Jump to ratings and reviews
Rate this book
Rate this book
All he wanted was to stop a killer.
He never knew what it would cost.


Morgan Young only took the small cases - the ones he knew he could solve - but when Detective Gary Lee arrives on his doorstep asking for help, he's given no choice. Two women are dead, and they have to find the killer before he strikes again.

Before he knows it, Morgan is in the middle of a revenge story that darkens with every twist. While victims are dropping like flies and his abilities are being questioned, he has one chance to find the serial killer, and that opportunity is passing him by. Fast.

298 pages, Kindle Edition

First published February 11, 2019

2344 people are currently reading
1268 people want to read

About the author

Adam Nicholls

89 books156 followers
Adam Nicholls grew up in the southwest of England, where he studied creative writing while working a variety of full-time jobs. When his Mason Black series was first published, he quickly became a bestseller and then went on to create a name for himself in the thriller genre. Adam now lives with his wife in Bristol.

You can join his newsletter and be the first to hear about news, discounts and competitions by clicking the following link:

https://www.subscribepage.com/authora...

Ratings & Reviews

What do you think?
Rate this book

Friends & Following

Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!

Community Reviews

5 stars
754 (30%)
4 stars
813 (32%)
3 stars
644 (25%)
2 stars
199 (7%)
1 star
92 (3%)
Displaying 1 - 30 of 149 reviews
Profile Image for Joan.
2,796 reviews101 followers
August 31, 2019
This is a hard review to write. This book didn’t “work” for me at all - and I’m not sure why. It is technically well-written - structured traditionally and editorially sound; but it is filled with disconnects. The action seemed robotic and contradictory to the characters; the characters’ thought dialogue was repetitive and non-responsive to the action; the characters themselves were cardboard figures to whom I couldn’t relate. I did read the entire book, so apparently there was sufficient interest - I no longer routinely finish books when I’ve lost interest; but I don’t plan to seek out other books by this author. This was one of a group of freebies I downloaded en masse and is among the least interesting of that group.
Profile Image for Merkathi.
132 reviews1 follower
March 22, 2019
Ooof, where to start? Wooden boring characters, pretty lacklustre detective skills, cliched and predictable plot twists and way too much unnecessary schmaltz and overwritten emotions. I stuck with it hoping it would get better but it continued that way to the end. Not planning to continue the series...
Profile Image for Carol-Ann.
169 reviews1 follower
March 21, 2019
Okay for light reading

I looked forward to reading this book but I must say I was quite disappointed. The storyline was predictable, the characters weak, and I felt no bond with them.
Profile Image for Lynda Kelly.
2,205 reviews106 followers
January 9, 2020
This author has always been a little hit 'n' miss for me and this was pretty promising at first but then it headed off quite peculiarly on a strange tangent and I gave up with it at 51%.
I found it very odd that they kept referring to the second or third victims when we'd already seen four !! The 2 non-targets were collateral damage, I guess, so they just discounted them, literally ! Not the best attitude for any self-respecting murder investigator.
And, my, oh my, he DOES go on and on and on about his wife, like they've only been together a few months, as opposed to around 20 years to my reckoning. Hardly newlyweds. Then we kept being dragged to his wife's place of work, where even Morgan's work partner and his wife suddenly appeared as well, for no reason I could fathom. I understood he attended one of her special speeches one night but when he turned up to yet another of her events, just the following night, I gave up with it. It brought nothing to the story itself and I just found it highly irritating. While it's nice to know what she does for a living (though she was so rich she did for love, as he kept reminding us) I felt no need to be going to work with her every day as well as Morgan. Sorry, but it's all too distracting for me.
This trilogy has lovely cover art. Hope he retains them as they look great.
1,146 reviews7 followers
April 13, 2021
Dumb

A high school loser wreaks revenge on the mean girls that did him wrong years before. Morgan, a P.I., is asked to investigate by his best friend a detective with a romantic connection to one of the victims. But involvement may cost him the love of his life.

