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I read Ragdoll last year and thoroughly enjoyed it so I was a bit nervous that Hangman wouldn’t live up to that bar which had been set high. I needn’t have worried, Hangman is another great book. I like the fact that the female protagonist is flawed, it brings realism to the story. I can’t wait to read No 3
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Having read and thoroughly enjoyed Ragdoll I couldn't wait to get my hands on Hangman which is book 2 in the Detective William Fawkes trilogy. Like book one, Hangman is gory and shocking, fast paced and well written.
Oh why do I have to wait for part 3? I want it now!
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If you liked Ragdoll, then you will love Hangman. It’s non stop from start to finish and a fantastic read.
The story begins 18 months after the Ragdoll murders, and Chief Inspector Emily Baxter is called upon to join forces with both the FBI and CIA as it appears there is a copycat killer on the loose. With incidents happening on both sides of the Atlantic and bodies turning up with either the words PUPPET or BAIT carved into them, they must act as quickly as possible to work out who is pulling the strings.
I was enthralled with this book from the first page and I would give this book 4.5 stars. I look forward to reading more from this author. Thank you to NetGalley, Orion Publishing Group and the author for the chance to review this book.
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A brilliant second installment, I was relieved that it lived up to the first book. A great mixture of dark humour and inventive gore. Definitely becoming one of my favourite crime authors, I love reading about the dark depths of mankind whilst chuckling at the well balanced levity.
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The main character, Detective Chief Inspector Emily Baxter is like no detective you've read about. She appears to be lazy, outspoken, does not suffer fools gladly and certainly does things her own way.
The story involves American special agents, a serial killer and snippets of Baxter's personal life. I found it a little unbelievable and therefore a little hard going. As this was a brief sampler, maybe reading the whole novel would have helped me.
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Daniel Cole has taken a pretty massive risk with this one, because although it is billed as the second in the William Fawkes series, in fact Fawkes hardly figures in it at all. This book features Emily Baxter, newly promoted from D.S. to D.I. for her work on the Ragdoll case. She feels like a fraud, since the really inspired work on that case was done by her colleague, Alex Edmunds. Ever since Ragdoll, Emily has had major trust issues and lives in fear that someone in authority will find her out.
Emily is a fantastic character, full of flaws, completely unable to kow-tow to authority and entirely unsuited to her new position. When she is teamed up with the seemingly insouciant Damien Rouche of the FBI and his colleague, po-faced, straight laced, Special Agent Elliot Curtis to investigate a killing in NYC that has links to Ragdoll, she feels like she has been dragged across the Atlantic for nothing more than PR reasons.
It’s not wise to cross Emily Baxter, as the NYPD soon realise. She is acidic and cutting when she is thwarted and very, very funny with it. Though she feels her Special Agent colleagues are not telling her the whole truth, as the hugely gory and very inventive murders stack up, the three have no choice but to work together closely on both sides of the Atlantic.
These are highly staged, orchestrated killings and the killers and their victims have their chests carved with either Puppet or Bait. The hunt for the maniac behind this mass killing initiative can only be successful if the team understand what links the killings – what do all these people have in common?
I really enjoyed this book, but it is only possible to do that if you are prepared to go with the flow, suspend your disbelief and revel in the wit and black humour that abounds and helps to distract the mind while the gory descriptions puncture any sense of wellbeing you might have found within the pages.
Hangman clatters along at a rip roaring pace and there’s no shortage of character revelations to keep you utterly engrossed as the body count rises. As thrillers go, this one is utterly thrilling!
I couldn’t help but love Emily Baxter even more in this book and Cole’s risk has paid off. More Baxter for me, please – and soon!
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Another brilliant book by Cole. Thrilling and an absolute page turner.
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The book has the feel of the writer spreading his wings, but whereas the first book had the social context of fear and panic of unknown attackers on the streets of London, with the media spinning people into a frenzy for their health and safety; this novel though has the feel of being a lost love child of Dan Brown. Extensive plotting with twists aplenty, by the book characters with little in the way of emotional connection and elaborate set-pieces of action and gore being given precedence over telegraphed dialogue.
This reader feels that following the high-octane, gasping intensity of Ragdoll this is a step backwards although the (very) late introduction of someone means that another book is in the offing and this return to the mean may hopefully incite a return to form.
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Just another sampler that appears to be a full book when readers are viewing it on NetGalley. Shame on the author and publisher for being so deceptive. It leaves a bad taste in my mouth, and I have completely lost interest in the book due to their intent to mislead the reader.
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Set eighteen months after the end of Ragdoll, police in the US are investigating a body found hanging from Brooklyn Bridge, the word 'BAIT' carved into the chest. The potential connection to the Ragdoll murders brings an FBI and a CIA agent to DCI Emily Baxter's desk, they want to interview Lethaniel Masse. And there starts a fast-paced, action-packed rollercoaster of an investigation. The action moves backwards and forwards across the Atlantic as more and more related crimes occur. The body count ramps up at a rate of knots and the scenarios become ever more shocking.
If Ragdoll was Wolf's book then this is Baxter's. I loved Wolf in Ragdoll and I think Emily Baxter may be my new favourite police woman. I picture her as Suranne Jones playing Bailey in 'Scott and Bailey'. She's smart as can be (underneath it all) and has (some) principles but she's a bit of a drinker, bit of a control freak, secretive and trusts no-one. And did I say she drinks?
