I read The Point of No Return by Neil Broadfoot back at the very end of last year but, as per usual, I was all over the place and didn't get my review up. So today, it's paperback publication day, seemed like a good time to share it! I received a gifted review copy from the author but now the paperback is out I will be putting an order in!
How far would you go to find the truth?
After more than a decade of being in prison for the brutal murder two Stirling University students, Colin Sanderson has been released after his conviction was found to be unsafe.
Returning home to a small village not far from Stirling, Sanderson refuses police protection, even in the face of a death threat. But the PR firm that has scooped him up to sell his story does know of a protection expert in Stirling. They want Connor Fraser.
Connor reluctantly takes the assignment, partly as a favour to DCI Malcolm Ford, who is none too keen to have Sanderson on the loose, particularly as he was involved in the original investigation that saw him imprisoned.
When a body is found, mutilated in the same way as Sanderson's victims were, all eyes fall on the released man. But how can he be the killer when Connor's own security detail gives him an alibi?
As Connor races to uncover the truth, he is forced to confront not only Sanderson's past but his own, and a secret that could change his life forever.
'A true rising star of crime fiction' Ian Rankin
Tense, fast-moving and bloody. Broadfoot's best yet' Mason Cross
'Wonderfully grisly and grim, and a cracking pace' James Oswald
'Neil Broadfoot hits the ground running and doesn't stop. With the very beating heart of Scotland at its core, your heart too will race as you reach the jaw dropping conclusion of this brilliant thriller. First class!' Denzil Meyrick
'Crisp dialogue, characters you believe and a prose style that brings you back for more . . . a fine addition to a growing roster of noir titles with a tartan tinge' Douglas Skelton
The Point of No Return was published in e-book, audio and hardback formats on 3rd September 2020. It is released in paperback today and available from all good booksellers.
My Review
Woohoo, Connor Fraser is back! I love this series - you can check out my reviews of No Man's Land and No Place to Die to see my thoughts. The Point of No Return works perfectly as a standalone so don't let not having read the others put you off reading this one. But I always think with a series that you get a richer reading experience if you start at the beginning. And the previous two are well worth checking out!
Connor Fraser is not too enamoured with his latest security job - providing protection for a newly released, acquitted prisoner who doesn't really want any security. But Connor accepts the job at the request of DCI Ford, with whom he has worked before and who is a man he respects. Also Fraser's friend, journalist Donna Blake, will be interviewing the newly released Sanderson so he'll be able to keep a protective eye on her, when she'll let him! A new murder casts suspicion once again on Sanderson but could it really be him? Meanwhile, Connor's having a few difficulties of his own.
I love Connor Fraser. For me, he's Stirling's answer to James Bond but without the gadgets or string of women. He's an action man - handsome, fit, lean and alert. The kind of guy that women want and men want to be - in my head anyway! He struggles to relax though and, in top of work, he's got a few things on his mind. I love his tender relationship with his grandmother.
It was great to see Donna back too. She's great - feisty, fierce (although maybe not as much as she things she is), determined, and always after the next big story, willing to put herself into the occasional risky situation to get it. Her friendship with Blake is brilliant - they've been through some stuff together, they like and respect one another, but can each be frustrated by the other.
I must mention Paulie too, because he might well be my favourite character! He always makes me think of Luca Brasi!
The storyline sees Fraser, Blake, and the police, looking at older crimes for links with a present day one and finding that things move in very unexpected directions. A subplot sees Connor looking for a different, more personal kind of truth. The book is action packed from the get go and it really doesn't let up. Broadfoot doesn't waste words, every one counts, and this helps keep up the tension that runs throughout. As do the chapters presented in the first person from an anonymous point of view - they're pretty creepy. I couldn't turn the pages fast enough! There is a touch of humour throughout - loved Donna's description of the Scottish Parliament building '...like some kind of demented love child of Ikea and B&Q.' And we get to visit some of Stirling's landmarks.
The Point of No Return is a brilliant, tense, action packed crime thriller that hurtles along from beginning to end. The scene setting and characterisation are spot on. It's about misjudgements, love, loyalty, obsession and murder. And it's a story about fathers and sons. Loved it and wholeheartedly recommend it.
The Author
Falling Fast, which was shortlisted for the Dundee International Book Prize, is the first in the Edinburgh-set McGregor and Drummond series of thrillers.
His new Stirling-set series, which begins with No Man's Land and features close protection expert Connor Fraser, has been hailed as "tense, fast moving and bloody" and "atmospheric, twisty and explosive" with a "complex cast of characters and a compelling hero". No Man's Land was longlisted for the 2019 McIlvanney Award.
As a husband and father of two girls, Neil finds himself regularly outnumbered in his own home. He is also one of the Four Blokes In Search of a Plot, a quartet of crime writers who live write a story based on suggestions from the audience. The Four Blokes have appeared in England, Spain and Scotland.
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