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Six
Successful criminal defence lawyer, Jon Shaw, comes face to face with, Danny Hallam, the man he tried to murder twenty-five years ago... While drug running for a local crime lord, Danny decides to call in a large debt from a young female drug addict, Micki Ashton. During a chaotic night on a riverbank, in which punches are thrown, Shaw steps in to protect the defenceless woman, but things turn deadly when Danny produces a knife and Micki is stabbed. Appalled by his friend's actions, Shaw deliberately pushes Danny into the river. Danny survives and, arrested and charged for murder, spends the next quarter of a century in Meanwhile, the gang disintegrates, each haunted by the death of a young woman. Throughout his sentence, Danny refuses to name those involved. But someone knows and believes they should all pay. As, one by one, the former friends are picked off only Danny and Shaw remain. With the race on to identify a determined and forensically aware killer, Shaw throws in his lot with a detective who has her own cross to bear and her own reasons for abandoning routine police procedure.
- GenresThriller
361 pages, Kindle Edition
First published March 4, 2021
10 people are currently reading
164 people want to read
About the author
E.V. Seymour
19 books66 followersSee the author's blogspot at http://www.evseymour.co.uk
Aka Eve Isherwood
Aka Eve Isherwood
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Displaying 1 - 15 of 15 reviews
August 16, 2021
Book Reviewed on www.whisperingstories.com
Criminal Defence Lawyer Jon Shaw’s life is about to be turned upside down thanks to a crime he was associated with twenty-five years earlier.
When Jon’s ex-friend and newly released prisoner Danny Hallam turns up at a bar one night, Jon’s first response is to tell him to ‘get lost’. But Danny has devastating news. Two of the six men involved in the ‘incident’ twenty-five years ago, the one Danny went to prison for, have been killed. Someone is after retribution. They want the six people involved to pay for what they did.
Can Jon and Danny work together to find out who is trying to kill them, and why, before one or both of them end up dead?
I love a good thriller and Six certainly is a damn good thriller. It is fresh and exhilarating. I rushed through it in just two days as I was transfixed by the plot and I needed to know who could be coming after these men, so long after the crime they committed took place.
The book tells you pretty early on what happened twenty-five years ago and what each of the roles of the six men involved played. We also get to find out how the men’s lives have turned out now.
Jon is the only successful one, the one with a high-flying career that could come crashing down on him, if he manages to stay alive! He was hoping that his past stayed exactly where it should have, the past. He never expected it to come back to haunt him, although he is haunted in his nightmares every night by what he witnessed and was associated with, even if he was never caught.
As well as the men’s story we also get to read chapters from the police detective looking into the recent deaths and the killer. Both of which added an extra layer to the story and made it more realistic.
Six is a book that kept me guessing for most of the way through. I enjoyed the multi-layered plot and the pacing was spot on. If you love thrillers that have you pondering who the killer could be and trying to put the pieces together then this is a book for you.
Criminal Defence Lawyer Jon Shaw’s life is about to be turned upside down thanks to a crime he was associated with twenty-five years earlier.
When Jon’s ex-friend and newly released prisoner Danny Hallam turns up at a bar one night, Jon’s first response is to tell him to ‘get lost’. But Danny has devastating news. Two of the six men involved in the ‘incident’ twenty-five years ago, the one Danny went to prison for, have been killed. Someone is after retribution. They want the six people involved to pay for what they did.
Can Jon and Danny work together to find out who is trying to kill them, and why, before one or both of them end up dead?
I love a good thriller and Six certainly is a damn good thriller. It is fresh and exhilarating. I rushed through it in just two days as I was transfixed by the plot and I needed to know who could be coming after these men, so long after the crime they committed took place.
The book tells you pretty early on what happened twenty-five years ago and what each of the roles of the six men involved played. We also get to find out how the men’s lives have turned out now.
Jon is the only successful one, the one with a high-flying career that could come crashing down on him, if he manages to stay alive! He was hoping that his past stayed exactly where it should have, the past. He never expected it to come back to haunt him, although he is haunted in his nightmares every night by what he witnessed and was associated with, even if he was never caught.
As well as the men’s story we also get to read chapters from the police detective looking into the recent deaths and the killer. Both of which added an extra layer to the story and made it more realistic.
Six is a book that kept me guessing for most of the way through. I enjoyed the multi-layered plot and the pacing was spot on. If you love thrillers that have you pondering who the killer could be and trying to put the pieces together then this is a book for you.
