Hangman is another entertaining if not at times uncomfortable read about another evil serial killer, it has you squirming with disbelief but also believe it or not at times laughing out loud.
Victims are dying in London and New York, enter DCI Emily Baxter now promoted since her role in Ragdoll, she is sent to work with the FBI and CIA to stop this killer who is branding the victims with Bait or Puppet on their chests.
Lots of action, thrills and heart pounding moments, great characters and a worthy successor to Ragdoll.
My thanks to net galley and publisher for opportunity to review this book.

A fabulous book! Second one after Rag Doll and this one doesn’t disappoint at all. I would recommend reading Rag Doll first and then this one simply as it adds more depth to the characters. Highly recommended!

Hangman is an absolutely brilliant book. It follows on after the events of Ragdoll, and focuses on Emily Baxter as she tries to solve a speight of gruesome murders on both sides of the Atlantic. It is a cracking thriller, fast-paced and gripping, but dark and and funny in parts. Loved it!

Another fantastic instalment in this trilogy with a devilish cliffhanger that leaves you wanting the next book now. This book is action packed and is certainly a page turner and some parts are certainly not for the faint hearted. There are some really strong images in the book and the section in the Church will stick with me for a long time - no spoilers - you will have to read it to find out. In this instalment we get to discover more about the characters and Baxter and her trust issues are explored leaving the reader to doubt the events unfolding. The overall feeling of the book is very cinematic, there are broad descriptions of place but the key aspects are the characters and the plot. Daniel Cole's use of humour is well used and really does bring a smile to the lips. For those who haven't read Ragdoll its not essential to have done so prior to reading Hangman, but it's pretty certain you will want to, and then await the next and final instalment of this trilogy. Hangman - A must read for 2018. #HangmanBook #NetGalley

I wish I’d reminded myself of the ins and outs of Ragdoll, as I’d read it so long before this next instalment of the Emily Baxter series. More to reacquaint myself with the main characters. Emily’s demeanour as we first meet her in Hangman, seemed at odds with what I remembered about her and when the book ended, I had to return to the beginning to read it again. It finally made sense.
Thoroughly enjoyed this book, as I did Ragdoll. Daniel Cole has a way of really engaging the reader with his main characters and allowing you to get in their heads, whilst still controlling the flow of information to keep an element of surprise. I would, if I were you, read Ragdoll first. It will ease the way. Will eagerly await the next one.

Firstly this book is not quite as good as Ragdoll was but it's almost impossible that any book could be. However, it is still an outstanding novel In its own thought and could be my read of 2018 in the way that Ragdoll was last year..
Another brilliantly twisted plot with the return of Baxter and Edwards but for me Baxter without Wolf is like bread without butter. Already looking forward to book 3 when hopefully Wolf will return.

Brilliant second book in the William Fawkes series. This was a gripping fast paced thriller set in London and New York. Baxter was back in the second book along with some others and a few new faces.

The book was pretty gruesome in parts and the trust issues Baxter has rubbed off on me and had me questioning all the characters. I loved the development of the characters from the first book, found it really suspenseful.

It was a real page turner and kept me gripped till the end - can’t wait for the next installment

A great book. I loved all this authors books. Highly recommend it, as it was a real page turner. I loved the storyline and the strong characters.

Many thanks to Netgalley and Daniel Cole for the copy of this book. I agreed to give my unbiased opinion voluntarily.

