Loved loved loved this book!

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for the chance to read this. Will definitely be picking up more Joseph Knox!

The first Aidan Waits thriller.
SIRENS is an assured crime debut. Featuring a disgraced, emotionally damaged protagonist who is not liked by his superiors, it's an atmospheric and gritty noir thriller; one in which Waits must infiltrate the organization and inner circle of a local criminal who has evaded the law for too long.

An excellent start to a gritty new crime series, you'll finish this wanting more.

I devoured this novel in about 3 days, it was brilliant. As a Northener I enjoyed the setting being in Manchester, although there were certainly more seedier sides of the city that I was oblivious to! I warmed to the character of Aidan Waits, regardless of his behaviour!

Highly recomended first novel.

Sirens by Joseph Knox is the first in a new series featuring Aidan Waits. This is an intense and twisted novel which is captivating and dark.

Sirens by Joseph Knox
Don't you just love a flawed protagonist and don't you just love them more when the odds are stacked firmly against them? With Aiden Watts your heart is in your mouth throughout. This is a fast paced, brilliantly formatted book with convincing scene setting and a fab hero - you'll love it.

I enjoyed this book. Fast paced with a gritty writing style which suited the storyline. There is plenty of action and a few surprises thrown in. I hope Joseph Knox continues to write as I would definitely read another book by him.

I would like to thank Netgalley and Random House UK, Transworld Publishers for a review copy of Sirens, an everyday tale of drugs and undercover police work set in Manchester.

Aiden Waits is on his last chance in the police service when he is sent undercover into Zain Carver's drugs organisation to flush out a corrupt police officer. Taking advantage of this work Minister for Justice, Mark Rossiter, asks Aiden to keep an eye on his daughter, Isabelle, who is mingling in Carver's crowd. Needless to say nothing goes according to plan (or even close!).

I fell for the hype about this novel and was looking forward to reading it but I really didn't enjoy it. I think I'm too old to appreciate Adrian's character and while I recognise the cleverness of the chaotic plot reflecting this character it just seems like a mess to me. Adrian is a policeman but he is also a more than a casual drug user, all day, every day seems more like it and a heavy drinker. This is not something I can relate to or want to read about. It also seems inconceivable to me that under these influences he can see straight enough to piece together the very disparate strands of his investigation.

It should be said, however, that, Adrian aside, this is a well plotted novel and quite tense at times. Mr Knox does a good job of finding unusual plotlines and solutions. For this I have rated it at 3, rather than 2 stars.

Started off fine, though I got bored by the end of the first part and lost all interest by the middle of the book. Found it confusing and did not finish it.

It's fair to sat life has been better for Detective Aiden Waits. After being caught stealing from the evidence room and blackmailed into going undercover, he's sent to track down an MP's missing daughter. Set in the murky underworld of Manchester, Waits is plunged into the middle of turf wars between rival factions in the drug trade, corruption, blackmail, and without anyone he can truly trust, including some of his fellow officers.

Loved the setting - Joseph Knox paints a really vivid, if dark and bordering on other-worldly picture of a side of Manchester that your average punter on a night out will never experience. To survive undercover, Waits has to blend in amongst drug dealers, gangsters, and worse, and we get to sample his descent into the darker side of life, up close and personal.

Some great intrigue with the supporting cast. Is David Rossiter MP quite the doting father he makes himself out to be, or is he holding back on Waits? Cast in the role of leading antagonist, Zain Carver takes a shine to Waits, but can you ever really trust a man who controls a big chunk of the Manchester drug trade? Joseph Knox threads these and other plot lines together seamlessly, having us constantly question who's on the level, and where the battle lines are drawn. Thoroughly enjoyed this debut offering and looking forward to seeing what he produces next.

"Isabelle Rossiter has run away again.

When Aidan Waits, a troubled junior detective, is summoned to her father’s penthouse home – he finds a manipulative man, with powerful friends.

But retracing Isabelle’s steps through a dark, nocturnal world, Waits finds something else. An intelligent seventeen-year-old girl who’s scared to death of something. As he investigates her story, and the unsolved disappearance of a young woman just like her, he realizes Isabelle was right to run away.

Soon Waits is cut loose by his superiors, stalked by an unseen killer and dangerously attracted to the wrong woman. He’s out of his depth and out of time.

How can he save the girl, when he can't even save himself?"




To be honest, the blurb for this book (above) didn't really entice me - it had the feel of so many other thrillers, and, having just given up on two domestic noir novels, I wasn't really feeling in the mood for crime. So I ignored the first few people on Twitter who suggested this for my next read, and it wasn't till the book's publicist (whose opinion I've come to know and trust) backed them up that I requested a Netgalley review copy. Cutting a long story short - I'm so glad I listened to her (and sorry I didn't take the word of the others).


There's a lot that you'll encounter in many a crime novel - charismatic but violent drug dealers, corrupt cops, sleazy bars, city lowlifes, double-crossing here there and everywhere, and an unexpected twist at the end - and it's undoubtedly a rattling good read, but there are so many such books that it's difficult sometimes for one to stand out. This for me did, thanks to the 'voice' with which it's told. The story unfolds in first person, in Waits' own words, and he's a narrator who feels like a cross between Chandler's Philip Marlowe and the unnamed guy from JJ Connolly's Layer Cake - someone a little cynical, wise to the ways of the underworld, but who knows that corruption and evil can be found on both right and wrong sides of the law, with his own 'issues' but somehow at heart you know he's a good guy. I'd grown rather fond of him by the end, and I hope he'll be back.

oseph Knox is one of a new breed of crime writers creating gritty stories based around the northern industrial gang ridden Manchester belt. What he does he does extremely well exposing vice and corruption in the underbelly of inner city life. Aidan Waits is a detective living on the edge quite happy to accept the odd little gift, enjoy a crafty snifter, or test the strength of his septum by sniffing copious amounts of cocaine. When his boss Superintendant Parrs confronts Waits, outlining his numerous misdemeanours, he suggests a solution that will benefit both parties. Aidan must agree to infiltrate and feedback intelligence on the activities of gang supremo Zain Carver and the only way to achieve this is to go deep undercover......

Although this is a well written story and there are many and varied characters on show in a city overflowing with illegal late night activity, it was not a novel I particularly enjoyed. I realize that this is probably the first in a new series, by a writer who some may well view as a new Lee Child or Simon Kernick, but for me as a standalone work it failed to inspire. I need my crime to be riddled with characters who appear to be strong on the surface but are consumed by doubt and indecision. I want to explore their weaknesses and to be shown how this impacts on their daily existence not only for them but for the immediate family and loved ones. I read this story in two sittings and found the content more akin to a script for a well made tv series, enough to keep me entertained but little to entice me to return.

Sirens is set in Manchester, a city I know reasonably well, but this is the side of the city that is a world away from the bustling streets, smart office blocks and trendy shops.

This is the dark, dirty, seedy side where Sirens glide from club to club collecting money and carrying drugs.....these are beautiful young girls who entice their victims before vanishing into the night.

Into this murky world enters disgraced detective Aidan Watts, himself no stranger to drugs, who has recently had three strikes against him - the last one for taking seized cocaine and swapping it for talcum powder. He's no hero but he's not all bad either. He rarely sees daylight, preferring to watch the city at night and trusts nobody. But he's also clever and astute and, even at his lowest, his mind is still sharp and strong.

Along the way he meets an odd assortment of weirdos, some of whom I still have nightmares about. This is not for the faint-hearted, with strong language and violence.

The writing was so descriptive, a brilliantly conceived story, with bent police officers, beautiful and vulnerable young women, slimy characters, manipulative politicians, all mixed up in a city of damaged souls.

A TV series in the making, Sirens is a compelling, page turner that makes you glad you can turn the last page and get back to a normal, cosy life in the daytime ...... but part of me wants to go back to that nighttime underworld of drug dealers, lies and deception ...... I can't wait to see what Aidan Watts gets involved in next time!

