Zu Beginn des Buches ist man mit dem Prolog gleich mitten in der Handlung drin. Wir treffen auf Missy und Fox, das Verbrecherpaar, das in einer Lodge an einem schottischen Loch ihr brutales gnadenloses Unwesen treiben. Sie haben Christine Hardwicke und ihre Kinder als Geiseln genommen, aber werden wohl nicht wirklich Verhandlungen mit der bereits angerückten Polizei aufnehmen, sondern sie wollen mit ihren einmaligen grausamen Taten in die Geschichte eingehen. Es treibt sie die Sehnsucht nach Ruhm. Aus einer Laune heraus und aus der Freude daran Menschen zu quälen, stellen sie Christine vor die Wahl eines ihrer beiden Kinder zu töten, damit sie selbst und das andere Kind freikommen, andernfalls drohen sie damit die ganze Familie auszulöschen. Im Moment der Entscheidung bricht der Prolog ab und das erste Kapitel beginnt mit der Erzählung der Ereignisse 13 Stunden zuvor.

Man liest von Missy in ihrem ungeliebten Job als Lehrerin, von ihrer durchzechten Nacht nach der frischen Verlobung, über die sie aber eigentlich unglücklich ist. Sie ist unkonzentriert, die Kinder toben und es kommt zu einem schweren Unfall. Unfähig zu reagieren, lässt sie das Kind in Lebensgefahr im Sticht und verlässt einfach die Schule. Hier beginnt diese unsägliche Reise in den Abgrund. Sie verbündet sich mit ihren Ex Freund und Ex Häftling Fox.

Ebenfalls an diesem Morgen lernen wir DC Saul Anguish und seine On und Off Freundin Sprachforensikerin Blue kennen. Während wir mehr von den beiden Protagonisten erfahren, beginnt Christine Ihre Reise von Midtown, Essex. Mit ihrer 13-jährigen Tochter Galen und ihrem Sohn Tom wollen sie zu den wilden Delfinen an Schottlands Küste. Die drei Handlungsstränge streben nun dem einen Punkt der Eskalation entgegen.
In der Lodge kommt es dann zum spannenden, fesselnden Show Down zwischen den Protagonisten. Die Schilderungen sind atemberaubend, man liest es in einem Rutsch. Das Ende ist sehr emotional.

Während mich der zweite Teil des Buches gut unterhalten konnte, hat mir der zeitliche Ablauf der Erzählung nicht so gefallen. Ich mag es persönlich nicht so wenn zu Anfang der Geschichte schon ein Höhepunkt steht, man dann aber eine ganze Zeit zurückspringt, um dann über ein halbes Buch lang zu lesen wie es dazu kam und was bis dann geschah.

Insgesamt fand ich die Geschichte unnötig grausam und kalt. Ja, es mag Verbrecher mit solchem Hintergrund und solcher Motivation geben, aber ich muss nicht unbedingt ihren Werdegang und ihre Gedankengänge verfolgen.

Really gripping read though disturbing! A real Bonnie and Clyde feel definitely worth reading . Wish I had read the first two Saul Anguish books before reading this one but glad to have found them now!

The modern day Bonnie and Clyde a dark and disturbing read!

I'm just catching my breath! This was an emotional twisted rollercoaster!

From the very beginning of the book you are met with drama and it has no let up, it's intense, it's complex it's just fabulous!

Thank you to Netgalley for an advanced copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Another brilliant book from this author. Recommended.

I’ve read another book by this author which I enjoyed. I liked the cover of this book and was intrigued by the title so thought I would give it a go.

I didn’t realise it was the second book in a series, but it worked OK as a stand-alone.

The opening of the book is so tense! A family are being held hostage and the mother has to make an impossible choice. Which child will she choose to keep alive? The story then goes back to the weeks leading up to this moment and the different characters involved.

I did get a little confused initially as the chapters jump around from character to character. Once I got the hang of who was who it was fine. I ended up warming to the characters, apart from Missy and Fox, and hoped for the best outcome for them. I would have liked a little more depth to some of the characters but I think if I’d read the first book in the series it would have made a difference.

