Those We Left Behind

Finished February 16

Those We Left Behind by Stuart Neville

This is the first in the series featuring DCI Serena Neville of the Belfast police. She is just returning to work after her cancer treatments and struggling with how it has changed her relationship with her husband. Years ago she had a case where two boys, Ciaran and Thomas, were involved in the death of their foster parent, and it still haunts her. One boy confessed, but she had never really believed the confession. Now, he is nineteen and getting out of youth custody. The probation officer assigned to him, Paula Cunningham, comes to Serena for some background on the young man. Paula finds him a little odd, but she knows he isn't stupid. Thomas has been out for a while, and has a job, an apartment and a car, and hasn't shown any issues of problematic behaviour. Ciaran is eager to see his brother, but seems nervous and unsure how to behave on his own. 

The son of the man killed, Daniel, is sure that Thomas was the one who killed his father, and he begins to exhibit unpredictable behaviour when he learns of Ciaran's release. 

When someone ends up dead, and Serena gets the case, both she and Paula think the brothers are connected. Especially when they get threats of their own. But can Serena break through to Ciaran now when she couldn't before, or will these two women find themselves in danger.

After recently reading the second book in this series, I decided that I had to read the first, and while I knew from the second some elements of this one, I still found myself hoping that Serena's intuition would lead her in the right direction. 

I liked Serena as a character and I also liked Paula here. Both are women in careers that put them in contact with dangerous people and they both are used to relying on their guts to warn them of dangers. As they combine what they know to find the answers to both old and new crimes, they also find themselves up against their superiors. 

So Say the Fallen

Finished February 12

So Say the Fallen by Stuart Neville

This is the second book in the series featuring DCI Serena Flanagan of the Belfast police. It is also the first one that I read. Serena is assigned a case that looks fairly straightforward. A man, Henry Garrick, who was in a car accident a few months ago and lost both his legs has been found by his wife dead, with the means to kill himself at hand. 

The widow, Roberta Garrick, first called her priest Peter McKay before he summoned the police. 

Serena has a lot on her mind, with things not going well in her personal life, and having questions about her future. Her superior is planning to resign soon, and doesn't have a lot of patience for Serena's sense that something isn't quite right about this case. 

As Serena digs deeper into the widow's past and the reverend begins to have doubts about his own actions, things slowly move forward and Serena has new questions. 

I like the Serena Flanagan character, how she doesn't doubt her professional intuition even when her personal life is having issues that make her question some of her choices. She is a complex character with nuances that make her interesting. 

The case includes a few people who don't want to see anything but the obvious, and Serena must take risks to follow her suspicions through to the end. 

Dead Men

Finished November 18
Dead Men by Stephen Leather

This spy thriller centers around Spider Shepherd, an agent with SOCA, previously Special Forces. Shepherd specializes in going undercover, infiltrating himself into people`s lives and discovering the evidence needed to put them away. This case is a bit different.
Back in 1994, five masked men forced their way into the home of a RUC Special Branch officer in Belfast, and executed him in front of his wife and young son. Recently, under the Good Friday agreement, those who were in jail for this crime have been set free, and the one man who escaped overseas is back for his show trial that will have him serve no time for this crime. But one by one, the five men are being hunted down and executed, in exactly the same manner the RUC officer was killed.
Suspicion for this crime has fallen on the widow of the police officer, and Shepherd is being sent in to get close to her and learn whether she is the killer.
Meanwhile, a powerful man in the Arab world has been given information that says Shepherd`s boss Charlotte Button and an American agent, Yokely are responsible for the death of two of his sons. He has taken out a contract on them, and is willing to pay whatever it takes. Shepherd is brought into the picture on this situation and he finds it becoming personal. But he must find out just how far he is willing to go to protect Charlie and those he cares about.
This book is gripping, and has both action and sexual attraction going on. Shepherd is a man with a strong sense of ethics, and a character I liked immediately. A great addition to the spy thriller genre.