I read Ragdoll last year and thoroughly enjoyed it so I was excited to receive Hangman to review from NetGalley.
Although this follows on from the first book with some of the same characters including Baxter and Edmonds, it is not necessary to have read the earlier book to enjoy this one. Wolf does not feature as he has disappeared but the author introduces several new characters which more than compensates.
DI Emily Baxter is brought in to investigate what appear to be copycat Ragdoll killings. She joins up with FBI agent Curtis and CIA agent Rouche as the murders are happening on both sides of the Atlantic. The book is set in both London and New York and the American agents are great additions to the series. I really liked Rouche with his many hidden secrets which Emily is desparate to uncover. Although he is CIA he is English which seems a bit strange but as the story moves along we gradually learn what motivates him to work for the CIA..
There is a lot of conflict between the Police, The FBI and the CIA, each trying to manage the investigation which probably reflects what happens in the real world when several agencies are involved.
Although they are hunting some very depraved killers there is also humour in the book which serves to relieve the tension. An incident with a spider in a hotel room is very funny.
I loved Emily’s sarcastic wit and attitude- she is a great kick ass heroine. Her friends including Edmonds, the researcher and former trainee are extremely loyal. Edmonds is always available to her and is keen to be part of the investigation even though he is now working for the fraud department.
I felt for Thomas her long suffering boy friend whom she occasionally contacts to inform him she is still alive. He is obviously not at the forefront of her mind.
Some of the story is very bleak and the murders which escalate as the plot moves along are horrific- be warned - but if you like your thrillers dark and action packed this is the novel for you.
The end is a real cliffhanger and I am eagerly awaiting the next instalment so please write quickly Daniel Cole!

Ha ha I LOVED this again. Despite the strangely ridiculous storylines both this and Ragdoll are WILDLY entertaining. Everything you want when you like a rather dark edge to your reading but also want to have a giggle. Hangman was very vividly dark, but also occasionally laugh out loud funny. The hotel room and the spider…I’m just saying.

I can’t give it anything less than a highly recommended tag because I banged through it, grasshopper on acid fashion, both laughing and grimacing along the way. Also because that last line…

Anyone waiting to see Wolf again will have to wait a little longer as this one is ALL about Emily (and Rouche who I ADORED) and a rather dastardly plot. The death scenes and “set pieces” in Hangman are brilliantly done, racketing up the tension to the highest degree, interspersed with some genuinely hilarious moments to give you the chance to settle a little before we are off again.

It is often jaw droppingly horrifying, which is something else I love about it, descriptively speaking it hits hard in all the right places. Is it far fetched? Yes obviously a bit, but while you are in it, it feels very very real. It does read like a movie and I hope one day it IS a movie – there’s a scene in a church that would definitely have me watching from behind a cushion and firmly ensconced under my axe proof duvet.

Sometimes you just want to rock along to a book, let the world go and envelop yourself into a rollicking good tale. Daniel Cole writes books that you can rock along to….

So, therefore, Highly Recommended. Not for the faint of heart!

I would like to thank Netgalley and Orion Publishing Group for an advance copy of Hangman, the second novel to feature DCI Emily Baxter.

When a body is found hanging from the Brooklyn Bridge with the word bait etched on his torso and his murderer dead in the water below with the word puppet on his chest certain aspects of the murder bring the Americans in the form of FBI Special Agent Curtis and CIA Special Agent Rouche to London to consult with Emily as the Ragdoll expert. As more murders occur the team find themselves hunting a depraved killer in both London and New York.

I thoroughly enjoyed Hangman which is a fast paced thriller with countless twists and turns. It has a bit of everything with the usual inter-agency in-fighting, a psychopathic depraved killer, thrills, spills, tension and some humourous banter to leaven the violence. Is it plausible? Definitely not but who cares when it's such a compulsive read?

The novel opens with a bruised and battered Emily being interviewed by the FBI. She is her usual spiky self and frustrates them. But why? The novel then flashes back 5 weeks and continues in that timeline as the explanation for the interview unfolds. I found that I had to go back and re-read this opening once I had finished the novel to get all the nuance so I'm not sure that it works 100% as it got a bit lost in all the ensuing action although it is certainly an attention grabber. Once it grabbed my attention the novel didn't let go and I read it in one sitting, wondering what was coming next. The novel ends with a teaser and has already whetted my appetite for the next one. I use the word teaser rather than cliffhanger as Hangman is a complete novel and it will not be necessary to have read it to read the next one. Based on a couple of things the author said in his introduction I read Ragdoll before embarking on Hangman but, while useful for background, it's not actually necessary as many of the salient parts are usefully recapped in a natural way and at no point did I feel that I had read the two novels too closely together. I admire Mr Cole's skill in linking his novels without making them dependent on each other.

