involved, but also the police force itself. I love that Tony Parsons puts his own spin on trends and events that are relevant and doesn't just glamorise and dramatise but tells the story with empathy as well as all the twists and turns that always lead me to never knowing "whodunnit."
I will say though that the constant mention of the BMW X5 continues to irk me, why not just say I parked the car?
I will say though that the constant mention of the BMW X5 continues to irk me, why not just say I parked the car?
August 20, 2017
I love the Max Wolfe books and this was not a let down, it has good pace,twists along the way, if I had any problem with the book it was that I had worked out who was behind the killings very early in the book, but I be honest I did change my mind a couple of times lol.
I am looking forward to see what becomes of Max and his daugher in the next books
I am looking forward to see what becomes of Max and his daugher in the next books
October 10, 2020
this series is getting better and better!
June 23, 2018
Listened to in audio format.
Die Last begins with Hana Novak taking a Selfie with her little brother Nesha. Hana is about to start a new life in London working as a nurse. Hana paid a fee to a pay master to illegally enter the UK. However Hana was shocked when she was put in the back of a refrigerated lorry with 12 other women for the journey. On the way over 11 of the women froze to death, when the driver discovered this he abandoned the van in London's Chinatown.
Max and his colleague Eddie Wren were called to the scene and Max discovered Hana was breathing but barely alive. Max travelled in the ambulance with Hana and promised to find out who did this.
This is the fourth book I have read in the D.C. Max Wolf series. I enjoy this series because it is a modern police procedural, but with an echo of old London during the heyday of the fifties/sixties London villains. Max is a tough guy who boxes and doesn't think twice about punching someone in heart. But he shows a sensitive side with his baby sitter Mrs Murphy, daughter Scout and Stan the dog.
The descriptions of Hana and the other women was heart breaking. So desperate to start a new life in the UK they were willing to risk their life like that. I picked up the big clue about the illegal women but I was surprised when the real organiser was revealed.
Outside of the investigation Edie is pregnant with her married lovers baby, Max surprises himself by being jealous. His boss DCI Whitehouse's son Justin is given a guide dog called Dasher, Justin unwilling to admit he has problem doesn't want him. Max offers to let Dasher stay in his loft apartment with Scout and Stan, this leads to some light hearted relief in a heavy storyline.
This was another great book in the series. I can't wait to see what happens with Max and Edie.
Die Last begins with Hana Novak taking a Selfie with her little brother Nesha. Hana is about to start a new life in London working as a nurse. Hana paid a fee to a pay master to illegally enter the UK. However Hana was shocked when she was put in the back of a refrigerated lorry with 12 other women for the journey. On the way over 11 of the women froze to death, when the driver discovered this he abandoned the van in London's Chinatown.
Max and his colleague Eddie Wren were called to the scene and Max discovered Hana was breathing but barely alive. Max travelled in the ambulance with Hana and promised to find out who did this.
This is the fourth book I have read in the D.C. Max Wolf series. I enjoy this series because it is a modern police procedural, but with an echo of old London during the heyday of the fifties/sixties London villains. Max is a tough guy who boxes and doesn't think twice about punching someone in heart. But he shows a sensitive side with his baby sitter Mrs Murphy, daughter Scout and Stan the dog.
The descriptions of Hana and the other women was heart breaking. So desperate to start a new life in the UK they were willing to risk their life like that. I picked up the big clue about the illegal women but I was surprised when the real organiser was revealed.
Outside of the investigation Edie is pregnant with her married lovers baby, Max surprises himself by being jealous. His boss DCI Whitehouse's son Justin is given a guide dog called Dasher, Justin unwilling to admit he has problem doesn't want him. Max offers to let Dasher stay in his loft apartment with Scout and Stan, this leads to some light hearted relief in a heavy storyline.
This was another great book in the series. I can't wait to see what happens with Max and Edie.
April 6, 2018
I really enjoyed The Hanging Club, the first book I read by this author, and was looking forward to the next instalment in the Wolfe story. But this book fell short for me and left me disappointed. I liked Wolfe as a character but he acts more like a DI rather than a DC - he doesn't follow orders, but gives orders. The story was unbelievable and some of the situations the police officers got into being frankly silly. A trainee DC sent undercover as a trucker importing illegal immigrants after only a week of training driving a HGV and no undercover experience. I hated the DCI character.
August 4, 2017
This was a very captivating, but at parts very horrible story about human trafficking. Many twists and turns and several surprises along the way. I really like the writing of this author and I’m already waiting for the next book.
July 8, 2017
so meh. it's readable but the plot was ok at best and boring in parts
December 27, 2017
What is this about?: A lorry truck filled with women frozen to death in the back is found in Chinatown and Max and his team are called in to investigate.
What else is this about?: Max and the two women — no three — in his life: his boss, Whitestone, his partner Edie, with whom he is falling in love with and Scout, his young daughter. This has always been a character focused series, and it remains as such.
Stars: 4.5/5
Tony Parsons is the type of writer that makes every word count, makes me feel every emotion ten times more than usual, and then you throw in Colin Mace as a narrator, and I’m kind of addicted to this series in audiobook.
In Die Last, Parsons tackles human trafficking, the kind where lorries are filled with desperate men and women to cross borders and to get into the UK. A lorry filled with 12 dead women, and 13 passports sets Max and his team on the trail of human traffickers in London and the only survivor of that trip.
One of the things that keeps me going with this series is that Parsons is able to elevate what is a straightforward story into a something emotional because he makes me care about everyone, not just Max.
He is able to balance the procedural and the emotional with such finesse, it’s only after the book is over that I realised how devastated I am at the losses in it — main characters are how I care about secondary characters. If they like them, I like them; if they hate a character, I’ll hate them (or maybe secretly love them anyway). It’s one thing to use your main character to make readers care about someone else, but it’s entirely another to make a reader care about the secondary character on his own.
I swear that made sense in my head.
Parsons plotting is wonderfully detailed in this one, revisiting characters from previous instalments, but I don’t think you’ll miss anything if you start with this one. There are new characters that I didn’t expect to sympathise with, even as they’re sitting in jail confessing to crimes and wanting nothing more than to ensure their families are safe.
Even though I have read all four books of this series, and I should be used to Parsons’ writing, the end of this title was not what I was expecting by any means: the various plot threads come together so seamlessly, and I cannot stress enough how many threads Parsons had going with this story, from London to refugee camps, and then Chinatown, and back again — and yet they all come together in a neat and completely and utterly unexpected bow.
The other reason I keep going with this series: Characterisation.
Max is a cop, a single father bringing up his daughter Scout, and building a home with Stan and Scout as best he can. While previous instalments featured their relationships strongly, I think this time Parsons is letting Max move on — or I hope — and admitting how much he cares so much for his colleague Edie. Naturally, the book ends just as he knocks on her door, so I’ll have to wait until the next one to see what happens.
(I’m half convinced that won’t work out because he also seems to have more in common with his boss, who is nothing like Edie, but their relationship is drawn out better in some ways. Even if they are yelling at each other)
I will admit Max has stalled for a bit on the personal front, though Scout and his relationship with her has been a priority. But, here’s what’s weird: normally, I can take or leave a romance in a book like this. But Parsons has made me want this for Max, made me want him to find someone with whom he can build a home because in this book and this series — family is everything.
Whether it’s the people who leave their families behind to try for a better life, or the criminals who embrace their family’s history or Edie who is trying to do her best for her grandmother who has dementia and needs to stay in a home. It’s a powerful theme wrapped up in a procedural, which I thoroughly enjoyed.
It’s strange how these books always leave be contemplative. Among his other talents as a writer, Parsons manages to turn a procedural into a thoughtful exploration of the different themes, like (single) father and daughters in earlier books and families in this one.
What else is this about?: Max and the two women — no three — in his life: his boss, Whitestone, his partner Edie, with whom he is falling in love with and Scout, his young daughter. This has always been a character focused series, and it remains as such.
Stars: 4.5/5
Tony Parsons is the type of writer that makes every word count, makes me feel every emotion ten times more than usual, and then you throw in Colin Mace as a narrator, and I’m kind of addicted to this series in audiobook.
In Die Last, Parsons tackles human trafficking, the kind where lorries are filled with desperate men and women to cross borders and to get into the UK. A lorry filled with 12 dead women, and 13 passports sets Max and his team on the trail of human traffickers in London and the only survivor of that trip.
One of the things that keeps me going with this series is that Parsons is able to elevate what is a straightforward story into a something emotional because he makes me care about everyone, not just Max.
He is able to balance the procedural and the emotional with such finesse, it’s only after the book is over that I realised how devastated I am at the losses in it — main characters are how I care about secondary characters. If they like them, I like them; if they hate a character, I’ll hate them (or maybe secretly love them anyway). It’s one thing to use your main character to make readers care about someone else, but it’s entirely another to make a reader care about the secondary character on his own.
I swear that made sense in my head.
Parsons plotting is wonderfully detailed in this one, revisiting characters from previous instalments, but I don’t think you’ll miss anything if you start with this one. There are new characters that I didn’t expect to sympathise with, even as they’re sitting in jail confessing to crimes and wanting nothing more than to ensure their families are safe.
Even though I have read all four books of this series, and I should be used to Parsons’ writing, the end of this title was not what I was expecting by any means: the various plot threads come together so seamlessly, and I cannot stress enough how many threads Parsons had going with this story, from London to refugee camps, and then Chinatown, and back again — and yet they all come together in a neat and completely and utterly unexpected bow.
