February 16, 2015
Oldham’s hard-hitting 22nd series procedural (after 2014’s Low Profile) pits Det. Chief Supt. Henry Christie, who has a “dark, brooding, pain-filled soul,” against psychopathic criminal Charlie Wilder, who leaves prison hell-bent on taking revenge on those who betrayed him. Henry, who has just finished up a big case after over 30 years on the job, yearns for retirement and the arms of his pub-owning inamorata, Alison, but he must track Charlie’s trail of mangled victims through the wilds of Lancashire. Providing counterpoint to the violence are laments for Britain’s recent cost-cutting efforts and the administrative ineptitude that drains funds, nonsensically takes cops off the streets and wastes their time, and leaves civilians unprotected. If the portraits of psycho Charlie and his gang of sycophantic losers seem one-dimensional—and Henry’s urge to give the killer’s victims, including a farm dog, some dignity in death—seems trite, the serpentine twists of the plot and the lurid action scenes carry the promise that Henry won’t be retiring just yet; he enjoys his work too much.
February 1, 2015
Henry Christie returns to face a psychopathic killer and a serious contemplation of retirement.Charlie Wilder is released early from prison on the condition that he wear an electronic tag. It doesn't take long for him to rid himself of the tag without seeming to be free of it or to plan to open a brothel with his brother, Luke, and a couple of hangers-on. But Charlie's most satisfying act after his release is running over and killing the abusive prison officer who made his life hell. Detective Superintendent Henry Christie of the Force Major Investigation Team is barely informed of the case before Charlie and his gang have robbed and killed a shop owner for his money. That's supposed to be the last outrage before they launch their new business venture, but an unexpected cash shortfall sends Charlie and his gang into hiding at an old farm he and Luke inherited. A series of cuts and consolidations in the Lancashire Constabulary have stretched the FMIT resources thin, and Christie's the ranking senior officer available to investigate a murder-suicide on a farm near the Wilder brothers'. Tired, aging and overweight, Christie would rather be home in the comfort of his fiancee's pub than getting late-night calls and dangerous assignments. How dangerous this latest case is he learns only when he and his boss are pulled by chance into a night of terror-the outcome of Charlie's murderous rage when he realizes that his girlfriend's been unfaithful. The fat, jaded Christie is far from the eager rookie of Judgement Call (2014). And this time, Oldham (Low Profile, 2014, etc.) seems bent on upping the bloodshed in a grim Keystone Kops gavotte of capture and escape.
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April 1, 2015
Some parolees lie low when they're sprung from the joint. Not Charlie Wilder. Even though he's wearing an ankle bracelet--a condition of his early release--Charlie is hell-bent on starting up just where he left off two years ago: with sex, violence, and more sex. But he first wants to settle a score, brutally murdering an abusive prison guard who's only the first in a long string of mangled corpses left in the ex-con's wake. The killings attract the attention of DS Henry Christie, though he doesn't yet make the connection to Charlie. When Charlie and his gang of thugs hole up in a remote farmhouse, conveniently near where Christie and other officers respond to a murder-suicide, what should have been a simple investigation turns into an intense, bloody battle since there's no way Charlie is going down without a fight. VERDICT Wanton violence may deter some readers, but those accustomed to Oldham's series--this is the 22nd installment after 2014's Low Profile--will enjoy seeing the evolution of Christie from an eager young rookie to a jaded boss.
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March 1, 2015
Charlie Wilder, whose greatest pleasure in life is maiming and killing, is out of prison and has big plans: reclaim girlfriend Annabel, reassemble his gang, pay back a guard who gave Charlie grief in prison, and rob a convenience store to raise cash for investing in the UK's thriving prostitution business. But the convenience-store job doesn't go to plan (not much in the till), and Charlie shoots the owner and his daughter. Then he learns that Annabel has been cheating on him with one of his gang, and he decides to punish them both. Annabel escapes from Charlie's violent tantrum and, by chance, runs bleeding and screaming into the pub where DCS Henry Christie is having a drink. Henry finds himself drawn into one of the most horrific cases of his career. Oldham's latest is not for the sensitive, weak-stomached types; it's full of graphic violence and inexplicable cruelty, all liberally laced with blood and gore. That said, it is a terrific read for a certain audience who can appreciate the taut suspense, heart-palpitating action, twist-a-minute plot, and flawed but honorable hero.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2015, American Library Association.)