This is the second novel I’ve read in this series and still found the large number of characters a little confusing to keep track of. I did enjoy the storyline however.

Suspenseful and a delight to read. Their Final Moments has well-crafted characters and an easy to follow storyline. Great job!

Synopsis:
DECEMBER: Detective Mike Croft is in pursuit of a serial attacker whose victims are all young blonde women. But forensics on the victims reveals an even more horrific scenario. Many miles away, in Wiltshire, a young woman dies in a burning car. In Norwich, an actress is found dead in her own home and a teenage boy runs away from a past he doesn’t know how to face. Can DI Mike Croft work out what links these events? Then a greater threat emerges. JAKE BOWEN: filmmaker and serial murderer. There is no pattern to his victims. He doesn’t care who dies, so long as their final moments make a good film, and Jake is very imaginative in deciding how his victims will die.

This is already the third book in the Mike Croft series, and I really hope there will be more to come. Highly entertaining, gripping until the end. Recommended.

A great read, full of twists and turns and tension. I found the first half more gripping than the second part but overall, it's a good thriller.

My first book of 2020 is this very grisly crime thriller, the third in a series featuring DI Mike Croft. It was originally released in two parts: Part One, "Fade to Grey" in 1998 and Part Two published as "Final Frame" in 1999. Although not completely updated to reflect current technology, the police procedural details were solid and it was tension-filled and full of action. I have not read the first two books in the series, but I do plan to move on to #4 shortly.

In summary, Croft and many colleagues are pursuing a man who is basically a ghost. Jake Bowen operates under many different aliases and his claim to fame is filmmaking. He charms or abducts women into making various types of porn films and then he kills them -- putting it all on tape. As he gets rich from the proceeds of his "made to order" movies, he stumps the detectives by being completely under the radar. He can't be caught because no one knows who or where he really is but he's hiding in plain sight. This is a very complex case and the details of the investigation are thorough and it seems that they will never catch up and stop Jake Bowen. NO SPOILERS.

I am glad that I restarted the book today after being on holiday hiatus so that I could read it all in a single sitting as there are many characters whose relationships are complicated and quite interesting. I am looking forward to meeting up with them again in the next book and getting to know them better. The narrative is told from several points of view, including that of Jake Bowen, and the writing is quite good and the story absorbing. I liked how the switch at the end of the chapters kept me on tenterhooks wondering what would happen next. Lots of grisly details. I enjoyed it!

Thank you to NetGalley and Joffe Books for this e-book ARC to read, review and recommend. On to the next in the series...

Detective Mike Croft is in pursuit of a serial attacker whose victims are all young blonde women. But forensics on the victims reveals an even more horrific scenario. Many miles away, in Wiltshire, a young woman dies in a burning car. In Norwich, an actress is found dead in her own home and a teenage boy runs away from a past he doesn’t know how to face. Can DI Mike Croft work out what links these events?

A six year old is kidnapped and kept drugged taken because of her connection to Mike. It becomes clear that there are two active serial killers in two different counties leading the investigations to have a connection. The teams are pulling out all the stops and then some to apprehend them all they need is one little bit of luck, one tiny thing to run with.
I really don’t want to say much more for fear of putting out spoilers so I think I’ll finish by recommending it to anyone who enjoys a decent crime thriller.

I received a copy of this book from Joffe Books via NetGalley in return for an honest review.

#TheirFinalMoments #NetGalley

Jane is now becoming one of my go to authors and can't wait for new books to come out, this book is no exception and I really enjoyed reading it.
The book is a bit different to normal as it is split in two parts, part one follows DI Croft as he investigates a string of rapes, all young, blond women with no links to each other. Whilst investigating this, the forensic team work out that there are in fact two rapists, the original one and then a copycat, which makes the whole case a lot trickier than normal.
The second part of the story follows on from this one but they are now interested in catching one of the two rapists, who has turned their hand to murdering the victims, whilst filming their final moments. This case takes on a horrifying twist for DI Croft when a 6 year old girl gets taken who Croft knows personally.
Both story lines are really engaging and there are so many twists and fast paced action that at times I had to stop reading to take in what had happened before being put through the next one.
Overall I really enjoyed this story and can't wait for the next one in the series to see what will happen.

really enjoyed this book. great story line and great characters. look forward to reading more from this author.