This is an okay book if you can overcome the implausibility of a cop inviting an investigator to become involved in a high stakes homicide investigation. This is so even when the department does not approve and the cop is not on the case. Morgan may be a competent investigator but he does not have any super skills or brilliant insights. His relationship with his understanding goody goody wife is saccharin. The best friend's behaviour at the end is immature and unacceptable.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
60 reviews1 follower
May 14, 2021
The main character in the story “Morgan” had no idea how to be a PI! He never knew what to do throughout the entire book. Makes you wonder how he even got a private investigators license (if he even had one). The only intelligent thing he said was he would go back to looking for lost pets and following cheating spouses! And his friend the cop, anyone in their right mind knows a cop doesn’t act like his character did. If s writer wants to write a mystery or thriller book, you need to put some kick into yhe story. This book sadly had nothing to hold the reader. EXTREMELY BORING READ!!
33 reviews
March 15, 2019
Don't waste your time!

The one dimensional characters, the incredibly weak story line and the poorly executed prose makes this book one to miss. It is an insult to peoples intelligence and an insult to policemen and private investigators everywhere.
1,481 reviews14 followers
May 5, 2021
Let me get this straight, the P.I. on the case doesn’t think to look at the school yearbooks or any other school pictures or talk to any of the classmates of the murdered women until his wife mentions it to him three days after the third woman is killed????? Oh, c’mon!
Profile Image for Jodi Pomerleau.
629 reviews8 followers
June 14, 2021
It wasn't the worst book I've ever read, and it is certainly not even average...I have to give it 2 stars because there are no half stars....this is a 2.5 because there are no spelling errors. I think one sentence sums up the story's effectiveness..." A gut feeling isn't going to keep her safe, Gary. This isn't some book or stupid action movie." Well, um, yeah, it is a book and that had to be the stupidest line ever.
The characters are flat, unrealistic and hard to relate to. Morgan lack of confidence is unbelievable...a former quarterback and now self employed PI? He just seems so tentative. The plot line was oh so predictable....if anyone else was surprised that the killer came after Morgan's wife, you must not be very intuitive. Gary was hellbent on revenge....again hardly believable as it had been years since his relationship with the first victim. The conversations between Morgan and his wife are weird. The killer's motive is nuts....he would be more likely to have been a school shooter as a teen than wait 15 years and then come after the girls. The book should have ended with the hospital visit...the next two chapters are just padding. The final chapter is apparently a lead up into the next book, which I won't be looking for. If this is the only thing you have to read besides a cereal box, then go for it. But the cereal box might be better.
Profile Image for OutlawPoet.
1,796 reviews68 followers
October 4, 2021
Oh boy. I finished this book just last week and I've already forgotten it. I just reread the plot summary and nope.

I can only say that I remember at the end that I'd largely enjoyed the read, but clearly this didn't stay with me at all.
Profile Image for Midge Lang.
62 reviews
February 27, 2019
Pretty good book.

Had a good base, good plot, and satisfactory. The last few chapters got a little long. After the finale, it kept on going.
Profile Image for Amy Webster-Bo.
2,023 reviews15 followers
October 24, 2022
kinda boring, was pretty predectible, redundent, book, i knew who did it just not his name in about the first 5 chapters, it could have been alot less talk, more action, would have been a better book. will not be reading book 2
Profile Image for Cynthia.
345 reviews5 followers
April 5, 2024
3.5/5
⭐️⭐️⭐️💫

I enjoyed most of this story. Typical cop thriller vibe… but it lost me a bit when it took on a high school revenge/ revenge of the loner kind of twist - meh.
Profile Image for Joyce.
1,801 reviews18 followers
December 2, 2020
The introduction of Morgan Young