DCI Emily Baxter is an interesting protagonist. She is rude, offensive, untrusting and highly effective, mostly by utilising the analytical skills of her ex trainee and close friend DS Alex Edmonds. She also drinks too much. Despite this the few friends she has are incredibly loyal and she comes over as sympathetic. I couldn't help rooting for her.

Hangman is an excellent read which I have no hesitation in recommending.

Solid follow up to one of the big books of 2017 by Daniel Cole. He writes in a straightforward and accessible style that helps generate a great pace to the plot, and it kept me guessing right the way to the end. He manages to bring two major settings to life, in London and New York, to throw you right into the middl of the action alongside the characters. Similarly to Ragdoll, it had quite the cinematic feel to it as well, and will translate well onto the screen if the rights are sol.

This is the second book in the book in the ‘Ragdoll’ trilogy and it is as fast paced and stunning as the first book. At times the murders are even more gruesome as in the first book, but you have to keep reading to find out who is the instigator of all the events that unfold in rapid succession, first in America and then in the United Kingdom.
Baxter again plays a pivotal role in this second book with the assistance of other characters, some new and some whom we have met before. I thought at first that the author Daniel Cole couldn’t keep up the fast pace of events that were in the first book but I was soon totally engrossed in the Hangman.
I can’t wait to read the last book in the trilogy and there are not many writers who can capture a readers attention and make them want to read the next book with anticipation. Highly recommended.

This is the second book in the Detective William Fawkes series and it brings us back to some familiar names and a host of new ones. Baxter is back and as charming as ever!

Although it’s not imperative to have read the first book “Ragdoll” to enjoy this one I would strongly recommend that you do to fully appreciate the continuing storyline. There is enough detail in this one to get you through but you would be missing out on a really great start to this series. As well as the answer to a major question, Who is William Fawkes?!

I absolutely loved Ragdoll so I had extremely high hopes for this one and it certainly didn’t disappoint, if anything I think Hangman is the more superior of the two. More standout characters, more action and a lot more dead bodies!

Set between New York and London Baxter is called to different crime scenes in different countries with very distinct ties, on the chest of the seemingly unrelated victims is the word Bait carved into the skin and on the chests of the killers, the word Puppet has been cut into their flesh.

As the body count grows and the brutality of each crime scene escalates it is almost impossible to figure out where the story is headed next. Can it all be the work of one perpetrator pulling all the strings or is it the works of a cult? Serial killer or terrorist? As for the who and they why, that finally drops into place but not until the closing chapters of the book and even though a lot of questions finally get answered it also leaves some pretty big unanswered ones!

I just hope that Mr Cole writes extremely quick because waiting even a few weeks to find out what happens next is going to be to long a wait!

Ragdoll is out now so go grab a copy and prepare yourself for this must read of 2018 – Hangman.

I knew that this was a separate book and shouldn't be compared to Ragdoll, but I couldn't help it still. I loved the first one and had high expectations for the second book. Hangman was a good, solid thriller, fast paced, well-written and enjoyable. Parts of the story took place in America and there were some familiar old characters as well as great new ones, with witty dialogues, plenty of gritty action, murders, mutilated bodies, blood and gore, so the fans of Ragdoll would not be disappointed. However, it lacked something special (maybe Wolf?) that Ragdoll had.
I didn't love this one and it didn't stand out amongst so many others in the genre, but hopefully Daniel Cole will be back on form in book 3, which I can't wait to read.
Many thanks to Netgalley and the publishers for the ARC.

I'd like to thank Daniel Cole for persevering with this second book. I have to admit I had to reread the first before starting this novel. The characters were a continuation of the first book with added ones to argue with Baxter. I was impatient waiting for Wolf, the damaged cop, to reappear. Now I await the 3rd book in this series. Write faster please Daniel.

This book was absolutely amazing. Baxter was a brilliantly well written character and i loved her continued friendship with Edmunds. Rouche was a great addition and i loved the dynamic between them as they tried to untwist the mystery. It was fast paced, exciting and i can't wait to read it again.