I found the book easy to read and I wanted to pick it up and find out what was going to happen next. The chapters are quite short and it’s certainly a page turner.

I liked the setting of north Scotland as it’s somewhere I’m familiar with. It made a nice change from books set in the central belt.

The ending was poignant. I would recommend this book, even if you haven’t read the others in the series.

I'm a big fan of Fiona Cummins's writing. I enjoyed Into The Dark - the first DS Anguish book - a whole lot! But I found All of US Are Broken to be difficult to get into. You definitely need to have read Into The Dark to understand who the characters are and what they are about. This series is not yo momma's police procedural. The characters are much more morally gray. with 'interesting' outlooks on life. I found the first book to be an explosive, shocking page-turner. By contrast All of Us Are Broken is a slow grind, with three different viewpoints that eventually converge. Unfortunately, I didn't connect with any of them and eventually DNF'd about halfway through.

I received this arc for free from netgalley in exchange for a review.

My thanks to Pan Macmillan for an eARC via NetGalley of ‘All of Us Are Broken’ by Fiona Cummins.

This proved another highly suspenseful crime thriller and is the second in her police procedural series featuring Detective Constable Saul Anguish of the major crimes unit in Midtown-on-Sea, Essex.

Recently widowed Christine Hardwicke is setting out with her two children, Galen and Tim, from their home in Essex to the Scottish Highlands for a much needed holiday. What they don’t realise is that they are on a trajectory to cross paths with Melissa (Missy) Mary Smith and , her ex-boyfriend, Dashiell (Fox) Lloyd.

They are a violent and dangerous young couple who want their love story to be etched in blood. It seems that they are planning to follow in the footsteps of their heroes, Bonny Parker and Clyde Barrow. They begin their spree in Midtown and DC Saul Anguish is part of the team assigned to find the couple before more lives are lost.

The novel moves between the couple’s crime spree as they head North, the Marshall family’s trip, and the police hunt. The Prologue gives a taste of events in the nail-biting conclusion where all three of these narratives will converge at The Lodge on the Loch.

There’s no doubt that this is a dark and gritty thriller. Cummins does well in establishing the tension as well as developing her ongoing characters. D.C. Saul Anguish is a complex man and I appreciated getting to know him better along with his colleague forensic linguist, Dr. Clover Marsh, whom Saul had nicknamed ‘Blue’ on his first day (‘Into the Dark’) due to her blue hair.

Overall, I found ‘All of Us Are Broken’ was another top notch crime thriller from Fiona Cummins. After reading her ‘When I Was Ten’ last year, I have been enjoying exploring her back catalogue. She has quickly become a ‘must read’ author for me.

Where to even begin with this book! Never ever has a prologue had me gripped, scared, intrigued and desperate to find out what happened in my 41 years! 😱😱😱

We have multiple story lines all leading up to the same event - for some, it’s absolute hysterical and maniacal pleasure, to others it’s absolute heartache and agony.

Christine, her son and daughter are travelling to north of Scotland for her daughter, Galen, to see the wild dolphins, which she’s always had her heart set on seeing. We see insights into their lives as they travel, with good details on characters and family dynamics and relationships.

Missy is our second perspective. She’s just walked out of her job as a school teacher following an accident in her class. She hooks up with an old lover and they become their own style of Bonnie and Clyde. On the run from police, they make their way to the north of Scotland.

Both parties arrive at the same hotel, where all hell has broken loose. But hot on their heals is DC Saul Anguish - a police officer with determination and an agenda of his own.

All 3 parties cross paths…wow!

After the prologue, I was worried the rest of the book wouldn’t live up to the hype or expectation, but it absolutely blew me away! Cummins shares great detail on her main characters, drip feeding us with information as we get to know them, but what I loved most was that even the smallest of characters have a little backstory, even though we’ve only had these characters in our lives for a few pages!

This was non-stop action. Unpredictable. Intense. Gut-wrenching. All of the above and more!

