Eight stars
Sean Slater has penned another explosive Canadian police procedural in this fourth novel of the Jacob Striker series. Slater presents a strong story that encapsulates a great crime thriller with police investigation supports. Gripping and quite telling, the story pushes the limits and keeps the reader coming back for more. While Sean Slater has no other books in this collection to date, I hope that changes soon, as this series is something else.
After Vancouver Homicide Detective Jacob Striker is called out to investigate at the local bus station, he is amazed at what he encounters. There is a bus engulfed in flames and the fire department are struggling to contain the blaze. Once all is settled Detective Striker makes an eerie discovery, when a body is pulled from the wreckage. It is a woman with whom he used to work, and all signs point to her being lured to this spot, then attacked.
Striker cannot let this go and convinces his partner, Felicia Santos, to join him as they search for her killer. This will mean taking her active files and culling through them to find something that will let him know why she was called to this part of the city. What seems like a fairly straightforward investigation gets exponentially more difficult when no one will talk with them about what was being investigated.
As Striker and Santos push harder, they discover that the killer is exacting some form of ritualistic attack, placing bodies and using fire to finish the spell. What’s more troubling is that the victims are all tired in with something that will implicate the city the province, and even the Church. As Striker tries to handle his emotions, he discovers that this is not just a murder investigation, but a form of retribution for past wrongs. Slater keeps getting better with his writing and this is proof of that!
Police procedurals require a certain element that I cannot point to when trying to put things into words. A crime story needs great movement and strong protagonists to keep things clipping along, without making it too personal or clunky. Slater does well with this novel—as he has with the other three—in keeping the story front and centre while making sure that Jacob Striker remains in the reader’s mind throughout. Short chapters push things in a forward direction and the reader is left with little to do but keep turning pages to whet their appetite for answers. Slater has mastered the art and kept that Canadian flavouring that is just what I like.
Sean Slater uses characters development effectively and keeps it at the forefront of this book. There are many who need to be presented in a certain way for the reader to feel their pain. Slater does that in ways that really brings the point home for the reader. He advances the characters’ stories and yet fits it all into the larger narrative. Jacob Striker remains front and centre in the piece, with his own development and advancement, though not as prominent as in past novels. Striker has got police work running through his veins and I am eager to see if there will be more for him, as the reader is able to attach to his personality relatively easily. Lot twists develop well in this book and the reader cannot always predict what awaits them. By keeping a quick story and multiple perspectives, there is much to be desired in this fast-paced thriller that does not let up for a moment.
Kudos, Mr. Slater, for dazzling once more.
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