I enjoyed the book, was attracted by the title and cover, sounded exactly like my kind of thriller.
The first half of the book read well, but the second half felt very long winded and drawn out. I struggled a bit to finish it and it was one of those books that I was happy to reach the end, not because of the conclusion but because it was over.
I received an ARC from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

This was a disturbing and creepy tale, yet thoroughly enjoyable. I read this in one sitting, as I was completely hooked. Cannot recommend enough!

Their Final Moments – Jane Adams

This is my first Jane Adams novel and I have to say I thoroughly enjoyed it. Looking on #goodreads I see that she has written quite a few books so I guess I’ll be investing in a few of those to catch up. (It’s a good job it’s recently been my birthday and has vouchers to spend). I didn’t know until I’d finished that this has already had two titles Fade to Grey and Final Frame. I met Detective Constable Mike Croft three books into the series; I think I’d like to start from the beginning to allow myself to get to know Mike and some of the other characters better.

At times I found the subject matter to be more than a little disturbing. Involving child abuse and snuff movies the author shows us how the perpetrators mind works and how he became the person he did. Although this is a work of fiction it certainly opened my eyes to the twisted minds of abusers. I have no idea why as we read about it in the news almost every day. On saying that this type of abuser isn’t your common or garden perpetrator (nor should they be either). I can’t understand why or what makes people think/feel that this is or could be acceptable in today’s society or do they simply think they are that bit smarter than the police?

Such young victims girls, men and women ages between fourteen and twenty two are raped and killed, as if that isn’t enough their final moments are recorded for posterity and profit. A six year old is kidnapped and kept drugged taken because of her connection to Mike. It becomes clear that there are two active serial killers in two different counties leading the investigations to have a connection. The teams are pulling out all the stops and then some to apprehend them all they need is one little bit of luck, one tiny thing to run with.

I really don’t want to say much more for fear of putting out spoilers so I think I’ll finish by recommending it to anyone who enjoys a decent crime thriller. Please be aware that there are areas and subjects that some may find disturbing or upsetting but don’t let that put you off.


Read for an honest review. Thank you Netgalley and Joffe Books

This story was originally published as two books, but as the second story follows on after a few months time break, it reads well as a single book. The plot is relentless, lots of suspects, incidents, clues and false leads, that it is hard to keep track. However, this complexity adds to the story's authenticity and makes you feel part of it.

Detective Inspector Mike Croft is a dedicated professional, with a tragic past that makes him empathise with the victims of the crimes he solves. He is gradually rebuilding his life with the help of Maria and retired detective John Tynan.

The crimes although terrible, are not overly graphic, just enough to give the story its menacing undercurrent, especially when the crimes impinge on Mike's personal life. The police procedural element of this story is well written, and the slowness and amount of work involved in solving the crimes are portrayed in a believable way. This is an emotional story, you empathise with the victims and the detectives and abhor the antagonists.

The realistic ending is full of action and adrenaline, with a satisfying outcome. Hopefully, there is a more promising future for Mike Croft's personal life too.

I received a copy of this book from Joffe Books via NetGalley in return for an honest review.

