Through fellow authors and readers I’d heard of Graham Bartlett. In fact, I’d heard very good things about him as a person. No idea about his writing, though mention had been made of a connection with Peter James, so I assumed he could at least string a sentence together.
During the summer, I attended the Swanwick Writers’ Summer School and it transpired that Graham was going to be running one of the courses there. It seemed like an ideal opportunity to introduce myself. And, as it turned out, the introduction was both easy and very much welcomed (my reputation clearly hadn’t reached him).
I like meeting people, and Graham was far from the exception. Indeed, I’ve had the pleasure of time in his company since, and we’ve had some dialogue by email. There’s a good chance he and I will be at a couple of events early in the New Year as well, so there’ll be other opportunities to get together and chat (unless my reputation does reach him in the meantime).
Inevitably, though, curiosity got the better of me, and I decided I needed to try one of his books.
When you’ve met an author and like them, starting to read their work can fill you with trepidation. Will you like it? Will you ever feel comfortable talking about it when you’re in their company? Is it better to not admit you’ve read it in the first place?
In Graham’s case, he’d set me up for some disappointment because he’d said he was learning the craft and getting better, which implied that his earlier books could have been better. Perhaps it was natural modesty, or maybe it was psychological game-playing. From my knowledge of him, I suspect the former.
So, what’s it about?
The murder of a promising footballer, son of Brighton’s highest-ranking police officer, means Detective Superintendent Jo Howe has a complicated and sensitive case on her hands. The situation becomes yet more desperate following devastating blackmail threats.
Howe can trust no one as she tracks the brutal killer in a city balanced on a knife edge of vigilante action and a police force riven with corruption.
That’s the blurb – which is short and punchy and tells you just enough and not too much.
Graham is an ex-policeman himself, and a senior one at that. At best, I expected a fairly dry police procedural. It’s anything but.
The characters come alive immediately. Even the minor ones. Incidentally, there are a lot of characters, but I didn’t find that overly confusing.
The pace is good as well. Although the story takes place over the space of two or three months, it doesn’t feel dragged out at all and, as it races towards its climax, the pace really ramps up.
As for the bad guys, I won’t give too much away, but there is organised crime and police corruption, with brutality and the human impact of it all laid bare for the reader. The final twist was something I suspected as I got closer to the end, but frankly didn’t want to believe Graham would take us in that direction.
This year, I’ve begun to get out to book events more and, in the process, been introduced to more new authors. I’ve also tried to make more time for reading than I’ve been able to in recent years. As a result, I have quite a few books on my TBR pile. But I will be getting back to Jo Howe soon, and can’t wait to find out what else Graham has in store for her. If his writing has improved since this first one, I can’t imagine what a treat Force of Hate will be.
If I have piqued your interest in the book and you want to know more, click on the image below for the Amazon link.
