Dennis Lehane burst into the world of private detective procedurals with ‘A Drink Before The War’. Since then, all of his novels have been highly acclaimed and his latest boasts as rip-roaring a plot as ever.

Keeping with the same characters, he has Patrick Kenzie meet Karen Nicholas. She seems an innocent, but six months later; she is dead by her own hand. Patrick investigates and soon discovers that a tragic chain of events surrounding Karen was not accidental.

It is a stifling summer, but with the help of ex-partner Angie and his crazy friend Bubba, Patrick goes into war against a cunning and powerful killer who the law can’t touch and who always seems to be one step ahead of everyone else. Can they stop him or is he going to destroy all three of them?

One word – excellent. This is clearly the best Patrick & Angie novel to date and all of the previous ones have been of high quality. Here, Lehane really goes all out to write a superb thriller that deserves to sell highly.

He continues to develop his characters as much as possible, with Bubba getting the most development all of them. In the previous novels, Bubba has not played very big roles, but here; he is one of the key players. Lehane introduces us to a cunning killer and the twists and turns that are thrown in throughout are total surprises, leaving you with a finale that will astound you.

There is humour as well, despite the grim subject matter. This all combines to make a thriller that really is top-notch. There is no doubt that Lehane is one of the best modern thriller writers around and I am eagerly awaiting his next novel.