Karen
The opening salvo in a new detective series based around Jake Shaw, TURNING POINT is set in the US, written by a Kiwi author and published by a New Caledonian based company. Which unlikely series of events has come together to create a multi-threaded thriller styled novel with some very topical plot threads.
Starting out with the story of Tommy Sessions, who leaves jail after serving 3 years for his part in an armed robbery, morphing on the way out into William Brass, the leader of an reclusive religious sect who, on the face of it seem peaceful enough, but the coincidence of them protesting outside family planning clinics that are then bombed, is too much to ignore. Which is initially where Jake Shaw and the leader of a specialist FBI unit, Clement Oddsworth, who investigate terrorist acts come in.
Meanwhile in the other major thread to the story a former drug cartel leader, Huetzin Sanchez and some loyal soldiers flee Mexico, going into hiding at a safe haven within the US. The new cartel leader would like to find Sanchez, almost as much as the FBI but he has seemingly vanished, until a scam provides some much needed hints.
When starting out reading TURNING POINT you might be wondering if and how on earth these two main thread points are going to collide. There is quite a lot of build up here, which does, just occasionally, slow down what is otherwise one hell of a roller coaster of a ride through the topical subject of violent protest and attacks, and money and influence. Ultimately doesn't everything always seem to come down to money, influence, power... and control. The thing at the heart of this was the way that people manipulate others - that ideals and belief systems are so easily twisted and coerced into becoming something else....
But back to the novel TURNING POINT. A debut novel, the subject matter and plot lines are well executed, and the twists and turns keep the reader's attention and focus. The switching backwards and forwards between the two thread lines works well, with the chapters nicely sized to keep readers from getting lost or overly bombarded with detail. To be honest the only thing that really threw me out of the story was in the epilogue and that particular President ceding the floor to anyone graciously...
Part of what looks to be a planned series, it's an interesting undertaking from a Kiwi based author.
Originally posted at www.austcrimefiction.org.
The opening salvo in a new detective series based around Jake Shaw, TURNING POINT is set in the US, written by a Kiwi author and published by a New Caledonian based company. Which unlikely series of events has come together to create a multi-threaded thriller styled novel with some very topical plot threads.
Starting out with the story of Tommy Sessions, who leaves jail after serving 3 years for his part in an armed robbery, morphing on the way out into William Brass, the leader of an reclusive religious sect who, on the face of it seem peaceful enough, but the coincidence of them protesting outside family planning clinics that are then bombed, is too much to ignore. Which is initially where Jake Shaw and the leader of a specialist FBI unit, Clement Oddsworth, who investigate terrorist acts come in.
Meanwhile in the other major thread to the story a former drug cartel leader, Huetzin Sanchez and some loyal soldiers flee Mexico, going into hiding at a safe haven within the US. The new cartel leader would like to find Sanchez, almost as much as the FBI but he has seemingly vanished, until a scam provides some much needed hints.
When starting out reading TURNING POINT you might be wondering if and how on earth these two main thread points are going to collide. There is quite a lot of build up here, which does, just occasionally, slow down what is otherwise one hell of a roller coaster of a ride through the topical subject of violent protest and attacks, and money and influence. Ultimately doesn't everything always seem to come down to money, influence, power... and control. The thing at the heart of this was the way that people manipulate others - that ideals and belief systems are so easily twisted and coerced into becoming something else....
But back to the novel TURNING POINT. A debut novel, the subject matter and plot lines are well executed, and the twists and turns keep the reader's attention and focus. The switching backwards and forwards between the two thread lines works well, with the chapters nicely sized to keep readers from getting lost or overly bombarded with detail. To be honest the only thing that really threw me out of the story was in the epilogue and that particular President ceding the floor to anyone graciously...
Part of what looks to be a planned series, it's an interesting undertaking from a Kiwi based author.
Originally posted at www.austcrimefiction.org.