Good but not my favorite

I love this series and was thrilled to get a new Ryan book so soon after the last one. But I was a bit disappointed - just a bit - with this one.

First of all, I listened to the audiobook. They are very well done. However, I was immediately confused because the soldier in the beginning of the book sounded just like Frank and I didn’t understand what he was doing there. Took me a while to work that out.

The plot line with the hate crimes seemed a bit undeveloped or thrown in for no real reason. The main plot was great. Disturbing but good.

These characters have long become favorites and the author is one of my “automatic pre-orders.” I look forward to more.

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Borderlands

I love DCI Ryan books and have read/listened to them all. This one was one of my favorites, just love the excitment, the guessing and the love in between. I truly hope that they carry on for a long time. I would love to see this in a tv series, something to think about. I look forward to the next one releasing soon. The narration is perfect.

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One of my Favorite Ryan books

The narrator was perfect. I read/ listened to many of this series. The ability to use current affairs without dating the story to one particular year is very good. I don't normally listen to a book again for several years but this could be an exception! Keep up the good storytelling LJ Ross!

Excellent Story

Another exciting, fast-paced, well-written adventure for DCI Ryan and his team from the Major Crimes Unit. The team is definitely split into different ventures in this book, with Ryan and Phillips working a murder on an Army training base, Lowerson and Yates dealing with a series of hate crimes, and MacKenzie enjoying some off time with her foster daughter, Samantha.

The Army is conducting a live-fire tactical training mission at Otterburn Army Training Ranges in Northumberland. The mission is to find and neutralize two targets – at night using night vision gear. When the first target is sighted, the soldiers training kicks in and they fire upon the target. Except, it isn’t the mechanical target they’ve engaged, it is…was…a live female. How in the world did a lone female end up running through the middle of the moors on a huge Army training base? Before long, Detective Chief Inspector Maxwell Finlay-Ryan and Detective Sergeant Frank Phillips are wending their way along the Northumberland National Park through the Cheviot Hills and into the village of Otterburn – almost at the border with Scotland. Will their investigation discover that it was a horrible, horrible accident when the woman ran directly into a live-fire exercise – or will they find it is something more – something much darker?

There is a terrible explosion and fire at the Central Mosque in Newcastle upon Tyne. It isn’t an accident, and the perpetrators left three large black triangles painted upon the doors along with the words ‘MUSLIMS GO HOME’. Detective Constable Jack Lowerson and Detective Constable Melanie Yates are dispatched to investigate. They know it is definitely a hate crime, but is it an isolated incident and what does that symbol mean? As that symbol turns up at additional sites of vandalism – not just Muslim – but Jewish, black, etc. they know it is the work of a well-organized group. That group is getting bolder, better organized, and more skilled. They have to be stopped before lives are lost. Stopping the group will take not only good investigative skills but the bravery and patriotism of a man who has nothing but that to give.

I listened to the audiobook (Whispersync) version of this book and enjoyed it very much. The narrator has a pleasant voice - but as I have mentioned before, all of the characters sound pretty much alike. Some are softer and breathier, but they all seem to have the same accents. We have a Scot, an Irish, and a Londoner, but they all seem to have the same accent - if not all of the time, most of the time.

I thoroughly enjoyed the story, the mystery, the friendships, and seeing that the goodness in mankind can overcome anything. If you choose to read the book, I hope you’ll enjoy it as much as I did.

Was this book written under deadline pressure?

This is the 16th book in this series, and by far, the most disappointing. The characters, most of them, lacked depth - which is so unlike the rest of this series. I mean the villains, really? What was the reasoning behind the military bad dude. And speaking of that - the serial. Man. Weak. The other main characters that are in most books, were barely discussed at all. The only plus is same narrator throughout series, and does a spot on job as always. I’m sure he was like....WTH is this?

great short story

I've listened to this entire series and have thoroughly enjoyed it. I'm sad that now I have to wait for the next book (s) to come out. Jonathan Keeble is awesome! it amazes me how many voices he can do, and how well he narrates this series. it has played like a movie in my head. Well written and superbly narrated. win win I can't wait for it to continue!

Fabulous Crime Procedural

I'm gradually reading all of DCI Ryan's novels bt LJ Ross. and this us another brilliant addition. I'm looking forward to reading the next one on my list!

Another wonderful addition to the series..

Another great book in the DCI Ryan series. This one involved the death of a girl during a military exercise and a group of
anti-Semites.

As always it was wonderful to see Ryan and Anna, Frank and MacKenzie and their new adopted (almost) daughter Samantha, and Jack and Melanie. It’s like seeing old friends after reading 14 books in this series.

No sex and the F-bomb was used 1 time.

As to the Narration: If it weren’t for Jonathan Keeble this series wouldn’t have been nearly as good.

Short and weak

This is the last book in the series that started out really good but as the series progressed the work became weaker and shorter. The stories became more improbable and the endings totally unbelievable. It seems that the author has stepped onto the treadmill of churning out books - so sad as I said the original stories in the series were really good and well written. Thankfully the performance artist was consistently good.