Tony R Cox is an ex-provincial UK journalist. The Simon Jardine series is based on his memories of the early 70s - the time of sex, drugs and rock 'n roll - when reporters relied on word of mouth and there was no internet, no mobile phones, not even a fax machine.
The third thriller by the pseudonymous RJ Bailey begins with a fractious, familiar family rift, and quickly becomes a breakneck, murderous gallop around the majestic, if potentially lethal Albanian mountains.
Local reporter Adam Bryant is on the trail of a story and a rescued marriage, until his life is saved by two bodyguards in a hillside bar. One of the bodyguards is then mugged, while back in London. The result is that Sam Wylde, on a quest to bring her daughter back from an Indonesian paradise, is on her own, but don’t forget those well-fleshed out characters who seem to have faded away: they’re coming back ... but with a vengeance, both heroic and deadly.
The pace is frenetic; the style is bullet-like and staccato; the sex is craven; the violence is murderous, and at times, brutal. The plot embarks on a frantic, menacing and dangerous journey through the less salubrious parts of Bali, Singapore and Thailand, with the omnipresent Sam fighting off bad guys and even, possibly good guys.
There’s a military precision to Winner Kills All. Guns are not just identified and fired, they’re stripped down and rebuilt; seedy bars and slum-like bazaars are not just there for atmosphere, they’re packed full of menace and disreputable characters.
This thriller is a Pitbull: once it has you in its grasp it bites even deeper, and no matter how hard you’re shaken, it won’t let go.
