Alistair Birch – Shadow Pursuit

‘Shadow Pursuit’ by Alistair Birch is his debut novel. A multi-layered crime fiction novel that is a rather engrossing read. I have been sitting on my hands waiting for this book to appear and I wasn’t disappointed at all.

A book that starts as it means to go on! The first chapter itself grabs your attention and from there, there is no slowing this book down. The chapters are short and keep the story moving forward and this alone starts the tension rising.

Eva Merriman a detective in London Met Police finds herself suddenly seconded to MI5 after a body is discovered brutally murdered in London. She is part of the team put together to hunt the killer down. She has a meet with her new superior which ends with them being targeted by killers. Sam and Kellie are both attempting to find their siblings, who are on the missing list. Kellie saw her sister being bundled into a taxi and Sam’s brother James seems to have gotten away from the people who were hiding him…he just doesn’t know that his every move is being watched by them.

This is just the beginning of a gangland/ terrorist plot that does have a lot of characters and can be a little complex, but this just brings more tension and a slow feeling of impending doom the more you read on. The chapters are all headed with a countdown timeline, but to what? The questions were speeding through my head as the time ‘ticked by’. I felt that this alone was another piece to the puzzle that I just couldn’t put together and it made me carry on reading to see if I could discover what this event would be. I had the ‘just another chapter’ thing going on, for every chapter!
 

Alistair Birch has created characters that are relatable, from the main character’s to some of the enemies as well. His attention to detail is excellent, especially with his sense of place. The story takes us to London, Gloucestershire and Scotland. His descriptions of Scotland had me there and also helped to drive the story on.

I found the quality of this author’s writing was excellent, especially as it is a debut. I got to the end and really wanted to keep on turning the pages. I didn’t want to leave the characters behind, especially on that ending too! Am impatient to see what else Alistair Birch has to offer next. I will sit on my hands to wait!

Thanks to Anne Cater of Random Things Tours Dark Edge Press and Alistair Birch for the copy of this thrilling book.