April 5, 2021
Twenty-five years ago, Jon Shaw and his friends took a drug dealer down to the riverbank and Jon watched his friend Danny stab her and then Jon pushed both of them into the river and fled the scene. Twenty-Five years later, Jon Shaw is a criminal defense lawyer and spends his life dedicated to helping the underdogs. This was his way of moving past the guilt he felt and experienced that night. The story starts with Jon in a bar with his co-workers when he catches the eye of someone from his past - Danny Hallman. Danny has just been released from prison three weeks ago after serving twenty-five years. Danny has some news for Jon - two of their friends Kenny and Mark have been murdered. Jon doesn't believe it is connected, but Danny is convinced that someone from their past is cleaning the house and getting revenge on all of those who were there that night. The book flicks from past/present as Jon and Danny aim to track down the rest of their crew but what will happen when six black feathers appear on Jon's doorstep and four are snapped and all that leaves Danny and Jon. Can they find out who is killing them and exacting revenge and why now? Often I find it hard to read Brit Lit as it is too slow-paced for my liking, however, Six though in parts it did follow the slow-pace that British novels are famous for - it did keep my attention and trying to guess who was wanting revenge on them all.
February 20, 2022
A grim and grisly thriller that keeps you guessing all the way through. I did find some parts of the book hard to follow at times and I found a few things to be pretty unrealistic, but I was absolutely shocked by the revelation of the killer and would never have guessed it in a million years. This was definitely a page turner and kept me wanting to know more but at the same time, I wasn’t as fully invested in the character as I’d like to have been and I did find some of their actions a bit questionable. Overall, a decent thriller!
February 10, 2022
I didn’t love it. It didn’t grab me. It wasn’t a page turner. It had limp connections and weak characters. I couldn’t even picture the main protagonist, let alone like him. Apparently a criminal lawyer earns enough money to throw thousands of pounds at people for information - unlikely. And apparently the characters can’t think of simple, reasonable ideas why things happen, it’s full of unnecessarily complicated and downright unbelievable theories. I’ve read complex books that I can usually understand by the end or with some narrator explanation. This just seemed to create wipe loops of riddles for super simple bits of information that made me feel like I was constantly missing something vital. I may not have minded if the storyline was a clever enigma to be unspooled, but it’s really not. Unfortunately, instead of feeling the warm glow you get when a good book finishes, this book just left me with a headache.
October 21, 2021
To all intents and purposes, Jon Shaw is a respectable criminal defence lawyer living a comfortable life in leafy Cheltenham, but he is forced to confront his uncomfortable past when an associate from his less reputable youth drops back into his life. Danny Hallam, the man in question, has every reason hate the person he once looked upon as a brother, as Shaw tried to kill him twenty-five years ago after an violent altercation with a young drug addict, Micki Ashton, led to her being stabbed to death by Hallam.
It was crime that took Hallam to prison, although he never revealed the names of his fellow gang members. Newly released, having paid his debt to society, he has sought Shaw out, but not for revenge - instead he needs his help. It seems that someone from their drug running days wants vengeance for what happened to Micki - two members of their former gang of six have already been murdered and it is only a matter of time before they too receive their comeuppance.
Shaw finds himself reluctantly joining forces with Hallam to track down their old friends and enemies to discover who is after their blood, although he is not sure if Hallam can be trusted given their past history. It's a quest that also has Shaw crossing paths with the discredited DI Samantha Deeley who is investigating the deaths of their fellow gang members - a woman with past secrets of her own, who is no stranger to crossing the line of accepted police procedure. Can Shaw and Deeley work together to solve this case and salvage their lives from the terrible mistakes of their past?
Six is a gripping crime thriller that combines a gritty gangland murder mystery with a police procedural, and delves cleverly into themes of misspent youth, brotherhood in adversity, loyalty, guilt, retribution and absolution.
Jon Shaw is a man who has spent twenty-five years trying to run away from the sins of his past, but the guilt he feels has not been as easy to shed as the northern accent he has worked so hard to lose. Destiny comes a knocking with Danny Hallam and throws his life into chaos as he struggles to reconcile feelings of old loyalties and the fear of losing the life he now has. Deeley carries guilt of her own too and her desperation to prove she can still do her job, despite what her colleagues feel about her, makes her a loose cannon. Locke uses Shaw and Deeley's remorse to drive the story nicely: both have to proceed slowly and carefully, while never knowing who they can really trust and this builds the suspense beautifully. injecting spine-tingling menace as they get into hot water and second guess themselves at every move.
There are so many lovely twists, turns and blind alleys that crop up in the telling of this tale, and I enjoyed how you feel yourself working the case right alongside Shaw and Deeley, following the trail of breadcrumbs Locke cleverly scatters throughout. Intriguingly, this is also a story that is filed with relatable and realistic characters, even the 'bad' ones, which makes it very engaging: everyone is drawn in shades of grey, each of them trying to atone for their mistakes or salve the bitterness of their perceived misfortunes, even if their judgement is fatally flawed, and the way their motivations are explored by Locke builds in an emotional depth that is sometimes lacking in a crime story.
I thoroughly enjoyed this book, lapping it up in a single entertaining sitting. It has just the right balance of grit, gore, passion and tension that I like, and although this is my first G.S. Locke, it will definitely not be my last!