A brilliant debut novel by a rising author in Joseph Knox. Remember the name.

My trend for amazing books read in 2017 holds firm with this, the brilliant Sirens, by Joseph Knox. It's hard to believe this is a debut novel so I am thrilled with the prospect of even more novels yet to come from this talented writer. Hooray for readers everywhere! You're gonna love Mr. Knox.

I have a weakness for gripping police crime novels but Sirens takes it a step further into the gritty underworld of drugs and criminal turf wars than most I read. It is dark, menacing and complex in a twisted, rough sort of way. There are many plates spinning here - lots of subplots to track - which keeps the reader fully engrossed in the action.

The story of Aidan Waits, our young detective, builds slowly but not in a noticeably sloth way. Don't let that fool you because the plot ramps up to a shocking level of intrigue, action and vengeance. I stayed up well late a couple nights to see where we were headed and unravel the threads. Sirens does take firm hold and proves there are many levels of good and bad and it is those shades of gray that define people and their actions.

You may notice I didn't say a thing about the story other than mentioning Aidan Waits. There's a reason for that. I don't want to spoil a thing. You've got to go into it with fresh eyes so you too can appreciate the genius behind this novel.

I had heard great things about this book and was thrilled when I was given a copy of it. Sadly for me it didn't live up to my expectations. I didn't warm to any of the characters and I found myself largely not bothered about the storyline either. I persevered with it as so many people have raved over it but I'm afraid I didn't find it worked for me.

Excellent book. Brilliant storyline and characters. I would highly recommend this book.

I have read a lot of reviews but for me I just couldn't get totally into it,I tried and tried but unfortunately gave up.

This year ive decided that for a novel to be rewarded 5 stars from me it has to be something really special.

This book is superb.

Disgraced detectives are no new thing when it comes to literature. That being said, Aidan Waits is refeshingly different. After being caught stealing evidence, Waits is offered a deal, to serve time for his crimes or to go undercover. He is advised to serve the time. Once undercover Waits is thrown into the dark underbelly of manchesters drug scene, ruled by a man named Zain Carver. Carver has women spread out throughout manchesters bars collecting the money gained from his drug operations. These girls are the sirens. Among them is Isabelle Rossiter, an MPs daughter who Waits has been asked, by her father, to keep an eye on, whilst updating him on any developments. Waits job is to gain Carvers trust by playing on his disgraced detective title, and flush out the moles that Carver has working for him whilst bringing down Carver and his empire in the process.

This premise in itself would make for an interesting read, but it is far far more complex than that. After Waits finds someone dead whilst working the case, the narrative completely changes and the story branches off in several different directions. The novel is complex and yet still easy to follow. It asks a lot of questions, some of which i was convinced we werent going to get an answer too. I was reading at around the 96% mark and still needing two major questions answered. Fortunately for me they were. Knoxx takes you on a fascinating journey and the way he wraps everything up by the end is perfection.

Knoxx's writing is visceral and fast paced. Nothing is sugarcoated here. A great slice of Manchester noir by an exciting new talent. Faultless.

