It’s not easy being a good detective – when your brother’s a serial killer.

Sam Blue stands accused of the brutal murders of three young students, their bodies dumped near the Georges River. Only one person believes he is innocent: his sister, Detective Harriet Blue. And she’s determined to prove it.

Except she’s now been banished to the outback town of Last Chance Valley (population 75), where a diary found on the roadside outlines a shocking plan – the massacre of the entire town. And the first death, shortly after Harry’s arrival, suggests the clock is already ticking.

Meanwhile, back in Sydney, a young woman holds the key to crack Sam’s case wide open.

If only she could escape the madman holding her hostage . . .

My Review

Before I get on to the story, I’d like to mention a couple of things. First of all I loved the narrator from book one, so I was really pleased to discover it was the same person in book two. Secondly, I get very frustrated when books are badly edited and full of typos. I guess when you are dealing with James Patterson you expect that everything will be perfect, and it is.

Moving on. Harry’s brother Sam Blue, known as the Georges River killer, is still the main suspect in the abduction, torture and murder of three young women, and maybe more. Harry believes Sam is innocent, but having assaulted the prosecutor outside the court building, she is sent into the outback again to investigate a strange case where a diary found by the roadside reveals a shocking plan to massacre a whole town – the town of Last Chance Valley (population 75). Harry must work with Victoria Snail, local police officer and ex-army veteran Cash.

In the meantime, Edward ‘Whit’ Whittaker, Harry’s partner in Never Never remains in Sydney to help prove Sam’s innocence and also to find another missing woman. Who took her? Many people believe that this new abductor is working with Sam. Seems very strange to me as my first thought would be that Sam must be innocent and this is the real killer. But, hey, what do I know.

Once again this is a tough, gritty crime story with plenty of violence, murder, bad language and a kick-ass heroine. Just up my street, bring it on. I’m so looking forward to the next in the series Liar Liar which takes Harry on a roller-coaster ride looking for a new killer.

About the Authors

Candice Fox is the middle child of a large, eccentric family from Sydney’s western suburbs composed of half-adopted and pseudo siblings. The daughter of a parole officer and an enthusiastic foster-carer, Candice spent her childhood listening around corners to tales of violence, madness and evil as her father relayed his work stories to her mother and older brothers.

As a cynical and trouble-making teenager, her crime and gothic fiction writing was an escape from the calamity of her home life. She was constantly in trouble for reading Anne Rice in church and scaring her friends with tales from Australia’s wealth of true crime writers.

Bankstown born and bred, she failed to conform to military life in a brief stint as an officer in the Royal Australian Navy at age eighteen. At twenty, she turned her hand to academia, and taught high school through two undergraduate and two postgraduate degrees. Candice lectures in writing at the University of Notre Dame, Sydney, while undertaking a PhD in literary censorship and terrorism.

James Patterson is the most popular storyteller of our time and the creator of such unforgettable characters and series as Alex Cross, the Women’s Murder Club, Jane Smith, and Maximum Ride. He has coauthored #1 bestselling novels with Bill Clinton, Dolly Parton, and Michael Crichton, as well as collaborated on #1 bestselling nonfiction, including The Idaho Four, Walk in My Combat Boots, and Filthy Rich. Patterson has told the story of his own life in the #1 bestselling autobiography James Patterson by James Patterson. He is the recipient of an Edgar Award, ten Emmy Awards, the Literarian Award from the National Book Foundation, and the National Humanities Medal.