This book was awful. The writing is pedestrian, with errors either of editing or style that grated on my nerves. The plot is based on a cascading set of coincidences and "shocking revelations" related largely to the main characters, a homicide detective (Alex King) and his crime reporter girlfriend (Samantha Bell). Most of the unlikely twists focus on (spoiler alert) unveiling the sordid but heretofore hidden past of King's decorated, deceased, police hero father. The plot made little sense of the cardboard characters' acts. What a waste of time. People died cruelly and violently, but the violence seemed pornographic, especially as it was directed at women and had a weakly developed Freudian aspect. I have no problem with gritty novels, but this wasn't gritty, just grimy. There was no care taken in creating realistic characters: they popped up like targets in an amusement park shooting gallery only to be eviscerated if young or smothered if elderly. A lot of people seem to like this series of books. Fine. Don't follow their advice if you enjoy well-crafted crime fiction or "good books" in general. This is dreck.