The other reason I keep going with this series: Characterisation.
Max is a cop, a single father bringing up his daughter Scout, and building a home with Stan and Scout as best he can. While previous instalments featured their relationships strongly, I think this time Parsons is letting Max move on — or I hope — and admitting how much he cares so much for his colleague Edie. Naturally, the book ends just as he knocks on her door, so I’ll have to wait until the next one to see what happens.
(I’m half convinced that won’t work out because he also seems to have more in common with his boss, who is nothing like Edie, but their relationship is drawn out better in some ways. Even if they are yelling at each other)
I will admit Max has stalled for a bit on the personal front, though Scout and his relationship with her has been a priority. But, here’s what’s weird: normally, I can take or leave a romance in a book like this. But Parsons has made me want this for Max, made me want him to find someone with whom he can build a home because in this book and this series — family is everything.
Whether it’s the people who leave their families behind to try for a better life, or the criminals who embrace their family’s history or Edie who is trying to do her best for her grandmother who has dementia and needs to stay in a home. It’s a powerful theme wrapped up in a procedural, which I thoroughly enjoyed.
It’s strange how these books always leave be contemplative. Among his other talents as a writer, Parsons manages to turn a procedural into a thoughtful exploration of the different themes, like (single) father and daughters in earlier books and families in this one.
March 10, 2018
Ehrlich, düster und voller spannender Wendungen
Die Reihe um DC Max Wolfe gehört mittlerweile zu einer meiner liebsten. Tony Parson schafft es immer wieder, ein Thema, sei es dass es ein paar Jahre zurückliegt oder zu einem der aktuellen in der Weltgeschichte gehört, realistisch, ehrlich und mitreißend zu schreiben, zu verpacken und dem Leser derartig zu vermitteln, dass es einem regelrecht unter die Haut geht. Dieses Mal haben Wolfe und seine Kollegen es mit einem Schleuserring zu tun, nachdem sie einen abgestellten Lkw mit zwölf toten illegalen Einwanderinnen finden. Die (wahrscheinlich) gefälschten Pässe finden sie im Führerhaus und schnell wird klar, eine Frau fehlt. Auf der Jagd nach dieser Frau und die Drahtzieher hinter all dem, tun sich für Wolfe, Edie und den anderen erneut dunkle Abgründe der Menschheit vor ihnen auf, die sie zu verschlucken drohen. Selbst Max bekommt Zweifel an seiner Arbeit als Polizist und dem Sinn dahinter, als sie dann auch noch jemanden aus ihrem Team verlieren. Das war für mich ein großer Schock, wen Parsons sich dafür herausgepickt hat und ich musste erst einmal schlucken. Oh man... Werden sie die Schleuser und den großen Unbekannten, der hinter diesem Schleuserring zu stehen scheint, finden und stoppen können? Denn es steckt viel mehr hinter alldem, als sich Max und seine Kollegen vorstellen können. Das Ende hat mich schon sehr überrascht, aber man hatte es dennoch irgendwie vor der Nase gehabt...
Was ich auch immer wieder gut finde an dieser Reihe, ist, dass auch die privaten Belange, Probleme oder Angelegenheiten nicht zu kurz kommen. Die Mischung passt immer nahezu perfekt und passt sich jedes Mal gut der jeweiligen Stimmung des Buches an. Wenn man zum Beispiel Wolfe im Dienst erlebt, seinen täglichen Kampf, ob man überhaupt für Gerechtigkeit und Recht und Ordnung kämpfen kann, ob es sich lohnt für Menschen zu kämpfen, die alle mehr oder weniger eine dunkle Seite haben und sich nicht um andere scheren. Und dann ist da Max, der alleinerziehende Vater einer süßen Tochter und eines cleveren Hundes. Wie er versucht, da ein gesundes Gleichgewicht zu finden und sich selbst nicht zu verlieren, um Scout ein guter Vater zu sein. Schließlich gibt es ja nur noch sie beide und Stan. So düster das Buch manchmal auch sein mag, tauchen doch immer hin und wieder ein paar Lichtblicke auf. So auch am Ende dieses Buches und ich bin auch gespannt, was daraus werden wird, wenn denn etwas daraus hervorgeht. Ich freu mich schon auf den nächsten Band.