It was crime that took Hallam to prison, although he never revealed the names of his fellow gang members. Newly released, having paid his debt to society, he has sought Shaw out, but not for revenge - instead he needs his help. It seems that someone from their drug running days wants vengeance for what happened to Micki - two members of their former gang of six have already been murdered and it is only a matter of time before they too receive their comeuppance.
Shaw finds himself reluctantly joining forces with Hallam to track down their old friends and enemies to discover who is after their blood, although he is not sure if Hallam can be trusted given their past history. It's a quest that also has Shaw crossing paths with the discredited DI Samantha Deeley who is investigating the deaths of their fellow gang members - a woman with past secrets of her own, who is no stranger to crossing the line of accepted police procedure. Can Shaw and Deeley work together to solve this case and salvage their lives from the terrible mistakes of their past?
Six is a gripping crime thriller that combines a gritty gangland murder mystery with a police procedural, and delves cleverly into themes of misspent youth, brotherhood in adversity, loyalty, guilt, retribution and absolution.
Jon Shaw is a man who has spent twenty-five years trying to run away from the sins of his past, but the guilt he feels has not been as easy to shed as the northern accent he has worked so hard to lose. Destiny comes a knocking with Danny Hallam and throws his life into chaos as he struggles to reconcile feelings of old loyalties and the fear of losing the life he now has. Deeley carries guilt of her own too and her desperation to prove she can still do her job, despite what her colleagues feel about her, makes her a loose cannon. Locke uses Shaw and Deeley's remorse to drive the story nicely: both have to proceed slowly and carefully, while never knowing who they can really trust and this builds the suspense beautifully. injecting spine-tingling menace as they get into hot water and second guess themselves at every move.
There are so many lovely twists, turns and blind alleys that crop up in the telling of this tale, and I enjoyed how you feel yourself working the case right alongside Shaw and Deeley, following the trail of breadcrumbs Locke cleverly scatters throughout. Intriguingly, this is also a story that is filed with relatable and realistic characters, even the 'bad' ones, which makes it very engaging: everyone is drawn in shades of grey, each of them trying to atone for their mistakes or salve the bitterness of their perceived misfortunes, even if their judgement is fatally flawed, and the way their motivations are explored by Locke builds in an emotional depth that is sometimes lacking in a crime story.
I thoroughly enjoyed this book, lapping it up in a single entertaining sitting. It has just the right balance of grit, gore, passion and tension that I like, and although this is my first G.S. Locke, it will definitely not be my last!
April 19, 2022
This started off well. It felt fast paced and the characters interesting and likeable. The chase to find the killer was initially exciting, with Shaw not knowing who to trust, but became tedious fairly quickly. There began to be a lot of characters and I found it became a little hard to follow. The plot became a bit steady and the middle of the book didn’t have the peaks of excitement through it that I expected to keep me entertained. Also, some of the conclusions drawn by the police I found a little fluffy and coincidental.
At the ending, the excitement kicked up a notch. It was dramatic and exciting, and the last few chapters I really enjoyed.
A mixed bag, but overall an ok thriller. Not a must read though, by any means.
At the ending, the excitement kicked up a notch. It was dramatic and exciting, and the last few chapters I really enjoyed.
A mixed bag, but overall an ok thriller. Not a must read though, by any means.
March 4, 2025
Worst book I’ve read all year. I really tried to stick it out but it was ridiculously repetitive, every chapter he would drive somewhere talk to someone, find no information, drive somewhere else.. no character stuck in mind, so much so, it didn’t really bother who the killer was anyway. The author tries to hook you with some gruesome details of some murders, but again you don’t know the characters so all becomes a blur of names and words.
1 star was actually given because it was a good book to fall asleep to, which I did on many occasions as I tried to get through it.
1 star was actually given because it was a good book to fall asleep to, which I did on many occasions as I tried to get through it.
May 30, 2021
This is my type of book! I love a thriller that keeps you guessing, and it definitely does that. I enjoyed the tour around England aswell and that the main character trying to solve the case wasn't a policeman...refreshing. I finished it in 2 days, worth a read!
March 23, 2022
I was going to give up on page 44 when it occurred to me the killer could be too obvious and it was
February 6, 2023
Brilliant!
April 1, 2023
Hard to follow
June 14, 2023
Didn't grab me, gave it 50 pages before it went back to the charity shop.
November 15, 2023
Fast paced, which I like, one by one gang members were murdered. I worked out who it could be but not who it was.Really well written, interesting crime and thriller.
September 19, 2025
thrilling storyline to get you in.great read
January 27, 2023
This started off really well, and I thought it was going to have a really interesting plotline but it became boring pretty quickly. The middle of the book didn’t have the gripping feel to it. I found some of the aspects of the plot to be unrealistic and it kind of ruined it a bit for me. There were a lot of characters introduced quite quickly and I found it hard to keep everyone straight sometimes. However, I was surprised by the killer and I wouldn’t have guessed it without it being spelt out to me. Overall it was just ok, definitely not a must read but still relatively enjoyable.
Displaying 1 - 15 of 15 reviews