Thanks to Murray Bailey for my gifted book and my place on the book tour.
Judge not the man
Charles Balcombe cannot control his alter ego.
BlackJack is killing for fun and DI Munro knows his partnership with Balcombe can’t continue.
While Balcombe seeks help, Munro is asked to work for the Hong Kong governor’s aide-de-camp. He seems to be sidelined as Garrett resumes his hunt for the Squeezed-heart murderer.
But people have secrets and the more Munro investigates, the murkier they seem. When people start dying and with Balcombe’s help, Munro tries to get to the bottom of a conspiracy of silence.
Will he find the truth?
Will Garrett catch his killer?
Will Balcombe learn the truth about himself?
As the psychoanalyst told him: a third of the mind is darkness. If you dig too deep, be prepared. You won’t like what you find there.
This is the third book in the BlackJack thriller series, and a series you do have to start from book 1. The heart of the storyline runs throughout, so to get the complete BlackJack ‘experience’ start at the beginning. When I found out this book was coming, I was so excited for it to land on my doormat! .
Set in Hong Kong in the 1950s, BlackJack, who is Charles Balcombe’s alter ego, is now becoming out of control with his need for killing. Balcombe decides to go to a psychoanalyst to find a way to control the nightmares and BlackJack, too. This alone makes this instalment deeper, more complex than the previous books. I found it so intriguing as their sessions take us through his life and how he has been made into what he is.
Balcombe is also helping DI Munro with a case of a missing girl, but Munro is becoming more worried about BlackJack. To add to the mix, there may be someone who thinks that BlackJack is actually Balcombe. Can they prove it, though? The heat is definitely on!
Murray Bailey certainly knows how to write a thriller that is superbly plotted. This is a darker and deeper story than the others. In a way, it’s more complex as we are learning of the how’s and why’s of Balcombe’s past. Every character is excellently portrayed with their own unique part to play. In Balcombe’s case, two parts!
As a reader, this series ticks every box for me, it always has. The third book just keeps giving, and I love returning to this world of BlackJack and Charles Balcombe, time and time again!
Author Bio
Murray Bailey is the author of Amazon bestseller Map of the Dead, the first of the series based on his interest in Egyptology. His main series, however, is the Ash Carter thrillers, inspired by his father’s experience in the Royal Military Police in Singapore in the early 1950s.
Murray is well travelled, having worked in the US, South America, and a number of European countries throughout his career as a management consultant. However, he also managed to find the time to edit books, contribute to articles and act as a part-time magazine editor.
Murray lives on the south coast of England with his family and a dog called Teddy.
sharonbeyondthebooks.uk 