Die Reihe um DC Max Wolfe gehört mittlerweile zu einer meiner liebsten. Tony Parson schafft es immer wieder, ein Thema, sei es dass es ein paar Jahre zurückliegt oder zu einem der aktuellen in der Weltgeschichte gehört, realistisch, ehrlich und mitreißend zu schreiben, zu verpacken und dem Leser derartig zu vermitteln, dass es einem regelrecht unter die Haut geht. Dieses Mal haben Wolfe und seine Kollegen es mit einem Schleuserring zu tun, nachdem sie einen abgestellten Lkw mit zwölf toten illegalen Einwanderinnen finden. Die (wahrscheinlich) gefälschten Pässe finden sie im Führerhaus und schnell wird klar, eine Frau fehlt. Auf der Jagd nach dieser Frau und die Drahtzieher hinter all dem, tun sich für Wolfe, Edie und den anderen erneut dunkle Abgründe der Menschheit vor ihnen auf, die sie zu verschlucken drohen. Selbst Max bekommt Zweifel an seiner Arbeit als Polizist und dem Sinn dahinter, als sie dann auch noch jemanden aus ihrem Team verlieren. Das war für mich ein großer Schock, wen Parsons sich dafür herausgepickt hat und ich musste erst einmal schlucken. Oh man... Werden sie die Schleuser und den großen Unbekannten, der hinter diesem Schleuserring zu stehen scheint, finden und stoppen können? Denn es steckt viel mehr hinter alldem, als sich Max und seine Kollegen vorstellen können. Das Ende hat mich schon sehr überrascht, aber man hatte es dennoch irgendwie vor der Nase gehabt...
Was ich auch immer wieder gut finde an dieser Reihe, ist, dass auch die privaten Belange, Probleme oder Angelegenheiten nicht zu kurz kommen. Die Mischung passt immer nahezu perfekt und passt sich jedes Mal gut der jeweiligen Stimmung des Buches an. Wenn man zum Beispiel Wolfe im Dienst erlebt, seinen täglichen Kampf, ob man überhaupt für Gerechtigkeit und Recht und Ordnung kämpfen kann, ob es sich lohnt für Menschen zu kämpfen, die alle mehr oder weniger eine dunkle Seite haben und sich nicht um andere scheren. Und dann ist da Max, der alleinerziehende Vater einer süßen Tochter und eines cleveren Hundes. Wie er versucht, da ein gesundes Gleichgewicht zu finden und sich selbst nicht zu verlieren, um Scout ein guter Vater zu sein. Schließlich gibt es ja nur noch sie beide und Stan. So düster das Buch manchmal auch sein mag, tauchen doch immer hin und wieder ein paar Lichtblicke auf. So auch am Ende dieses Buches und ich bin auch gespannt, was daraus werden wird, wenn denn etwas daraus hervorgeht. Ich freu mich schon auf den nächsten Band.
January 26, 2018
Als die Polizei zu einem verlassenen LKW im Londoner Chinatown gerufen wird, können sie nur noch den Tot von elf jungen Frauen feststellen. Eine einzige hat die Fahrt in dem Kühltransporter überlebt, aber die Chancen für Hana sind ebenfalls schlecht und nur wenige Stunden später erliegt auch sie den Erfrierungen. Detective Max Wolfe muss ermitteln und kommt schnell einer Bande von Menschenschmugglern auf die Spur. Offenbar wurden die Frauen illegal ins Land gebracht, um in Bordellen zu arbeiten und die Wünsche der Freier zu erfüllen. Die Handlanger sind schnell ausgemacht, aber an die Hintermänner zu kommen wird ein gefährliches Unterfangen, das den Ermittlern alles abverlangt.
Band 4 um den alleinerziehenden Londoner Ermittler kann nahtlos an die Vorgänger anknüpfen und überzeugt einmal mehr mit einem starken Protagonisten, der erfreulicherweise so gar nicht die gängigen Klischees bedient, und einer ebenso komplexen wie sauber gelösten Geschichte.
Tony Parsons greift ein aktuelles Thema auf: der Wunsch vieler junger Menschen, insbesondere junger Frauen, in Westeuropa ein besseres Leben zu finden. Unter falschen Versprechungen vertrauen sie sich skrupellosen Schmugglern an, denen das einzelne Menschenleben egal ist, da nur das Geld zählt, das sie mit der Ware machen können. Dass der Traum von ehrlicher und guter Arbeit sich selten erfüllt und oftmals zum Alptraum in Prostitution und ähnlichem wird, ist hinlänglich bekannt. Wie verzweifelt die illegalen Einwanderer sind, dass sie ihr Leben riskieren und wie prekär ihre Lage ist, sofern sie die Reise überhaupt überstehen, wird an vielen Stellen des Krimis deutlich. Dass sie aber nur kleine Rädchen in einem großen Gebilde sind, kann man sich denken und so kommt es auch hier, dass der Anlass der Ermittlungen in immer neue Richtungen führt und so manch unerwartete Überraschung zu bieten hat.
Für mich war einmal mehr die Figur von Max Wolfe am stärksten. Schon die Anlage als alleinerziehender Vater, der permanent zwischen Tochter und Beruf zerrissen ist und sich Vorwürfe macht, das Kind zu vernachlässigen – ein sehr modernes Bild, das man in Krimis selten findet. Seine Sensibilität gegenüber den Kollegen ist ebenfalls bemerkenswert, vor allem, weil sie authentisch und nicht kitschig wirkt. Ein insgesamt stimmiger und runder Krimi, der mit soliden Figuren und guter Story punkten kann und auf effekthascheriger Cliffhanger und übertriebene Spannungsmomente verzichtet.
Band 4 um den alleinerziehenden Londoner Ermittler kann nahtlos an die Vorgänger anknüpfen und überzeugt einmal mehr mit einem starken Protagonisten, der erfreulicherweise so gar nicht die gängigen Klischees bedient, und einer ebenso komplexen wie sauber gelösten Geschichte.
Tony Parsons greift ein aktuelles Thema auf: der Wunsch vieler junger Menschen, insbesondere junger Frauen, in Westeuropa ein besseres Leben zu finden. Unter falschen Versprechungen vertrauen sie sich skrupellosen Schmugglern an, denen das einzelne Menschenleben egal ist, da nur das Geld zählt, das sie mit der Ware machen können. Dass der Traum von ehrlicher und guter Arbeit sich selten erfüllt und oftmals zum Alptraum in Prostitution und ähnlichem wird, ist hinlänglich bekannt. Wie verzweifelt die illegalen Einwanderer sind, dass sie ihr Leben riskieren und wie prekär ihre Lage ist, sofern sie die Reise überhaupt überstehen, wird an vielen Stellen des Krimis deutlich. Dass sie aber nur kleine Rädchen in einem großen Gebilde sind, kann man sich denken und so kommt es auch hier, dass der Anlass der Ermittlungen in immer neue Richtungen führt und so manch unerwartete Überraschung zu bieten hat.
Für mich war einmal mehr die Figur von Max Wolfe am stärksten. Schon die Anlage als alleinerziehender Vater, der permanent zwischen Tochter und Beruf zerrissen ist und sich Vorwürfe macht, das Kind zu vernachlässigen – ein sehr modernes Bild, das man in Krimis selten findet. Seine Sensibilität gegenüber den Kollegen ist ebenfalls bemerkenswert, vor allem, weil sie authentisch und nicht kitschig wirkt. Ein insgesamt stimmiger und runder Krimi, der mit soliden Figuren und guter Story punkten kann und auf effekthascheriger Cliffhanger und übertriebene Spannungsmomente verzichtet.
January 25, 2018
Schlepper
Ein Kühllaster mit mehreren jungen Frauen trifft in London ein. Der Fahrer war nicht in der Lage, den Thermostat richtig einzustellen. Die Frauen auf der Ladefläche sterben an Unterkühlung. Als Detective Max Wolfe an dem Fahrzeug ankommt, ist eine Frau, die wohl im Führerhaus saß geflohen, eine gerade noch am Leben und elf weitere bereits verstorben. Niemand möchte in so eine Situation gelangen. Doch Max hält der jungen Frau die Hand. Leider schafft auch Hana es nicht, doch sie ist die Einzige, die identifiziert werden kann, weil ihr Paß echt war. Sie wollte Krankenschwester werden.
In seinem vierten Auftritt ermittelt Detective Max Wolfe im Milieu der Menschenschleuser. Junge Frauen werden aus ihren Heimatländern gelockt, um in die Prostitution getrieben zu werden. Ein grausames Geschäft, in dem ein Menschenleben nichts zählt. Die Ware muss ihre Arbeitskraft in welcher Form auch immer liefern und Verluste werden in Kauf genommen. Wolfe ist entsetzt über das, was er in Erfahrung bringt. Letztlich kann der Staat nicht viel tun. Wie soll verhindert werden, dass die Schönsten der Dörfer den Lügen und leeren Versprechungen der Gangster aufsitzen. Da scheint es kaum eine reelle Chance zu geben.
Zu Beginn fühlt man sich an den Fall der Flüchtlinge erinnert, die tot in einem LKW aufgefunden worden. Auch wenn es sich nur um einen Roman handelt packt einen doch das Grauen. Sehr schlimm muss es sein, wenn man merkt, dass man nicht aus der Kälte entkommen kann. Das gelobte Land wird zu einem kalten Sarg. Die großen Hoffnungen, die strahlenden Augen zu Beginn der Reise, zerstört, erloschen. Man kann verstehen, dass Wolfe mit großer Verbissenheit versucht die Hintergründe zu ermitteln. Solche üblen Täter möchte man hinter Gittern wissen, auch wenn klar ist, dass ein gelöster Fall lediglich ein Tropfen auf den heißen Stein ist. Doch man denkt auch, steter Tropfen höhlt den Stein. Und so kann jede Verhaftung helfen, einem Menschen das Leben zu retten. Der düsteren Stimmung, die über dem Fall hängt, kann man sich kaum entziehen. Je tiefer Max vordringt, desto schlimmer werden seine Entdeckungen.
Auch wenn Tochter und Hund Licht und Lebendigkeit in Max Wolfes Leben bringen, fordert dieser harte Krimi dem Leser ab, sich mit einem Thema auseinander zu setzen, von dem einem am Liebsten wäre, es würde nicht existieren, weil es Mensch einfach nicht nötig haben sollten, sich in die Hände solch perfider Menschenhändler begeben zu müssen.
Ein Kühllaster mit mehreren jungen Frauen trifft in London ein. Der Fahrer war nicht in der Lage, den Thermostat richtig einzustellen. Die Frauen auf der Ladefläche sterben an Unterkühlung. Als Detective Max Wolfe an dem Fahrzeug ankommt, ist eine Frau, die wohl im Führerhaus saß geflohen, eine gerade noch am Leben und elf weitere bereits verstorben. Niemand möchte in so eine Situation gelangen. Doch Max hält der jungen Frau die Hand. Leider schafft auch Hana es nicht, doch sie ist die Einzige, die identifiziert werden kann, weil ihr Paß echt war. Sie wollte Krankenschwester werden.
In seinem vierten Auftritt ermittelt Detective Max Wolfe im Milieu der Menschenschleuser. Junge Frauen werden aus ihren Heimatländern gelockt, um in die Prostitution getrieben zu werden. Ein grausames Geschäft, in dem ein Menschenleben nichts zählt. Die Ware muss ihre Arbeitskraft in welcher Form auch immer liefern und Verluste werden in Kauf genommen. Wolfe ist entsetzt über das, was er in Erfahrung bringt. Letztlich kann der Staat nicht viel tun. Wie soll verhindert werden, dass die Schönsten der Dörfer den Lügen und leeren Versprechungen der Gangster aufsitzen. Da scheint es kaum eine reelle Chance zu geben.
Zu Beginn fühlt man sich an den Fall der Flüchtlinge erinnert, die tot in einem LKW aufgefunden worden. Auch wenn es sich nur um einen Roman handelt packt einen doch das Grauen. Sehr schlimm muss es sein, wenn man merkt, dass man nicht aus der Kälte entkommen kann. Das gelobte Land wird zu einem kalten Sarg. Die großen Hoffnungen, die strahlenden Augen zu Beginn der Reise, zerstört, erloschen. Man kann verstehen, dass Wolfe mit großer Verbissenheit versucht die Hintergründe zu ermitteln. Solche üblen Täter möchte man hinter Gittern wissen, auch wenn klar ist, dass ein gelöster Fall lediglich ein Tropfen auf den heißen Stein ist. Doch man denkt auch, steter Tropfen höhlt den Stein. Und so kann jede Verhaftung helfen, einem Menschen das Leben zu retten. Der düsteren Stimmung, die über dem Fall hängt, kann man sich kaum entziehen. Je tiefer Max vordringt, desto schlimmer werden seine Entdeckungen.
Auch wenn Tochter und Hund Licht und Lebendigkeit in Max Wolfes Leben bringen, fordert dieser harte Krimi dem Leser ab, sich mit einem Thema auseinander zu setzen, von dem einem am Liebsten wäre, es würde nicht existieren, weil es Mensch einfach nicht nötig haben sollten, sich in die Hände solch perfider Menschenhändler begeben zu müssen.
February 3, 2018
Yes! Als absoluter Fan von Max Wolfe, dem Detektive mit dem sehr großem mitfühlenden Herzen für Opfer und Hinterbliebene, war ich natürlich Feuer und Flamme für diesen neuen Fall.
Wieder begann das Grauen bereits im Epilog. Den Titel, In eisiger Nacht, konnte man auf diesen Seiten regelrecht am eigenen Körper spüren. Tony Parsons hat die schrecklichen Stunden der zwölf Frauen sehr real geschildert. Dramatisch und schlimm. Mir lief es nicht nur kalt den Rücken runter, auch standen mir die Tränen in den Augen. So Grausam dieser Teil der Geschichte ist, so real ist er für Menschen, die sich mit Hilfe von zwielichtigen Schleppern auf den Weg in ein vermeintlich bessere Leben begeben.
