I’m delighted to be taking part in the blog tour for ‘Steel and Shadows’ by Stuart Field, published by Crime Scene books. If you enjoy breathless, gritty thrillers that are well thought out, then this is most definitely the book for you.
Synopsis
No-nonsense NYPD detective Sam McCall is investigating one of the deadliest and most complex cases of her career when the mysterious, yet infuriatingly intriguing, John Steel insinuates himself into the department. What appears at ?rst to be the work of a serial killer soon encompasses a cast including violent Russian gangsters, creepy psychiatric doctors, the homeless community and ghosts from the past for both McCall and Steel. This fast-paced thriller combines grit and glamour, the well-drawn characters engage the reader from the outset and the Big Apple is beautifully captured in all its majestic, romantic, seedy, grimy colour. This debut novel keeps the reader gripped from start to ?nish with a breathtaking joyride through a wild series of unexpected twists and turns, inevitably falling into the pitfalls of thinking you’ve solved the mystery, only to ?nd yourself wrong-footed on the next page.
My review
This is a high-octane, fast-paced thriller, with a complex plot that’s both clever and cleverly delivered. This author is very good at not giving too much away. He enjoys keeping us on tenterhooks all the way through the book. You can’t help trying to guess what’s going to happen next, or attempting to piece the clues together, but the author’s always one step ahead, laying a misleading trail of breadcrumbs! This makes the book all the more exciting: all you know for sure is that you don’t know what’s going to happen next
It’s very much action driven although there are slower moments where we see characters and relationships develop. There is a lot of violence, but it’s not glorified and yet neither is it diminished. It’s shown to be cruel and largely fruitless, although revenge can validate it to an extent. The book is merely brining an element of life we prefer to ignore to the forefront: there are evil bastards are out there doing despicable things. But it’s not intended to be depressing. Fighting in the good corner are the likes of the mysterious, elusive John Steel and the in-your-face Sam McCall.
These are both excellent characters. There’s a hint of 007 about Steel, given his well-to-do background, his calmness, his desire to get a job done efficiently, but he’s facing rather more down-to-earth adversaries. They don’t want to take over the world, merely make more money. McCall is altogether more instinctive and impetuous than Steel, but that only makes her an even better cop although a more vulnerable human being.
The book gains in pace and excitement as it proceeds, and I sensed the author grew in confidence too. He really gets into his stride in this first novel of a series, and I’m looking forward to seeing how both he and his characters will blossom in future ones. More books in the series are due out in 2019, which is really good news!
I must comment on the excellent cover too – it’s really eyecatching and classy, hints at the story and I think reflects how committed Stuart Field is to delivering top quality work to his audience.
About the author
Stuart Field was born in the UK, in the West Midlands. He spent his early years in the army, seeing service in all the known (and some unknown) hotspots around the world. He now lives in Germany with his wife Ani. When not engaged in highly con?dential security work, he writes thrillers which perhaps mimic his life-experience more than the reader would like to believe.
Huge thanks for this amazing Blog Tour support Steph x