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Sports Day
[Alternate cover edition for ISBN: 9781493697410]
A quiet backwater town. A sadistic killer playing by his own twisted rules. A community in fear. No forensics. No evidence. No witnesses. Nothing! Nothing except a calling card inscribed with a strange tag.
Street hardened DCI Billy Thompson wanted a peaceful life, somewhere where his past wouldn’t haunt him; that’s why he chose Worthybridge. But the murders are pushing his skills to the limit, and he hates losing.
With pressure mounting to deliver he decides to step down – but the killer has other ideas. And when his identity is finally revealed, Billy’s left in turmoil – but that’s just the start of his nightmare.
In a final confrontation, Billy is forced to battle his own demons – demons he hoped he’d never have to face again.
In life, as in sport – winning is everything
A quiet backwater town. A sadistic killer playing by his own twisted rules. A community in fear. No forensics. No evidence. No witnesses. Nothing! Nothing except a calling card inscribed with a strange tag.
Street hardened DCI Billy Thompson wanted a peaceful life, somewhere where his past wouldn’t haunt him; that’s why he chose Worthybridge. But the murders are pushing his skills to the limit, and he hates losing.
With pressure mounting to deliver he decides to step down – but the killer has other ideas. And when his identity is finally revealed, Billy’s left in turmoil – but that’s just the start of his nightmare.
In a final confrontation, Billy is forced to battle his own demons – demons he hoped he’d never have to face again.
In life, as in sport – winning is everything
380 pages, Paperback
First published November 21, 2013
277 people want to read
About the author
David John
6 books10 followersDavid considers himself a latecomer in the literary field, not having started writing seriously until into his fifties. With no formal training and having had no interest in English at school, an institution that saw him leave at the age of sixteen with not one qualification to his name, his first novice attempt was back in the early 90’s when he put to paper his recent solo undertaking of the Pennine. It was rejected by the one and only publisher he sent it to and so was resigned to the back of his draw as something to bore his grandchildren with in later years.
It wasn’t until 2010 that his foray into the world of writing reared its head again. This time it was a collection of memoirs and anecdotes about holidays spent in a small bay in Corfu, the success of which whetted his appetite to attempt something serious.
Thus his incursion into the world of crime thrillers was born, gleaning immediate critical acclaim from both sides of the pond.
David was born in London but spent most of his life in Harlow, Essex; but now lives in Hertfordshire with his second wife, Julie.
It wasn’t until 2010 that his foray into the world of writing reared its head again. This time it was a collection of memoirs and anecdotes about holidays spent in a small bay in Corfu, the success of which whetted his appetite to attempt something serious.
Thus his incursion into the world of crime thrillers was born, gleaning immediate critical acclaim from both sides of the pond.
David was born in London but spent most of his life in Harlow, Essex; but now lives in Hertfordshire with his second wife, Julie.
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Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
September 8, 2017
What an exciting and fast-paced thriller. This was a great read and although Lee Snupe Kevin Norris was a psychopath, he was a formidable killer. I don't understand how getting revenge on his childhood rapist justified killing other ppl he considered losers. That was a big stretch, even trying to kill a child to stop nightmares of when somebody else killed a child? This was all kinds of whirlwind crazy! Billy was a great opponent to Kevin's insanity, but he was not innocent. He didn't deserve for his daughter to be put in the middle of this drama but he was trifling for what he did to Kevin's career. Karma is a mofo! Least to say I was riveted to every page!
May 12, 2017
3.5*
While the first half of the book started off slowly, the second half sped up, to the detriment of how the story finished up.
I didn't get any inkling the guilty party was the CI's close deputy.
While the first half of the book started off slowly, the second half sped up, to the detriment of how the story finished up.
I didn't get any inkling the guilty party was the CI's close deputy.
June 4, 2014
I received this book from GoodReads to be reviewed.
This is the first novel by British author David John.
I had some issues with the first half of the novel but the second half was much smoother sailing. I suspect the author's familiarity with martial combat lent itself to the action that occurred later in the book.
The book starts off by describing Kevin Norris, the protagonist, and giving background on how he became the psychopathic killer described in this book. John does a good job at creating a bleak childhood for Norris but he doesn't do a credible job at transitioning Norris into the lethal killing machine encountered later in the book. Nevertheless the action sequences are quite stirring and that's why you buy a thriller like this.
I think a little more copy editing might have been in order because there's a lot of dropped words and a few typos. Also John has a somewhat annoying habit of ending declarative sentences with question marks. All in all this is a very good first novel but a little more attention to detail would have been nice.
This is the first novel by British author David John.
I had some issues with the first half of the novel but the second half was much smoother sailing. I suspect the author's familiarity with martial combat lent itself to the action that occurred later in the book.
The book starts off by describing Kevin Norris, the protagonist, and giving background on how he became the psychopathic killer described in this book. John does a good job at creating a bleak childhood for Norris but he doesn't do a credible job at transitioning Norris into the lethal killing machine encountered later in the book. Nevertheless the action sequences are quite stirring and that's why you buy a thriller like this.
I think a little more copy editing might have been in order because there's a lot of dropped words and a few typos. Also John has a somewhat annoying habit of ending declarative sentences with question marks. All in all this is a very good first novel but a little more attention to detail would have been nice.
June 18, 2014
I won this book through Goodreads and I am so glad I did. It is a fantastic thriller and was very hard to put down. I am not really a sport's fan, but the book is about a psychopathic killer and I was so surprised to find out who the killer really was. I would recommend this book to anyone who likes a good thriller, it is one of the bests thrillers I have read in a long time.
June 9, 2014
This is a fast paced, page turning 'chiller' with a few surprises along the way.I rather enjoyed it's progression.
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews