The Killer

The story follows a young London woman Kaz Phelps being hunted by gangsters and police and details her journey to outwit her pursuers and flee from her past.

I read this book as a standalone book though it is actually the third part of a trilogy. Though its works as a standalone, but I consider it to have been more rewarding had I read the preceding two books. 

It seems that Kaz Phelps’ criminal family history is catching up on her. Her enemies want her beneath the ground and the Police want her behind bars so she has to run. Her only hope comes in the shape of former Detective Nicci Armstrong who now operates as a Private Security Contractor working for those who can afford to pay for her special skills.

I am not a fan of reading partway through a series; and The Killer is the concluding part of a trilogy. I felt that the ending left several loose threads for the reader to ponder upon, and wondered if this was because I had missed aspects of the preceding two books.

The novel is very well written, with short chapters and is dialogue driven. The violence was implicit rather than graphic so uses the reader’s imagination as opposed to overt viscera. I was impressed by the writer’s restraint in the deployment of bad language, despite the backdrop to this tale. In narrative terms it was an easy read as I found myself thoroughly gripped finding empathy for the characters; be they good, bad or ugly. 

Though I have to state that the plot got a tad ‘busy’ toward the last third, and felt that there was a little ‘too much going on’ to keep it flowing and maintaining credibility. Perhaps that’s why I considered the denouement to have left several threads unresolved. 

Overall it is an easy read, written in the style of Martina Cole, but without the tight plotlines and graphic violence.