I have an embarrassing confession to make- yes yet another one. If I had a pound for every confession I need to make, then I would be very rich. Anyway I digress so back to the confession. Although I have Jane’s previous books on my ever increasing ‘to be read’ mountain, I haven’t actually read them before. What a big mistake to make! Judging by how much I enjoyed ‘Their Final Moments’, I can guarantee that those books will not be on the mountain for long. I absolutely LOVED reading ‘Their Final Moments’ but more about that in a bit.
What can I say about Detective Inspector Mike Croft? He is a career detective with many years experience. He is very thorough when investigating and he will not hesitate to chase the guilty parties to the end of the earth if it means that he can achieve justice for the victims of crime and their families and if it means that he can achieve a result. Croft also has a gut instinct that is almost 100% correct. If something doesn’t seem right to him then that usually means that it isn’t. The case becomes ever more personal to Croft when the niece of his partner is kidnapped by a rapist and this fuels Croft’s determination to solve the case. Croft can be stubborn, he is determined, he is strong and he leads from the front. He takes on his fair share of the workload and he wouldn’t ask anybody to do anything that he wouldn’t be willing to do himself. He often places himself in the way of danger to save his colleagues. Will Croft solve the case and rescue his partner’s niece before it’s too late? Well for the answers to those questions and more you are just going to have to read the book for yourselves to find out as I am not going to tell you.
Oh my giddy aunt ‘Their Final Moments’ was one hell of a read. This volume is actually two books in one. The first part/ book deals with the rapists and the latter half of the book sees Croft go on secondment to another force area to assist in the hunt for and apprehension of Jake Bowen, who is allegedly the second rapist. I admit that I did have my reservations about whether or not two books in one would work but I needn’t have worried because it works so well. Had I not previously known that it was two previous books in one, then I would never have guessed.
I was hooked on this book from the moment I read the synopsis, never mind from when I began to read. By the time I got to the bottom of the first page, I knew that reading the book would be an addiction and the book would prove to be unputdownable. That most definitely proved to be the case. Once I picked up the book I couldn’t bear to be parted from it. Woe betide anybody who tried to take the book out of my hands. They got a ticking off and then some. I literally couldn’t stop reading this book and as a result I seemed to race through the story. I think binge reading the book really worked in this case because it gave me a real sense of the intensity and the urgency of the police investigation, as well of the sense of fear that prevailed in the area at the time.
For me, ‘Their Final Moments’ is brilliantly written. The author certainly knows how to grab your attention and once she has it, she doesn’t let it go. She has a writing style that is easy to get used to and it is easy to get along with. The author writes so convincingly and realistically that I did feel as though I was part of the story myself. I felt like an extra police officer on the case and I even found myself beginning to interact with the book. I was even trying to give tips to the police on how to progress the investigation. (Get me I watch lots of police dramas and think I know it all). Before anybody starts, yes I know that ‘Their Final Moments’ is a work of fiction but if I enjoy a book as much as I enjoyed this one, then I tend to ‘live’ the story as if it were real.
Reading ‘Their Final Moments’ was much like being on a very scary and unpredictable rollercoaster ride with more twists and turns than you would find on a ‘Snakes and Ladders’ board. Some of the twists and turns I saw coming and others crept up on me and hit me like a punch to the gut, taking my breath away. ‘Their Final Moments’ is just as it is described on the tin as it were. It really is an addictive read with lots of breath taking twists. I was gripped by the story and I remained on the edge of my seat throughout, which did prove rather painful.
In short, I absolutely loved reading ‘Their Final Moments’. I would definitely recommend this book and this author to other readers. I can’t wait to read what Jane comes up with next. Here’s hoping that we don’t have too long to wait but whilst I wait I will definitely be catching up on the books that I already have on the reading mountain. The score on the Ginger Book Geek board is a very well deserved 5* out of 5*.

Whilst the first part of this book is very engrossing and the narrative and plot flows, the same cannot be said for the second part, it seems to drawn out and struggled to complete

The author wrote a thriller that started with a bang and just kept going! The twists kept coming, so I couldn't put it down. I cannot wait to read more from this author!

Please note this was first published as “Fade to Grey” and “Final Frame.”

DI Mike Croft is called in to investigate cases of a serial rapist. All the victims seem to be on the small side, blonde hair, blue eyes. Most of his victims were brutally murdered.

But what the forensic reports reveal change the entire picture. A woman who went missing and found murdered are being investigated many miles away. An actress is found dead in her home and a teenage boy is seen fleeing. What's the link between these killings?

The killer doesn't care who dies ... as long as their final moments make a good video. But he also has secrets ... secrets for which he will kill to keep hidden in the shadows.

Things turn very personal when the killer comes for Mike Croft.

This author has another winner in this series. Although third in line, this is easily read as a stand alone. Lots of action and plenty of twists and turns keep the reader engaged. Plenty of suspects, but not everyone is who they say they are.

Many thanks to the author / Joffe Books / Books n All Book Promotions / Netgalley for the digital copy of this crime fiction. Opinions expressed here are unbiased and entirely my own.

"THEIR FINAL MOMENTS" by Jane Adams

First book I've read by Jane Adams. I liked it a lot.
Well written thriller with good characters and intersting storyline. The kind that's hard to put down!

Thank you to NetGalley and the Publisher for allowing me access to this ARC. This is my honest review. All opinions are my own.

This is the third DI Mike Croft book in the series, although it was originally published as two separate books, book 3 "Fade To Grey" and book 4 "Final Frame". It now appears as two parts, and is definitely the most harrowing so far. In part one, Mike is just back from sick leave and is landed with investigating a series of nasty and violent rapes on young petite blonde girls. A local newspaper is receiving letters claiming to be from the attacked and boasting that he will not be caught. His latest victim fights back and escapes, and now forensics have enough samples to match to any potential suspect, but could there be more than one attacker? Meanwhile in West Kennet, Wiltshire a woman's body is found dead in a burning car, posing a tricky case for DI Morrow and his team, and a middle aged actress friend of ex DI John Tynan is discovered murdered in her home. Her young lover/lodger comes under suspicion, as does a boy seen fleeing the scene. Add to the mix teenage runaways and the kidnapping of a young man, and the reader will be left dizzy by so much happening in the first few chapters of the book. Fear not, links begin to emerge between some of the crimes as the two teams of detectives work together to uncover motives and evidence. On a personal level, the great friendship between Mike and John Tynan is still a real winner as the older man has a wealth of wisdom and local knowledge, and Mike's relationship with psychiatrist Dr Maria Lucas goes from strength to strength. It's nice to find a happy detective for once! By the time part one ends, some of the cases have been solved in this exciting and well written story, whilst some new investigations are just opening up for Mike and his team. It's not really possible to say much about part two without giving away too much about how part one ends, except to say that it gets more intense and the threats are closer to home for some of those involved. A great story with unexpected turns and so many well woven strands all coming together. I just wish there were more DI Croft books!

The third in the DI Mike Croft series and the most harrowing I think. It can be read as a standalone but the reader definitely gets more from having read them in order. The story centres around child molestation, abuse and occasional survival with an horrific filmmaker and serial murderer as the main perpetrator. It is not a book for the faint-hearted. Very fast paced, almost too much so at time, lots of twists and turns and too many characters whose names start with 'M'.

Thanks to NetGalley and Joffe Books for an advance copy in exchange for my honest review.

I can already tell from the number of four and five star review given that I will be in the minority with this one. However, I found Their Final Moments to be excruciatingly long winded. There were too many characters to the point it felt overloaded and confusing, especially as the story shifted between different people throughout the book.

And somehow, even despite that it managed to be boring plot wise. The first half of the book is two different departments investigating two entirely different cases that have little to do with each other (just a minor overlap of secondary characters), and included pages upon pages having to deal with characters that had nothing to do with the overall story and who in fact disappeared entirely before the second half.

Also for the record, even though I know this will be considered a spoiler, but I feel it needs to be said as a possible trigger to some people. He's not making the films so he can re-watch them and remember them. He's making them because he sells them. That's right he makes and sells snuff films. And that right there was enough to be a huge turn off as well.

DISCLAIMER: I received a complimentary copy of this novel in exchange for my honest review. This has not affected my review in any way. All thoughts and opinions expressed in this review are 100% my own.