An easy 5 stars ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Massive thank you to NetGalley & publishers Pan MacMillan for the ARC in exchange for an honest review

Detective Saul Anguish discovers a string of killings by a young couple, Missy & Fox.
Saul follows their trail north, determined to uncover the truth about the couple.
As a detective he wants to do the right thing, even if that means leading him and his colleague, Blue into danger.
Missy & Fox are a modern day Bonnie & Clyde - love or hate them there are reasons behind their actions.
Everything you want in a thriller, totally absorbing, full of dark suspense and can be a little disturbing at times.
However you discover everyone has baggage.
Thanks @fionacummins, @panmacmillan & @netgalley for the eARC

"All of us are broken...but it's how we put ourselves back together again that matters most of all."

Let me just catch my breath...ALL OF US ARE BROKEN is everything you want in a thriller. Fast paced, filled with shocks, twists, unpredictable and totally and utterly crazy. Everyone in this story has baggage - and I mean filled-to-the-brim-and-bursting baggage - that they don't even bother unpacking. And that includes the police! Those are some of the darkest of all!

The prologue starts things off with a bang (in more ways than one) that leaves plenty dead and a mother with an impossible choice - which child to choose? Of course, it leaves us wondering also as the it all goes back to thirteen hours before when this journey was just beginning.

It's 7.30am when Christine Hardwicke wakes her two children Galen (13) and Tom (8) and they leave their Essex home making their way to Chanonry Point in Scotland to fulfill one of Galen's greatest wishes - to see the dolphins. Unfortunately, they walk headlong into a nightmare killing spree by a modern day Bonnie and Clyde.

Missy was, until that morning, a primary school teacher...but maybe not a very good one. While her students ran riot she left them to their own devices after one of them was injured and fled the school in search of something more. Having been deprived of the love of her father and believing he had abandoned her, she fell into the arms (and under his spell) of Fox, a petty crim turned nasty who doesn't want to return to prison. And so together, they head north to Scotland leaving a bloodbath behind in their wake. Nothing and no one will get in their way as they both know how it will inevitably end.

DC Saul Anguish is busy battling his own demons. Anguish by name and anguish by nature, he is ruminating on why his love Blue ghosted him last night when she was expected at his place. He has messaged but she has not called. Lost in the turmoil of his thoughts, he is called to the scene of a brutal death that was at first suspected as suicide. But on closer inspection, Saul discovers discrepancies. And then he gets another call. Another slaying with the perpetrators on the run leaving a trail of blood behind them, including the crime scene in which he now stands. His superior tasks him, Blue and two others with heading north to stop them in their tracks...if they can. But he also has a special task just for Saul.

Christine, Galen and Tom had no idea what they were walking into when they stepped into the hotel and were greeted with silence. No concierge. No receptionist. Not even any guests. Where was everyone? Even the distant pop-pop-pop sounded like fireworks...until they saw nothing light up the sky. And then faced with a choice that no mother should have to make, Christine is reminded of the letter that was discovered in her husband's bedside drawer. And her choice is made. But at what cost? And to who?

This is a hard book to review without giving anything away. It is seriously messed up in more ways than one. It is very dark and a little disturbing. Even more so when it comes to the detectives hunting down the deadly duo. They have a few skeletons rattling around in their own closets that are not about to see the light of day either. It is also a tough one to rate. It's such a clever tale that is multilayered as well as chilling.

I can say no more except I do recommend this read! Fiona Cummins thrills and chills readers in this page-turner that is addictive and compelling to its bitter end.

I would like to thank #FionaCummins, #Netgalley and #PanMacmillan for an ARC of #AllOfUsAreBroken in exchange for an honest review.

This review appears on my blog at https://stinathebookaholic.blogspot.com/.

Enjoyed this book, read within a week.
Enjoyed seeing those characters from into the Dark again although felt Blue wasn't in this one enough. Definitely a page turner.
And the creepiness of the couple was well portrayed.

This is a very dark thriller with a compelling plot and complex, flawed characters, several of whom appear to have psychological issues and personality disorders - even the hero, DS Saul Anguish, who has a compulsion to take trophies from crime scenes and to avenge injustices in extreme ways. This story follows the carnage of Bonnie and Clyde wannabes Missy and Fox who are on a killing spree as they drive from the south coast to Scotland. There is a cat and mouse pursuit by the police and a family who have already been touched by tragedy getting caught up in the carnage. The coming together of Fox, damaged by his traumatic childhood, and middle-class Missy who has felt sidelined and ignored all of her life and who now sees an opportunity for attention and infamy, creates a toxic tinder-box of destruction that is, at times, difficult to read. The book title could not have been more appropriate, as it leaves the reader feeling pretty broken too by the end.

With thanks to the author, publisher and NetGalley for the opportunity to read and review the title.

'All of us are broken Saul, but it's how we put ourselves back together again that matters most of all.'

The Neighbour, by Fiona Cummins is easily one of my favourite thrillers of all time, so when I see her name, she's an auto read for me. Sometimes this can set one up for a heck of a disappointment, but thankfully, All of us are broken did NOT disappoint.

What a dark, disturbing tale of Missy and Fox....2 Bonnie-and-Clyde-wannabee's who want to go down in a murderous blaze of glory, not caring who they take with them......and they're about to cross paths with the Hardwicke family, who thought they were on a trip of healing...not realising what is in store for them.

We also run into DC Saul Anguish and Blue, who we met in 'Into the Dark', a previous book. I have to say, I love me some DC Saul! He's empathetic, he's a good guy....with a dark side....and he'll do anything to protect the people he cares about.

The way Fiona writes and describes her characters....I just feel like I am witnessing these characters come to life in front of my eyes. There's also this thing Fiona does just before a character dies....like a summary of their life, what they are going to miss....I can't really explain it...like a brief biography.....she just did this really well and in those few lines make you feel so much for a character that you potentially just 'met'.

This was really dark....and probably has ALL the trigger warnings, but I'm not sensitive to fiction, but if you do not like visual descriptions of death, sexual abuse/assault,.....I really don't want to give too much away, but if you're very sensitive, stay away. If not....really, devour this one. It's so good!

There's heartbreak, there's murder, there's family dynamics....good and bad.....there's amazing writing, beautiful scenery....there's just everything!

This is the first book that I have read by Fiona Cummins and OMG, how do I write a review, it has so much gut wrenching, emotionally wrung out content, it is a story that I was so invested in that I couldn't put it down.
"I will be famous one day daddy", how prophetic was that phrase ?
This story follows three groups of people, recently widowed Christine Hardwick and her children Galen and Tom who were taking a trip to Scotland to see the dolphins, Christine and Galen were both facing their own demons.
Melissa Smith was a primary school teacher, engaged to Gerard who she had no intention of marrying. After an incident at school Melissa (Missie) walked out and went in search of her ex boyfriend, former convict Dashiel Lloyd..................the killing started.
Detective Saul Anguish and forensic linguist, Dr. Clover March (Blue) were also fighting their demons, both had secrets that they didn't want to face, Blue and Saul were close but the barriers were high.
Rookie PC Alex Talbot had childhood memories that haunted him, did he have what it takes to make a good cop, he was timid but he looked up to Saul, he was his role model.
This book will have you gripped from the first page to the last, the body count quickly escalates as the killers get more and more hyped, more and more excited by what they are doing, they had nothing to loose, how many more people would die ?
This is a very dark, emotional story with a well deserved five stars.
I received a free copy of this book and my review is voluntary.

All Of Us Are Broken is a book that you won’t be able to put down.
Christine Hardwicke has had a tough year and to help her children, Galen and Tom she is driving from Essex to Scotland to enable Galens dream to see dolphins come true. Unfortunately unbeknown to the family a young couple have reconnected after time apart and are on a journey of their own looking for infamy.
I’m not saying any more about the plot as this will detract from your enjoyment if you know all the sub plots that are happening. The twists were good and well thought out. The more I read the more I couldn’t put the book down. This is a cleverly written book and one I enjoyed from start to finish. It has a good mix of emotions running through it and was decently paced all the way through.
I cannot wait to see what’s coming next!!
I would like to thank Netgalley and Pan Macmillan for this ARC I received in exchange for an honest review.

This is a gripping, fast paced crime thriller that I really enjoyed.
There’s two strands to this story - Christine and her children, Galen and Tom who are heading to the Highlands to see the dolphins and Missy and Fox who are also heading to the Highlands following a killing spree.
Fox will kill anyone who gets in his way and Missy is so besotted by him that she soon follows suit.
Unfortunately for Christine and her family their paths cross with Fox and Missy which leads to a nail biting confrontation.
DC Saul Anguish is hot on their tail but will he get there in time to safe their lives?
This is a gripping crime thriller that I’d highly recommend.
Thanks to Pan MacMillan and NetGalley for the opportunity to read this book.

I loved this book, the very dark nature of it really hooked me.

It felt authentic in its portrayal of psychopaths having no real empathy about what they are doing.

It was written well and was very engaging.

Many thanks to the author, publisher and NetGalley for gifting me this arc in exchange for an honest, unbiased review.

Th is another 5 star read from Fiona Cummins. Brilliant, a dark evil thriller, a killing spree which takes place across the Scottish Highlands.
This author is so clever with her characters, they literally come alive, they are so well crafted, as the story unfolds.
Missy and Fox, a Bonnie & Clyde type couple with dark damaged minds are on a cold blooded killing spree, no one is safe if you cross their path, innocent victims loose their lives, chlling and gruesome, they know what the end will be for them.
Then we have 2 of this authors established characters from her previous books, DC Saul Anguish and Blue. Saul is brilliant, he has a dark side which appears when those close to him are threatened . He is brave and courageous whilst trying to stop the body count this evil couple are leaving in their trail.
The Hardwicke family, Christine, only 10 months widowed and her two young children will cross paths with Fox and Missy, who will give Christine the horrible choice of which child should be killed..
This is an action packed thriller from beginning to end, lots of drama and nail biting tension. There is also sadness as we read of how Christine’s husband died and what her young daughter witnessed and then has to face herself.
If you are a Fiona Cummins fan then you definitely need to read this one, and if your not a fan you will be after reading this or any of her other books
Thanks to Net Galley and Pan Macmillan for an ARC of this book in exchange for a review. A top read for 2023!

This is a deliciously dark fast paced thriller that gallops at breakneck speed towards the heart breaking conclusion.

I was equally engrossed and horrified at the events that infolded.

I cannot praise this book highly enough. Just read it. Now.

Every one of them has a dark secret

The Family

After a year they want to forget, the Hardwicke family set out to the Scottish Highlands for a much needed holiday.

The Crimes

They are about to cross paths with Missy and Fox, a violent and dangerous young couple hell-bent on infamy, their love story etched in blood and a dark past which must be uncovered.

The Detective

As the clock ticks down, Detective Saul Anguish is on the hunt to find the couple before more lives are lost.

The Mother – who will be forced to make an impossible decision.

WOW!! Never has a book title summed up a story and the characters themselves as much as this one and what an incredible introduction to author Fiona Cummins.

As I was hooked from the very first page of the prologue and particularly from the moment a killer asks a mother to choose which of her two children should die; teenage daughter Galen or baby of the family Tom.

But before Christine Hardwicke gets to make her heartbreaking decision. The story takes you back to how this family unwittingly ended up in a room face to face with a pair of cold blooded killers.

And to how this pair of killers got started. Think a modern day Bonnie and Clyde with a lot less morals and care for human life.

And it's a cracking story. That is woven together beautifully. With the story told from multiple points of view including Christine Hardwickes, the killers Missy and Fox and the murder team including DS Saul Anguish. Who is leading the cross country chase to try and stop them.

And with so many twists and shocks. This was a dark thrilling and at times harrowing but completely unputdownable and memorable read. That is on par with The Twenty. As the best crime fiction, I've read this year, and I would thoroughly recommend All Of Us Are Broken to others.