Nine Elms
Robert Bryndza
Hachette Australia
Sphere
ISBN: 9780751572711

Description:
Robert Bryndza is ready to take the world by bestselling storm again with the introduction of Kate Marshall, a woman with a dark secret and a powerful sense of justice.

Sixteen years ago, Kate Marshall was a rising star in the London Metropolitan police force. Young, ambitious and driven, with a talent for getting into the minds of criminals, she solved several high-profile murder cases.

But when Kate was tasked with tracking down a vicious serial killer, even her instinct and ability to immerse herself in violent worlds couldn’t help her find him – until he found her.

Now, years after her narrow escape, Kate lives a quiet life on the English coast, though her years with the police are still with her. And when one day she receives a letter from someone in her past, she is pulled back into the twisted mind of a murderer she knows only too well – and into a case only she can solve.

My View:
The read started with a sensational attention-grabbing introduction – chapter five is pulse raising. However after that point I struggled to suspend my disbelief – I questioned the resources that this ex police officer turned investigator seemed conjure up, her ability to walk into a crime scene virtually unchallenged, to view an autopsy, to have confidential information handed over to her so readily…it just didn’t feel right. The criminals in this also seemed to be able to defy reason, their escapades – and that’s what there were, ramped up “adventures” of the killing kind were just a little over the top.

And I really did not want to discover the protagonist was just another ex-cop with a drinking problem – albeit one attending the Program (but I didn’t want to hear about that either).

However, I can see why many might like the thrills and blood letting in this, at times, tense read. I can also see the potential for this series to develop into a more substantial and believable read (or one where I can at least leave my disbelief at the door way before I enter the book). I really am at odds with myself trying to decide if I liked this read or not…almost but not quite…