Morgan Young is a detective. He has no previous police experience but is intelligent and uses his brain. He is also happily married to Rachael, a woman who runs a charity for children. He is very unusual in that he is not tough, does not speak abrasively and uses his head rather than his fists. He is called into the brutal murder of a friend’s high school girlfriend. His friend, a homicide detective, has been told by his superiors to stay away from the case and asks him to find out who brutalized and then killed her. While Morgan is looking into the murder, another woman who was a high school friend is similarly killed. More information would lead to spoilers. The novel is well written and the lead character is not your usual run of the mill PI. It is more mental than physical in context but did hold the reader’s interest. Thanks to the author and publisher for an e-galley for an honest review.
Profile Image for Becki Reading ❤️.
250 reviews6 followers
December 29, 2022
Enjoyed this book.
Had me gripped.
Although it did become obvious pretty quick what was going to happen I still enjoyed reading it.
Cant wait to read the 2nd book with character Morgan Young
Profile Image for Keith.
51 reviews1 follower
February 14, 2019
Good

This was a fine read
I had a little trouble connecting with the characters but that's just me..
Well written and fast paced. Good job
Profile Image for Dee Rodden.
409 reviews1 follower
August 6, 2021
This could have been really good. The premise was a decent idea. The execution was less than ideal.

The author is either single or a newlywed. The marriage of main character Morgan and his wife Rachel is so ridiculously idealized that the author is obviously not married long term in real life.

I had a difficult time with so many of the inconsistencies.
How old are these characters? So while we're being introduced to the characters, Gary says that high school was over 20 years ago making you picture guys pushing 40. The killer is embarrassed to be living with his mother and says "I'm 30" at some point. All of the drama is based on shit that happened in high school. Seriously telling me it took that long for dude to go postal?

Why would a trained homicide detective hire a private eye who specialized in missing dogs and cheating husbands to track a killer?

Why would a concerned and loving wife push her husband into continuing an investigation for a brutal killer when he tells her that he's over his head?

Why does the killer become a killer? This dude sadistically knifes people and leaves horror movie scenes in his wake because ... ready? ... He got dumped a few times in high school and all his ex-girlfriends are now happily married. Yeah, no history of brutalizing animals or anything to indicate a predilection toward violence until he's 30 years old when he becomes THE DC CARVER overnight!

They tell you about the killer being abused as a kid by a step-father. Then they tell you he may have accidentally on purpose caused his stepdaddy's death. Then he spends two YEARS planning his "revenge" on the girls from high school.

Sorry - I just don't buy it. Someone that deranged is going to find much more current grievances to satisfy his savage fantasies. He's not going to go from spending two years of his life stalking and planning to simply fly by the seat of his pants to kidnap the wife of the random guy who spoiled his plot.

Overall, the characters were simplistic. The ending was beyond unrealistic. No chance in hell I'm continuing the series. For anyone who thought this was okay enough to keep going -- I pray the publisher gets a better editor on board to clean up.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
26 reviews1 follower
May 28, 2019
The police and the PI were pretty clueless in this book - really it never occurred to anyone to get a yearbook? I won't continue the series.
1,205 reviews6 followers
March 6, 2022
It seemed a tad bizarre to me that a police officer would be paying a private investigator, who was his best friend at school, to look into the murder of his childhood girlfriend, who was found on the floor of her home with her face shredded to ribbons and knifed in the stomach with her husband also dead by her side. Obviously as the victim was known to Gary Lee, the cop, he couldn't really investigate. But he did. With the help of Morgan, his bestie.

Eventually they realise that the murderer is targeting women who might have been spurned by him at school, and the husband of his latest victim thinks he recognises him from a school year book. That gave them a name to go by. Admittedly the name could have come to them sooner, when Morgan went to their old school and the headmaster told them that the first two victims had a huge fight over a boyfriend why didn't he ask the head to look at the yearbook and identify the youth they fought over? The book could have been half its length.

Eventually they find, just deleted his name in case anyone else wants to discover it for themselves, the murderer but not before he kidnaps Morgan's wife and Gary and Morgan and the police race to the church to rescue her before it's too late.

