Both the author and the series are new to me, but based on this outing, I’ll be looking for more. The cover was the first hook; clearly Scottish and an air of mystery was created. The story centres on a couple of hostage negotiators who are invited to a highland retreat for a very welcome break. Things, of course, go horribly wrong and they end up involved in kidnap and mayhem. The plotting is superb; tense, fast paced and genuine edge of your seat thriller. It’s good old fashioned adventure stuff. More modern than Buchan but I was reminded of some of the chase scenes in The Thirty Nine Steps. A cracking cast of characters, great writing and pure fast paced escapism. Couldn’t put this down and blown away, almost literally, by the ending.

Alex and Pip are in desperate need of an escape. Their stressful roles as hostage negotiators are eased only by the fact that they get to come home to each other every night. When an old friend invites the couple up to the Scottish Highlands for an extended break, Alex and Pip jump at the chance. It's the rest they both need. But soon after they arrive at the castle, they hear the sound of gunshots, and their perfect escape turns into a perfect nightmare. The remote mountainous landscape is now the setting for a terrifying kidnap plot targeting one of the other guests! Wow wow wow!! For some reason this book took me a minute to get through. I kept going back to it, but I’m so glad I did. This was a fantastic read.! This book had great suspense, murder, mystery, fantastic characters, revenge, rape, a sort of who done it and a few wild twists and turns! The storyline was very interesting! I highly recommend reading this book. Thank you NetGalley and the publisher for sharing this book with me! Can’t wait for more!

A masterclass in thrillers.

I had no idea that this was part of a series, and I will go back and read more now.

This book is so tense I found myself reading aggressively! I had to know what happened and I wanted more the second I had finished.

Incredible.

Now this was an interesting read which I really enjoyed
Edge of your sit intense thriller
I was so stressed reading it I love it
Literally so much was happening
The characters we’re brilliant
The whole story was amazing
Brilliant thriller

With many thanks to Netgalley for this free arc and I am leaving this unbiased review voluntarily

A change in direction in the third instalment but it’s still an absolute cracker from John Sutherland. He takes us away from London and the Met to the very beautifully described remote location in Scotland. This is proper edge of your seat stuff and moves at a blistering pace. The very likeable Alex and Pip find themselves the hunted rather than the hunters and makes for a very tense read. I like the fact the author has somewhat gone out of his comfort zone, but still maintaining the integrity of the police negotiator storyline. Mr Sutherland is going to be someone that stays on my radar. Loved this!

Alex and Pip are hostage negotiators and when they are invited to a remote scottish castle for a break they jump at the chance.

They soon hear gunshots and find that there is a kidnap plot to get one of the guests and this is where Alex and Pip come into their own.

This is an action packed and gripping read. There is a lot of drama and I loved the main characters.

I did find myself fully immeresed in the book and most of reading time was spent holding my breath, it is an exciting read ..

3.5 🌟


Fast paced, sometimes edge of your seat stuff.
It's a tough one when you have to combat some crazies AND crazy weather.
Alex and Pip really do take their day job home with them in this one.
Good stuff.