It is quite remarkable that this is a debut novel. Joseph Knox write with a veteran’s style and in crisp compelling chapters that propel the action forward whilst giving little away as to the outcome.
This is an unconventional crime thriller. It is unclear who is bad and who is worse.
Detective Aidan Waits faces dismissal over some shady practises where it is clear he mishandled evidence and might have taken some drugs away. You feel he is ok as a leading officer while he is under suspension allows him to take advantage of his public humiliation to go rogue while being undercover for him to flush out a leading detective working for the main drug syndicate. No-one knows this but if he succeeds he will escape prosecution and may even keep his job in some form.
Unfortunately, Waits does very little to endear himself to the reader as unlike the conventional protagonist he takes drugs and seems out of control.
To complicate matters further a local MP approaches him as a means of finding his missing daughter who has got herself involved with Zain Carver the local drug lord whose operation Waits is trying to infiltrate and unmask the bent copper.
What on the surface appears a complex plot is so well constructed and presented in such a fresh way you are taken on a journey where no-one can be taken on face value? To cross Carver is to sign one's own death certificate but Waits must front up and try to win his confidence to wheedle out their bad apple and bring his empire down.
To make matters worse a rival drug gang have been re-energised by the release of their charismatic leader and the competition appears to cloud Waits' judgement further and question his loyalties.
Waits has a weakness for recreational drugs, alcohol and women and at various times each gets in the way of his mission. However, his charm and ability to give these women a sense of value aids him as they appear to take his side and speak up for him. But nothing seemingly can protect him from the rival gangs when a bad batch of heroin hits the streets and he appears to have been fitted up and left to take the fall for one death where he got too close.
A fascinating novel, written with so much mystery and violence that you feel both pain and confusion. Joseph Knox writes so well and slowly peels back the different problems facing his detective that you trust him to provide credible and satisfying solutions. You fear though that even if Waits solves the corruption, saves the girl, sorts out the murder he will still suffer himself.
With his police contact no longer able to step in as he appears both a junkie and a murderer he will only survive if help comes from unexpected sources.
It is the journey of Aidan Waits from disgrace to murder suspect that captivates and makes this a unique story. It isn't a police procedural as he has no support with his ranks; he is working alone and despite his character flaws he must utilise charm, bluff and hard facts to stand a chance to sort out the mess.
Ultimately, he appears to work best outside of the law and seems completely unsuited to being a police officer. This helps make this whole adventure wonderfully rich and exciting and provides the quality few books sustain, a desire to read on and hope some characters are redeemed and safe.

The book opens in the middle of all the excitement. Though that does pulls you in immediately it does make it more difficult to get a grip on the story not really knowing who is who and why people are doing things.
Aidan is a very troubled character and I often had trouble following his train of thoughts. Not understanding why he made decisions. That made it very difficult for me to connect to him. There are a lot of people but only a few that are important to the story. All characters clearly belong to a group making it easy keeping them apart. The most disturbing about the characters was the fact that all the police men in the story seem to be corrupt which is not really good for your trust in the force.
The atmosphere of the book is very dark and gritty filled with sex, drugs and a lot of violence. Some of the scenes are described very graphic which can make this an uncomfortable read.
The story itself is a bit messy. There is the girl that ran away from home, there is a drugs lord, there are murders and a lot of corrupt cops that all seem to chase one another. That last thing is presented as something important but got lost in the story to become something big again at the end. There is one puzzle in the book that has to do with the girl but it is really difficult to try and solve it. There are so many things happening that clues get lost. There is a lot of action and as a reader I did need answers to situations that were introduced at the start of the book which makes this book a real page turner.

A terrific rollercoaster ride through Manchester’s heart of darkness.

Disgraced Detective Constable Aidan Waits has been relegated to the night shift, responding to 4 a.m. emergency calls after he is caught stealing drugs from the evidence room. He has been living off the beaten track following franchise collectors from bar to bar, working undercover for his boss Superintendent Parrs who has promised him he can make the charges go away. Zain Carver, a local drug dealer has officers on his payroll and Parrs wants Waits to leak bad intelligence, set up a trap and smoke them out.

One night he is picked up by security for David Rossiter, MP whose seventeen year old daughter has run away from home and has taken up with Carver after a failed suicide attempt. Rossiter wants him to get his daughter back. What he uncovers may not be what Rossiter wants to find.

The book throbs with lowlife in this darkly stylish debut novel, the plot is intriguing and atmospheric and the all the characters are treated with depth and respect, even the brutal ones. The book takes you into the underworld that most large cities possess and that most of us in our comfortable homes are unaware of. It rips away the façade of bustling metropolis and exposes the rotten underbelly that many people call home.

Saphira

Breakaway Reviewers received a copy of the book to review.