The book was a bit predictable and could have been solved much sooner, and the use of a PI in police business when the main cop was warned off the case because of his involvement now with two of the victims, then three, all being at school together? Not being American it all sounds a bit iffy to me. Plus I didn't really warm to either of the two main characters, Gary and Morgan, only Rachel, Morgan's wife was a three dimensional figure. And another reason to not like it much, it was rather gruesome.
Profile Image for Donadee's Corner.
2,648 reviews64 followers
March 12, 2019
Let Me In - Morgan Young Bk 1 - Written Adam Nicholls - Reviewed 3/11/19 - Read 2/19/19
Psychotic serial killers, with a storyline and a twist that will have you holding your breath!

All he wanted was to stop a killer. He never knew what it would cost. Morgan Young only took the small cases - the ones he knew he could solve - but when Detective Gary Lee arrives on his doorstep asking for help, he's given no choice. Two women are dead, and they have to find the killer before he strikes again. Before he knows it, Morgan is in the middle of a revenge story that darkens with every twist. While victims are dropping like flies and his abilities are being questioned, he has one chance to find the serial killer, and that opportunity is passing him by. Fast.

What did I like? I have read everything else that Adam has written and I knew from those that this would be a great series and I wasn’t wrong. Exciting is not strong enough to say how intense this serial killer story is and I was on the edge of the seat the whole way through. Could not lay it down and read it all in one sitting.

What will you like? Exciting, intense, exhilarating, electrifying, sensational, breathtaking, and electrifying is the least that I can say. Fast paced and well written with the storyline developing with each turn. Love the characters and their interaction and this is just book one. I borrowed this from Kindle Unlimited.


Profile Image for Evelien.
305 reviews33 followers
January 20, 2022
I figured I would give this a go even though I read some negative reviews ( a lot of some…)
Sadly this was not for me. I really didn't care for the story, it was like a high school who-dunnit and I didn't care who did it to be honest.
The writing was below mediocure and all charachters had one personality. They were flat and annoying.
The main charachter Morgan and his wife had such a one dimensional relationship. She was just such a perfect wife, who know how to support her 'detective' husband and who never fought with him over anything. Yeah yeah, they had a 'fight'. My arse, it was just less a less sugary conversation.

I am still wondering what the deal was with Emma Cole and why Morgan made such a fuzz about her at the time (before he knew how she connected to the crime he was investigating).

The story was compounded of Luck. sheer dumb luck. Everyone just happened to be at the right place at the right time, forensics take no part in this crime story whatsoever and real detective skills were hard to find.
Morgan is a quitter and if it wasn't for his wife would still be sitting there, feeling guilty for not having found that one clue to set the ball rolling.

I am not sure how this book translates to a series, but I do know I will not be reading further. This was just too painful
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
Profile Image for Catherine Edward.
Author 20 books114 followers
March 12, 2019
When I stumbled on this book, I was intrigued. I started reading and devoured the entire novel in under 4 hours.

This is the first book I'm reading from this author, but I can say, I'm now his fan.

Let Me In, opens with the killer committing his first murder. Morgan Young is brought into the scene by his best friend Gary, who is in Metropolitan police department. Since Gary isn't allowed to be involved in the case due to his romantic past with the victim, Morgan takes up his request. The rest of the story follows the private detective Morgan as he investigates.

The book kept me on my toes the entire time I read. It's not only well-written, but the fast paced plot moved with such twists and turns, I found myself at the edge of the seat, with a curiosity on how Morgan would find the killer. The characters in this book are realistic and relatable. I also liked how Morgan was so different from the alpha males, normally written.