Der Fall selber wird nach dem Epilog aus der Ich-Perspektive durch Max Wolfe erzählt. Er, und auch der Rest des Ermittlerteams, kommen diesmal fast an ihre Grenzen des Erträglichen. Neben viel Ermittlerarbeit, kommt der Detektive so manches mal in eine recht heikle Situation. Leider ist nicht alles was die Ermittler tun nachvollziehbar. Das sorgt schon für so manches Kopfschütteln, denn es ist zu erahnen, dass es Schwierigkeiten geben wird. Schade, denn der Autor lässt das Team dem Leser gegenüber bei gewissen Handlungen wie Idioten dastehen. Zur Hauptermittlung kommt noch eine Nebenermittlung, die sich am Ende beide gut ineinander fügen. Auch altbekannten Halunken begegnet man wieder. Als Leser hat man ordentlich Raum für eigene Gedanken und Mitratemöglichkeiten.
Gefallen hat mir aber, dass auch in diesem Band Max Wolfes Privatleben, und das des restlichen Teams, wieder ein Teil der Geschichte war. Wolfes Tochter, die Haushälterin und auch der niedliche Vierbeiner, sind mir mit jedem Buch mehr ans Herz gewachsen und ich hätte sie tatsächlich vermisst, wenn diese drei Charaktere nicht mehr vorgekommen wären.
Mein Fazit:
Leider schwächelt die Geschichte etwas durch die nicht nachvollziehbaren Ermittlungsarbeiten und kann die anfängliche Spannung nicht wirklich halten. Schade, denn die Thematik ist sehr aktuell. Da hätte der Autor sicherlich etwas mehr machen können.
Meine Wertung: 3 1/2 Sterne!
Wieder begann das Grauen bereits im Epilog. Den Titel, In eisiger Nacht, konnte man auf diesen Seiten regelrecht am eigenen Körper spüren. Tony Parsons hat die schrecklichen Stunden der zwölf Frauen sehr real geschildert. Dramatisch und schlimm. Mir lief es nicht nur kalt den Rücken runter, auch standen mir die Tränen in den Augen. So Grausam dieser Teil der Geschichte ist, so real ist er für Menschen, die sich mit Hilfe von zwielichtigen Schleppern auf den Weg in ein vermeintlich bessere Leben begeben.
Der Fall selber wird nach dem Epilog aus der Ich-Perspektive durch Max Wolfe erzählt. Er, und auch der Rest des Ermittlerteams, kommen diesmal fast an ihre Grenzen des Erträglichen. Neben viel Ermittlerarbeit, kommt der Detektive so manches mal in eine recht heikle Situation. Leider ist nicht alles was die Ermittler tun nachvollziehbar. Das sorgt schon für so manches Kopfschütteln, denn es ist zu erahnen, dass es Schwierigkeiten geben wird. Schade, denn der Autor lässt das Team dem Leser gegenüber bei gewissen Handlungen wie Idioten dastehen. Zur Hauptermittlung kommt noch eine Nebenermittlung, die sich am Ende beide gut ineinander fügen. Auch altbekannten Halunken begegnet man wieder. Als Leser hat man ordentlich Raum für eigene Gedanken und Mitratemöglichkeiten.
Gefallen hat mir aber, dass auch in diesem Band Max Wolfes Privatleben, und das des restlichen Teams, wieder ein Teil der Geschichte war. Wolfes Tochter, die Haushälterin und auch der niedliche Vierbeiner, sind mir mit jedem Buch mehr ans Herz gewachsen und ich hätte sie tatsächlich vermisst, wenn diese drei Charaktere nicht mehr vorgekommen wären.
Mein Fazit:
Leider schwächelt die Geschichte etwas durch die nicht nachvollziehbaren Ermittlungsarbeiten und kann die anfängliche Spannung nicht wirklich halten. Schade, denn die Thematik ist sehr aktuell. Da hätte der Autor sicherlich etwas mehr machen können.
Meine Wertung: 3 1/2 Sterne!
April 15, 2017
I bought this book based upon the tag line '12 dead girls. 13 passports. Where is she?' and I have to say it did deliver.
I had not heard of DC Wolfe before and I think there were possibly a couple of spoilers in this book that might mean that if I know go back to the earlier books they won't be as enjoyable.
However as a police thriller this had it all. Chinese tong leaders, anarchists, human trafficking and old school east end villains.
So why only three stars? The lost stars are due to glaring editing errors. At one point they talk about finding a lorry in a motorway lay by near Maidstone. They then say it is the M2. The M20 runs past Maidstone. They then call it the Dover to London road again this is the M20 not the M2.
Later they talk about being on the motorway in Kent and that they can feeling the sea even if they can't see it. By the time the A20 becomes the M20 the sea is a significant distance away. They also talk about Port of Dover Police. The M20 doesn't start for 10 miles out of dover in which case Kent police have jurisdiction. These may seem like small things but when a professional writer with a traditional publisher and the resources that has to offer makes such basic mistakes it really grates and did affect my enjoyment of those sections of the book
These were things I know about but what other mistakes I didn't know about were made. There are a huge number of thrillers out there and I like to know they are at least based upon the real world.
