Really liked it. The story was interesting, I kept routing for the poor old man to get away. At the same time, the author created sympathy for some of the "bad" guys and what seemed a realistic humanity in her cops.A kidnapping occurs, we know who has done it, but it is the why that is revealed over time throughout the book ( )

police procedural set in Glasgow. interesting characters, but the story's a bit sketchy. just the first book in this series, though, and i'm definitely gonna continue. ( )

This was both predictable, in its form and format, and new, in its texture and twists. The detective is Alex Morrow, a bit of a hard ass, in many ways the picture of a flawed police officer. As so many are. She is suffering from some kind of marital trouble, some grief or problem that isn’t named immediately but is revealed gradually. It reads like domestic abuse, and that could explain some of the attitude she displays at work, bucking the system and rubbing everyone the wrong way, but proving herself a competent, even brilliant investigator. The crime is perpetrated by a couple of guys who have a vaguely criminal history but are ultimately losers, dragged down by their inadequacies and thrown completely off kilter by their mistakes. The victims are innocent, or are they? Is anyone? The message seems to be that there is always more than meets the eye, and what we see on the surface is never the whole story. There is this weird fantastical element to the narrative, as various characters float off on dreamlike tangents, like they’ve lost touch with reality. The final scenes unspool with the reader understanding that he knows more than the character involved does, and that is an interesting device. It’s a bit of an unfinished ending, but that’s just the way things work out sometimes. ( )

I enjoyed reading this, but now I have got to the end, there are things I don't understand.

SPOILERS

What was with the deposit for the Lamborghini? Why did the robbers seek out Bob when it was Bill who was the scammer? Why did also Omar say he was going to import cars? Did he know his brother was already claiming to do that? Did their dad know what was going on? What was the connection between the head of the Tait family and Eddie and the Irish man? Surely Pat was implicated by Eddie? Did Aamir claim self-defence for killing Malki? (hide spoiler)]

Beautifully written as ever. ( )

A bit uneven in holding my interest but interesting characters I’d like to learn more about. Not neatly tied up. ( )