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Deadly Purpose
Driving to her place of work in broad daylight, a young businesswoman answers her mobile phone, to be told by a total stranger that she is about to die. Her car is blown up, and Nicola Swift becomes the latest victim of a merciless hitman who is known only as Hendricks.Detective Inspector Jim Cole of the SCS – Special Crime Squad – attends another crime scene, where a gangland boss, Johnny Donovan, has been gunned down outside his home. Jim is not to know that wheels set in motion by the dead villain will personally affect him.Victor Merrick is a top lawyer, who specialises in defending lowlifes’ with organised crime connections. His marriage is coming apart at the seams, and with the prospect of being taken for half his wealth, Victor panics and arranges for his wife to be murdered. But before the hitman is due to strike, Victor and his wife, Olivia, reconcile their differences.Victor wants to cancel the hit, but it was Johnny Donovan who brokered the deal, and Donovan is dead.Hendricks is the paid killer determined to fulfil his contract, and has no intention of letting Olivia Merrick live, even though he is contacted and told to back off.Once that Olivia becomes aware of the danger she is in, she contacts the police.DI Jim Cole has a lot on his plate. The squad are investigating the slaying of a family in Hounslow and a couple in Southwark. The same MO has been employed to mutilate and murder them. There seems to be no connection between the victims, and it is apparent that not one but two killers are working together and have an, as yet, unknown agenda.Jim finds that his private life and police work are becoming inextricably entwined. He is a widower, now attracted to Dr Helen Sands, a criminal psychologist consulting on what has been tagged the ‘Couple Killers’ case, there is also an impending gangland war about to take place between Donovan’s firm and the Russian Mafia, and the hitman, Hendricks, is closing in, determined to find and kill Olivia Merrick, who Jim is very close to.Jim has never faced greater danger. In a world where only death is a certainty, a shocking and bloody conclusion is unfolding; unavoidable, and with an outcome that is totally unpredictable.
331 pages, Paperback
Published July 31, 2019
9 people are currently reading
11 people want to read
About the author
Michael Kerr
89 books38 followersI write the type of original, action-packed, violent crime thrillers that I know I would enjoy reading if they were written by such authors as: Lee Child, David Baldacci, Harlan Coben, Michael Connelly and their ilk.
Over twenty years in the Prison Service proved great research into the minds of criminals, and especially into the dark world that serial killers - of who I have met quite a few - frequent.
I live in a cottage a mile from the nearest main road in the Yorkshire Wolds, enjoy photography, the wildlife, and of course creating new characters to place in dilemmas that my mind dreams up.
What makes a good read? Believable protagonists that you care about, set in a story that stirs all of your emotions.
If you like crime fiction, then I believe that 'Deadly Reprisal' and 'A Reacher Kind of Guy - Aftermath' will push all the right buttons for you.
Over twenty years in the Prison Service proved great research into the minds of criminals, and especially into the dark world that serial killers - of who I have met quite a few - frequent.
I live in a cottage a mile from the nearest main road in the Yorkshire Wolds, enjoy photography, the wildlife, and of course creating new characters to place in dilemmas that my mind dreams up.
What makes a good read? Believable protagonists that you care about, set in a story that stirs all of your emotions.
If you like crime fiction, then I believe that 'Deadly Reprisal' and 'A Reacher Kind of Guy - Aftermath' will push all the right buttons for you.
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Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews
August 4, 2019
Loved it
There’s a lot going on in this book, mafia hits, a crazed couple killing for revenge and a man who’s put a contract on his wife’s head. In the middle of it all is Jim Cole, the cop. You won’t get lost in this book, it is so cleverly weaved together and it flows flawlessly. A thoroughly gripping read.
There’s a lot going on in this book, mafia hits, a crazed couple killing for revenge and a man who’s put a contract on his wife’s head. In the middle of it all is Jim Cole, the cop. You won’t get lost in this book, it is so cleverly weaved together and it flows flawlessly. A thoroughly gripping read.
August 28, 2019
My 4.5* review of Michael Kerrs aka Mike Smail 'Deadly Purpose".. DI Jim Cole thriller, this is an all action page turner..Some gruesome parts and more bodies than I could count..Not my normal read, however I did enjoy this book.
January 22, 2020
Great book
Ok quite a new author for me, the second book of his I have now read. Great characters and three different strands of the story all juggled easily by the author.
Ok quite a new author for me, the second book of his I have now read. Great characters and three different strands of the story all juggled easily by the author.
August 3, 2019
He's done it again
What a rollercoaster ride of a book. From the very first page I was well and truly hooked! How this is not up there with the big names (Simon Kerwick etc. ) which personally I think he is just as good as, or even better, I will never know!!!
Action packed read about a hit man named Hendricks who is one callous guy with no soul. Running side by side are two serial killers who take the lives of women who have wronged one of them.
Read the book, you're in for a great ride.
What a rollercoaster ride of a book. From the very first page I was well and truly hooked! How this is not up there with the big names (Simon Kerwick etc. ) which personally I think he is just as good as, or even better, I will never know!!!
Action packed read about a hit man named Hendricks who is one callous guy with no soul. Running side by side are two serial killers who take the lives of women who have wronged one of them.
Read the book, you're in for a great ride.
October 22, 2019
Excellent
Another excellent story from Michael Kerr. I have read most if not all of his books and this DI Jim Cole is a really first class read.
None stop action, various threads woven with in the book in one complete story.
A real winner, don’t miss it.
Another excellent story from Michael Kerr. I have read most if not all of his books and this DI Jim Cole is a really first class read.
None stop action, various threads woven with in the book in one complete story.
A real winner, don’t miss it.
September 20, 2019
Another winner from Michael Kerr.
Jim Cole not quite the typical copper but still managing to give a picture of macho hero.
With a soft heart.
Jim Cole not quite the typical copper but still managing to give a picture of macho hero.
With a soft heart.
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews