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Wilson, Robert - 'You Will Never Find Me'
Hardback: 352 pages (Feb. 2014) Publisher: Orion ISBN: 1409143155

This is an absolutely outstanding second book of a new series by an very experienced writer with ten successful books already behind him. Charlie Boxer is a former Scotland Yard detective who has decided to specialise in high stakes kidnap hostage negotiation. After the tumultuous events relating to the kidnap of the daughter of an Indian billionaire (described in the previous book CAPITAL PUNISHMENT) Charlie is shocked to discover that his seventeen-year-old daughter, Amy, has disappeared leaving a note in her bedroom saying "You Will Never Find Me". Boxer, teams up with his ex-wife, Scotland Yard Detective Inspector, Mercy Danqhah, to try and locate his daughter.

Charlie has messed up his family life, firstly he was in the army and served overseas and then he worked at Scotland Yard in homicide and was away a lot on cases and then he left the police and worked in hostage negotiation and kidnap for an specialist agency before setting up his own business called "Lost". So he was rather estranged from his daughter although he loved her all the same. He has tried many times to rebuild his relationship with Amy but with great difficulty.

Amy stops into a police station and tells them that she is leaving her parents and as she is able to hold a driving license she is an adult and there is nothing for them to do. Having parents who are in the police has given Amy a lot of knowledge of what happens when someone disappears and so she uses this edge as wisely as she can. She then goes to Heathrow by train and flies to Madrid and disappears into the nightclub party scene there.

The story focuses on the demands of the plot on Charlie and also on his ex-wife Mercy and the emphasis shifts and the book moves on. The hunt for Amy was really relentless and the plot had a lot of dramatic twists and turns that made it a very powerful and deeply moving novel and I was on tenterhooks right up to the final page. The entertainment value of this story was such that I did not want it to end.

Robert Wilson has worked across the world, including spells ship-broking, tour-guiding and exporting bathrooms to Nigeria. After escaping car crashes, civil wars and angry baboons, he and his wife settled in Portugal. Since then, he has written more than ten acclaimed crime novels including the CWA Gold Dagger Award winner, A SMALL DEATH IN LISBON. His Portuguese set series featuring Javier Falcon was adapted for television by Sky Atlantic. CAPITAL PUNISHMENT, the first in the Charlie Boxer series was shortlisted for the CWA Steel Dagger.

Strongly Recommended.

Terry Halligan, England
September 2014

Details of the author's other books with links to reviews can be found on the Books page.
More European crime fiction reviews can be found on the Reviews page.



last updated 28/09/2014 09:41