In recent weeks, I have been trying to review several older books; especially ones that I read last year but never got a chance to publish about.  I am hoping to rectify that to a degree now by publishing brief reviews for three intriguing 2022 releases that I had a great time reading.

Dark Rooms by Lynda La Plante

Publisher: Zaffre (Trade Paperback – 16 August 2022)

Series: Tennison – Book Eight

Length: 319 pages

My Rating: 3.5 out of 5 stars

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Over the last few years, I have had a great time getting through the amazing Tennison series by iconic crime fiction author Lynda La Plante.  A prequel series to the Prime Suspect television series, the Tennison books follows a younger version of Prime Suspect’s protagonist, Jane Tennison, as she works her way up the ranks while investigating several intriguing crimes.  There have been some awesome books in this series so far, including Good Friday, Murder Mile, The Dirty Dozen, Blunt Force and Unholy Murder, each of which is worth a read, especially for fans of the original show.  I managed to get through the eighth book in the series, Dark Rooms, last year, and it is high time I wrote a review for it, especially as the next Tennison thriller is out just around the corner.

Plot Synopsis:

Helena Lanark is an elderly woman, living in a luxurious care home. The heiress of an immense family fortune, she keeps the secret to the horror which once occurred within the Lanark family house.

Jane Tennison is leading a murder investigation into the recent brutal death of a young girl, her decomposed starved body discovered in an old air raid shelter in the garden of the Lanark’s now derelict house. Initially the focus is on identifying the victim, until another body is found, hidden in the walls of the shelter.

As the investigation and search for answers intensifies, Jane travels to Australia. There she discovers the dark secret, that the Lanark family has kept hidden for decades.  A secret, that not only threatens to bring down a family dynasty, but also places Jane Tennison in mortal danger . . .

This was a fairly compelling crime fiction novel from La Plante, although I must admit that it wasn’t my favourite Tennison novel.  Dark Rooms’ story has an excellent start to it, with Tennison investigating the sinister death of a young woman in an abandoned air raid shelter.  This mystery gets even more complicated when the body of a young baby is also found in the basement.  However, this strong start doesn’t last for as long as I would have liked, with the more interesting case about the dead young woman being solved relatively quickly (although with an extremely dark solution), leaving only the mystery of the dead baby behind.

This second case, while interesting in its own way, is simpler than I would have liked, and the mystery behind it is actually a bit obvious.  La Plante does insert some great dramatic elements behind it, especially behind the tragic nature of the events behind it, as well as the unreliability of the main witness, which increases the emotional impact of the story.  I also quite liked the quick journey to Australia that Tennison undertakes to get answers, which was a nice change of pace that I rather enjoyed.  However, none of this helps to make the case as interesting or suspenseful as it needed to be, and I did not get as attached to the second half of the book.  It also didn’t help that La Plante was a reusing a lot of story elements from the previous entries in the series here, with Tennison facing the usual sexist boss and police department, and the author spending too much time on the protagonist’s social life than was strictly needed.  As such, the story drags in the places, and the lack of a particularly substantive and complex mystery ensures that it never really picks up to the degree you hope it would.

Overall, Dark Rooms was a weaker Tennison novel from Lynda La Plante, and one that does not really stand out when compared to some of the more impressive books in the series.  While I am little critical of it, Dark Rooms did have its interesting and powerful moments, and is still worth a read, especially for established fans of the series.  I am hoping that the next book in the series, Taste of Blood, has a better story behind it, and I am still intrigued to see how this series continues.

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Essex Dogs by Dan Jones

Publisher: Head of Zeus (Trade Paperback – 30 August 2022)

Series: Essex Dogs – Book One

Length: 456 pages

My Rating: 4.25 out of 5 stars

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One of the more intriguing historical fiction debuts of 2022 had to be the awesome action adventure novel, Essex Dogs by Dan Jones.

Plot Synopsis:

July 1346. Ten men land on the beaches of Normandy. They call themselves the Essex Dogs: an unruly platoon of archers and men-at-arms led by a battle-scarred captain whose best days are behind him. The fight for the throne of the largest kingdom in Western Europe has begun.

Heading ever deeper into enemy territory toward Crécy, this band of brothers knows they are off to fight a battle that will forge nations, and shape the very fabric of human lives. But first they must survive a bloody war in which rules are abandoned and chivalry itself is slaughtered.