As with Ragdoll this is a pretty gruesome, no holds barred, book and the author certainly has a warped imagination. There are some dark issues at the heart of the story and an interesting contrast in how different characters have dealt with them. The counterbalance to this is the humour, which is dry and sarcastic and lifts the mood in the right places.
No worries about 'second novel syndrome' with this - it's a cracking read with great characters - very few clear heroes and villains, lots of shades in between. If you're tempted to pick this book up then do try to read Ragdoll - there are lots of references and it will make more sense to have read it first.
Thank you to the publisher for the Netgalley.
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This is the second novel in the series featuring Wolf, Baxter and Edmunds and I think it really helps to have read the first book which was called Ragdoll.
Yet again, it is a tense, action packed thriller, quite gory but never boring. However, I was not a huge fan of starting at the end of the story and working back through the preceding year.
I look forward to reading the next book in the series.
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Having read the first five chapters of Hangman I have to say I can’t wait to get my hands on the complete book. The crimes cross both New York and the UK and Emily Baxter has to work along-side the FBI in cases that seem to mirror each other. From the start the story gets you hooked as you are brought into what seems to be the end of the case. From there you are taken back to where it all starts. I did find myself chuckling at Baxter’s response to seeing the picture of someone on the back of a bus. I found that I liked the fast pace that things seemed to happen and am sure that it will keep any reader hooked right until the end.
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I was lucky enough to get my sticky paws on a sampler of The Hangman, the follow on novel to The Ragdoll and golly gosh I can’t wait to read the whole book.
I loved the Ragdoll, it was an exceptionally clever, well written book and The Hangman looks to be following in the same footsteps...gripped already.
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This is a review of the first five chapters of the book. It appears that it will be fast-paced, and violent. The prologue occurs five weeks before the story begins. Detective Chief Inspector Emily Baxter is being interviewed by Special Agent Sinclair, and American policeman, and Atkins, a Metropolitan Police Liaison Officer, with Dr. Preston-Hall, a consultant psychiatrist present as an observer. Baxter is still recovering from terrible injuries she received in the line of duty. It is a very bad-tempered interview, Baxter and Sinclair needling each other. Baxter is insisting that Special Agent Rouche of the CIA is dead, and it appears that Sinclair does not believe it.
Baxter and her team had caught a violent and sadistic serial killer, who is now a resident of Bellmarsh prison, high security wing. She had been badly injured in the capture of Lethaniel Masse, and her dear friend and colleague Wolf, William Fawkes, was killed. Now an FBI agent, Elliot Curtis, and CIA agent Damian Rouche have come to see her because they want her help back in New York. A copy-cat murder has occurred, a banker by the name of William Fawkes was killed and strung up on Brooklyn Bridge. The word BAIT had been carved into his chest. His apparent killer had been seen falling into the river, and his body was dragged out the next day. Into his chest is carved the word PUPPET. So, has the serial killer actually been arrested? Curtis and Rouche want to interview Masse,, and they want Baxter to accompany them.
They go to Bellmarsh. They need an interpreter as Masse's jaw had been badly damaged in the arrest, and he can only be understood using sign language. It is not a satisfactory interview, afterwards they have to search his cell. Before they manage to leave there is a violent incident on the wing, and they get attacked by prisoners on a rampage, but are rescued in the nick of time. Masse has been killed by another prisoner, and he too has BAIT carved into his chest. The man who killed him has apparently committed suicide - and he has PUPPET carved on his chest. The mystery deepens, how are identical murders taking place on both sides of the Atlantic? Has the real killer been caught?
This is clearly going to be fast-paced and action packed, and brutal. A high tension start. I think I should read Ragdoll, the previous story, before continuing, as it will provide a background to the events in this story.
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I;m intrigued by this sampler.
I haven't read Cole's earlier book, Ragdoll and reading the first 5 chapters of Hangman there are so many references to that book it is clear that it would help enormously if I had read it. But even so I do want to know what happens next. The number of characters introduced quickly and working out their relationships is a bit confusing.
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“18 months after the 'Ragdoll' murders, a body is found hanging from Brooklyn Bridge, the word 'BAIT' carved into the chest.”
This is just a sampler and I can’t wait to read the full story.
I’m intrigued by what ya going to happen and looking forward to March 22.
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REVIEW OF SAMPLER... Daniel coles previous book Ragdoll was one of the best book I have read in years, Hangman looks to be at least as memorable.
I enjoyed the returning character Emily Baxter. A shining light from the first book.
I look forward to completing the rest of the book.
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This was a sample of a book to come. As such,it was quick to grab the reader's attention and to make you want more. The plot seems to be deep,based as it is in the USA as well as in the UK. It also involves some of the more sinister secret services. I look forward to the published book.
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Ragdoll was my favourite crime novel of last year (and one of my favourite overall reads of the year!) so I was very excited to read this sampler.
From this short sample it seems as though this book is going to be another addictive read, and I can't wait to read the whole book when it's released.
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I’m going to stick my neck out here and say that this is a better book than its predecessor Ragdoll. The plot is fast moving and complex, split between the UK and USA. It is gruesome and sad but also funny in places which sounds like an odd combination but it works a treat. I highly recommend this and I cannot wait to see what Daniel Cole brings us in book 3.