Corruption! by Elizabeth Ducie: riveting from start to finish

I’m delighted to be taking part in the blog tour for this exciting thriller set in the world of the pharmaceutical industry.

Synopsis

Out of fear. Out of greed. Out of evil. Corruption springs from many roots.
Teenagers fall prey to a deadly new drug craze sweeping across Russia. Pharmaceuticals destined for Africa turn up on the backstreets of Moscow, St Petersburg and Vladivostok. Regulator Suzanne Jones and her sister, Charlie, fight to stop the pushers before more kids die.
But will their discoveries mean a friend goes to prison? And are they putting their loved ones in danger?
With old adversaries and surprising new allies, the Jones sisters face their toughest challenge to date. The heart-stopping final episode in the Suzanne Jones series of thrillers set in the sometimes murky world of international pharmaceuticals

My review

This is the third book in a series, but the first I’d read. It works absolutely fine as a standalone but probably, like me, after reading this exciting book you’ll want to read the preceding novels too: Counterfeit and Deception.
Suzanne and her sister Charlie, who together make up Jones Technical Partnership, are on the trail of a lethal drug that appears to be coming from Russia. To complicate matters, their friend Francine Matheson, recently widowed, has become close to a Russian man, Anatoly Dimitriov, Anton for short, who has a pharmaceutical company. Francine has concerns about the involvement in Anton’s business of Boris Lechkov, a somewhat menacing figure. The sisters thus have two investigations to handle. They also have a lot going on in their personal lives as we have Charlie facing parenthood as her partner Annie is pregnant, and Suzanne gets married to Steve. The sisters are a good team: their strengths complement each other, and the bond between them contributes towards their commitment and success.
The story is told in the third person but the focus shifts between the various characters, a technique that works very well in this author’s hands. It allows for character development and adds freshness. There’s some movement back and forth in time too, providing background where necessary which again makes for a richer experience.
Settings for the action, which include Martinique and Russia, are beautifully described and atmospheric. The people we meet are distinctive and rounded, all interesting and convincingly portrayed. Mama D, Anton’s mother, is one of my favourites!
There are four parts to the novel, and as each progresses the tension and excitement mount, and the plot thickens and the strands intertwine. There are excellent twists and turns, and the author really does keep us guessing all the way through this thriller.
I thoroughly enjoyed reading Corruption. It captured my attention fully from the very start, and kept me riveted to the spectacular denouement.

Purchase Links

Amazon: http://geni.us/Corruption
Link to other ebook platforms: https://www.books2read.com/u/38rGxO

Author bio
When Elizabeth Ducie had been working in the international pharmaceutical industry for nearly thirty years, she decided she’d like to take a break from technical writing—text books, articles and training modules—and write about some of her travel experiences instead. She took some courses in Creative Writing and discovered to her surprise that she was happier, and more successful, writing fiction than memoirs or life-writing. In 2012, she gave up the day job, and started writing full-time. She has published three novels, three collections of short stories and a series of manuals on business skills for writers.

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