“Human beings can feel haunted by their actions, or their inactions.” (p.28)
Summer of Ghosts
P. D. Viner
Ebury Press
Random House
ISBN: 9780091953324
Description:
‘Beautiful skin…’
It begins with a father calling his daughter, but it is not his Pia who answers – it is her killer. He must listen, horrified, to the sounds of his only child being murdered, powerless to intervene, as the killer utters two chilling words.
Most men’s thoughts would turn to vengeance, but Pia’s father is far more resourceful than most. He is not the reserved businessman his daughter believed him to be, but Franco, a notorious London drug lord. And he will call in all his debts to find his daughter’s killer, including the one owed to him by Superintendent Tom Bevans.
Tom is a man haunted by grief; every unsolved case weighs heavily against his soul. And Tom has heard these two words before…
My View:
A brilliant follow on from The Last Winter of Dani Lancing – one of my favourite books. I love the characters in this series – particularly Tom Bevans – The Sad Man – who shows us a few more sides to his character than previously explored and Franco – a criminal you end up liking. I like that the character Franco allows the reader to consider the many sides to a person; Franco is not just a drug lord. Ultimately it is his role as Pia’s father that allows us to see the human side of Franco, to see that he is more the the sum of his numerous sins, more than the horrible experiences he faced as a child. Viner allows us to think about how we measure a person’s worth and how quick we are to judge, life really isn’t black and white, Viner allows us to see the grey.
The half a dozen or so major characters in this book are all haunted…by their actions or their inactions; BRILLIANT!
This is an engaging story, with plenty of plot twists and miss-directions to keep you enthralled in this fast paced adventure that weaves a few contemporary social and political issues into the mix for good measure. The ending will astound you…sorry no spoilers here. The question I want answered – is there a next book Phil?