I highly recommend this book for crime thriller lovers. Can't wait to read the rest of the series.
Profile Image for Kylie H.
1,201 reviews
June 7, 2025
Fortunately this book didn't take long to read, and I did skim over parts of it. I may be alone here, but I just couldn't get into the characters which made the telling of the story feel quite clunky.
There is a killer who is violently attacking people in their homes. The profile of the killer is somewhat cliche being a loner who lives at home with his mother, who treats him poorly.
Morgan Young is a private detective who has a best friend in the police force. The relationship between Morgan and Gary felt quite awkward and again, detracted from the story. Gary knows the first victim and begs Morgan to investigate and he doesn't have any faith in the police (of whom he is one) solving it. Again, clunky story telling and detracting from the plot.
I won't go on, for me, I will leave this series here. I cannot recommend the book as it just did not read well. Not nail biting, not a thriller.
Profile Image for Megumi.
76 reviews
January 24, 2022
Could've been more. I think there were scenes that just didn't make sense to me. That scene when they discovered the name, Nick Hansen. While reading I thought, 𝘩𝘦 𝘥𝘪𝘥𝘯'𝘵 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘬 𝘰𝘧 𝘢𝘴𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘔𝘢𝘵𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘸 𝘵𝘰 𝘪𝘥𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘧𝘺 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘬𝘪𝘭𝘭𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩 𝘱𝘪𝘤𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘦𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘪𝘳 𝘩𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘴𝘤𝘩𝘰𝘰𝘭 𝘭𝘪𝘧𝘦? As I go over that, his wife Rachel was the one who figured it out. That's a basic intuitive action, I believe. You don't need to be a detective by realizing you could use pictures to identify since it's already been established they went to the same school together and had an encounter. Also, part of what makes a crime thriller so engrossing is reading how smart the killer is. Not only by telling the readers, but also by showing specific details of what the killer did. I didn't find it in this book, unfortunately.

However, authors develop their craft so I'm hoping for the best!
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
Profile Image for Judi Haley.
1,347 reviews6 followers
February 17, 2019
Morgan Young is a PI and his wife, Rachel does charity work for children. When Morgan's best friend, and detective Gary Lee contacts him and asks for his help on a case. Someone has killed Gary's ex-girlfriend and cut her face in shreds.

Morgan starts investigating, but the police don't want him working on the case and he has little to work with. When he does get some additional information, he is back hunting for the killer. When the killer strikes again, Morgan and Gary both find it is another girl from school that they knew. Are these cases related, how?

Morgan will find he will be the target and the next one on the list for this killer. The killer is revealed half way through, so you know who it is. A good book, and a quick read.
Profile Image for J.S. Gray.
Author 6 books8 followers
July 15, 2021
First off, Let Me In wasn’t a bad book. It was an easy read, written well enough to enjoy.

I was drawn by the cover - which somehow felt like it had so much potential. However, when I began to read, it just felt so familiar, I was rather disappointed. Throughout, it was like reading a dexter knockoff…. (Although I can’t put my finger on why).

I felt there were a lot of cliches, no twists whatsoever, and nothing that was particularly original.

Let me in was a good read (perfect for a free kindle download) but there was nothing to set it apart from anything else.

Although the story was okay, I won’t be rushing to read any more in the series.
Profile Image for Carol Fitzgerald.
333 reviews9 followers
August 8, 2019
Intriguing private investigator series

This book was recommended to me by a fellow reader. This is the first I've read by this author. I love detective reads and most thrillers. I really enjoyed this one. Morgan Young isn't as brash and out there as most P. I. 's I've read about. He's kinda humble and seems to have a big heart. I totally loved reading about him and his wife and his best friend. Looking forward to reading more about them in future books and seeing how they evolve.
Profile Image for Kathleen .
137 reviews1 follower
December 3, 2020
I really enjoyed this book. Kept me on the edge of my seat, especially the last few chapters.
The police procedural was well described, and the characters believable.
It was well written, and I liked most of the characters, which were very descriptive.
This book was on my Kindle, and I bought it as a Bundle of 12 Thrillers by Adam Nicholls, for 99p. I think it has been well worth the money, and I haven't finished them all yet!
So I have discovered this new author, and will look out for others by him, when I have finished these.
Highly recommended
Displaying 1 - 30 of 149 reviews

Can't find what you're looking for?

Get help and learn more about the design.