STOLEN SOULS

The body of an unidentified male is dumped on the Belfast waterfront, one more murder in a city that has seen far too many.

This crime though is different, it brings together a resourceful young woman trying to escape from the sex trade, a, Eastern European gangster desperate to avenge the death of his brother and DI Lennon, a troubled policeman trying to enforce the law without much help from his colleagues.

Stuart Neville shows an intrinsic understanding of what makes a good thriller; action, and plenty of it, something that in Stolen Souls he provides in spades. Along with a compelling depiction of Belfast as a grey, gritty city where even now the troubles have ended there is still a constant undercurrent of violence.

His well drawn characters are motivated by a mix of guilt, loyalty and a desperate struggle to survive. In his books violence is something that destroys physical and mental health rather than a means of providing cheap titillation and Neville’s depiction of the sleazy slave economy of the sex trade is all too tragically believable.

This is a first rate thriller packed with enough intelligence and raw action to make it worthy of reading more than once.