Rooted in historical accuracy and told through an unforgettable cast, Essex Dogs delivers the stark reality of medieval war on the ground – and shines a light on the fighters and ordinary people caught in the storm.

This was a very fun and exciting historical read that followed a small band of soldiers, the titular Essex Dogs, as they find themselves in the middle of the initial campaign of the Hundred Years War.  Jones writes a very compelling and action-packed story with a huge focus on camaraderie and survival, as the small band works together to try and overcome the many obstacles before and around them.  Written in the same character and themes as Band of Brothers or Saving Private Ryan, Essex Dogs has a good mixture of compelling historical detail, intense action, and interesting character moments, as the full story unleashes itself upon the reader with some major dramatic moments.  Cleverly working these characters into the middle of all the key events that occurred between the English landing in France all the way up to the Battle of Crécy (with some intriguing real historical extracts to give a fun contrast included at the start of each chapter), you will get wrapped up in Jones’ awesome and electrifying story.

This was a very impressive overall read, and I loved how well Jones managed to bring to life several desperate soldiers and lead them through the chaotic historical events depicted in Essex Dogs.  The captivating action, deep character moments, and inherent tragedy of war really help to turn this into an outstanding read and a pretty great first outing from Dan Jones as an author.  This ended up being one of my favourite debuts of 2022, and I am very interested to see how Jones will continue the story in the upcoming 2023 sequel, Wolves of Winter.

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Blow Back by James Patterson and Brendan Dubois

Publisher: Century (Trade Paperback – 1 September 2022)

Series: Standalone

Length: 503 pages

My Rating: 4 out of 5 stars

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A great thriller that I had high hopes for in 2022 was the compelling James Patterson novel (co-written with Brendan Dubois), Blow Back, that featured a fun story about an insane US President.

Plot Synopsis:

He’s America’s most brilliant president ever. He’s also a psychopath.

US president Keegan Barrett swept into office on his success as director of the CIA. Six months into his first term, he devises a clandestine power grab with a deadly motive: Revenge.

President Barrett personally orders Special Agents Liam Grey and Noa Himel to execute his plan, but their loyalties are divided. As CIA agents they’ve sworn to support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all threats, both foreign and domestic.

When the threat comes directly from the Oval Office, that’s where the blowback begins.

Blow Back ended up being a very entertaining thriller that was extremely easy to read.  The authors deploy the typical Patterson style of short, sharp chapters, and several intriguing character perspectives to showcase the exciting tale, and I loved the great buildup that occurs in the first third of the novel.  Told primarily through the eyes of two US intelligence agents brought in to oversee the President’s planned intelligence revival, the first third of the book is pretty awesome as you watch them change the game in several exciting ways.  There is a ton of action-packed sequences and exciting espionage moments during this first half, as well as some frank and compelling assessments of the state of US, Russian and Chinese intelligence programs in America and across the world, all of which makes for some epic reading.  While the focus is primarily on espionage and the actions of the protagonists, there is also a tangible and compelling sense of dread building in the background as the reader gets closer and closer to seeing what the President is actually planning.

The eventual reveal of the President’s full duplicity and the evil schemes he has cooked up help change the tone of the second half of the book as the protagonists, who have been manipulated the entire way through, are now forced to work outside the system to try and save themselves and the entire world.  This makes for a pulse-pounding second half, and the cool story is loaded with chases, firefights and betrayals, all set around an apocalyptic scenario with a ticking clock behind it.  I honestly had a hard time putting the novel down, and the authors’ easy-to-read style really worked in Blow Back’s favour, producing a lightning quick read with a fun conclusion to it.  I did think that the story did not hit as hard as it possibly could have, and I might have preferred a few more twists or big moments towards the end.  I also didn’t get particularly invested in any of the major protagonists, although I did find President Barrett to be a very fun villain, especially when he completely loses his marbles and goes full evil warmongering tyrant on his enemies.

While I did think that Blow Back’s narrative did have a few issues and could have been a little tighter and more explosive in places, this was a still a very fun read and one that is guaranteed to keep thriller fans highly entertained and engaged.  The fast-paced story proves very hard to put down, and you will get really swept up in Blow Back’s ultra-exciting story of a psychotic and morally bankrupt President trying to destroy the world in his own compelling way.

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