In the long and short not a bad book but spoiled by bad editing.
I had not heard of DC Wolfe before and I think there were possibly a couple of spoilers in this book that might mean that if I know go back to the earlier books they won't be as enjoyable.
However as a police thriller this had it all. Chinese tong leaders, anarchists, human trafficking and old school east end villains.
So why only three stars? The lost stars are due to glaring editing errors. At one point they talk about finding a lorry in a motorway lay by near Maidstone. They then say it is the M2. The M20 runs past Maidstone. They then call it the Dover to London road again this is the M20 not the M2.
Later they talk about being on the motorway in Kent and that they can feeling the sea even if they can't see it. By the time the A20 becomes the M20 the sea is a significant distance away. They also talk about Port of Dover Police. The M20 doesn't start for 10 miles out of dover in which case Kent police have jurisdiction. These may seem like small things but when a professional writer with a traditional publisher and the resources that has to offer makes such basic mistakes it really grates and did affect my enjoyment of those sections of the book
These were things I know about but what other mistakes I didn't know about were made. There are a huge number of thrillers out there and I like to know they are at least based upon the real world.
In the long and short not a bad book but spoiled by bad editing.
April 2, 2018
Another exceptional read and one about a subject that I loved to know more about, people smuggling and the consequences. 13 passports and a lorry in Chinatown with 12 dead bodies. How did it get there? What were they doing in the UK? Who are the big bossies that will snap them up? Nurses? Care Homes? Prostitution? Where they from the migrant camp in Calais?
All these answer will be revealed in this gripping drama. You don’t want to miss this 😃
All these answer will be revealed in this gripping drama. You don’t want to miss this 😃
November 1, 2020
My first Tony Parsons experience was The Slaughter Man, and I became a fan within a couple of Kindle taps. I wasted no time diving into this, and all it did was increase my insatiability for this author.
DC Max Wolfe is on the trail of human traffickers this time, when a refrigerated truck containing twelve young dead women is found abandoned in Chinatown in London. But there are thirteen passports in the driver's cab. Where is the driver, and where is the missing woman? It's essential to find the latter for her safety, the former to hold him accountable and provide intel on the head of the organisation. It's an unpleasant, gritty insight into the harsh, brutal and evil world of human trafficking. But, oh my, Parsons is a master at getting you totally addicted. Pick this up and you won't be able to put it down. Well told, well characterised, well everything.
But I am going to have a little nitpick. Few us…actually, I don't think any of us, constantly refer to our car by make and model. I don't park my Mazda MX5, or drive my Jaguar V8 575PS or get into my Ferrari GTC4Lusso. I get in my car, I drive to the shops, I park the car. The constant reference to the 'BMX X5' did start to get my goat. It's a car, incredibly useful to get from A to B…I really don't care if the lovely DC Wolfe drives a jelly mould.
That aside, Parsons is my find of the year. My blog is going to be awash with reviews of his books.
DC Max Wolfe is on the trail of human traffickers this time, when a refrigerated truck containing twelve young dead women is found abandoned in Chinatown in London. But there are thirteen passports in the driver's cab. Where is the driver, and where is the missing woman? It's essential to find the latter for her safety, the former to hold him accountable and provide intel on the head of the organisation. It's an unpleasant, gritty insight into the harsh, brutal and evil world of human trafficking. But, oh my, Parsons is a master at getting you totally addicted. Pick this up and you won't be able to put it down. Well told, well characterised, well everything.
But I am going to have a little nitpick. Few us…actually, I don't think any of us, constantly refer to our car by make and model. I don't park my Mazda MX5, or drive my Jaguar V8 575PS or get into my Ferrari GTC4Lusso. I get in my car, I drive to the shops, I park the car. The constant reference to the 'BMX X5' did start to get my goat. It's a car, incredibly useful to get from A to B…I really don't care if the lovely DC Wolfe drives a jelly mould.
That aside, Parsons is my find of the year. My blog is going to be awash with reviews of his books.
August 28, 2021
No 4 in this series and one of the best so far. Great story with ups and downs, twists and turns. Plenty to keep your interest with Max Wolfe his police family and personal family.
April 28, 2020
Max Wolfe is another flawed detective in the paperback crime genre. Parsons writes well and the story flows along. Great book for the beach/plane/quiet time.
Recommended for adult readers - there story has violence, death and human trafficking.
Recommended for adult readers - there story has violence, death and human trafficking.
December 8, 2017
Roll on the next Max Wolfe! I love this series, the characters are so well written and the stories are jaw dropping x
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