This wasn’t a bad book. Pretty entertaining, didn’t drag and didn’t get massively caught up on details you don’t need to know. I thought the ending was a bit abrupt though. It wasn’t like there were any loose ends that needed tying up but it felt like it needed just one last chapter to give some closure on the support characters. But all in all it’s a good read.
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Dan ‘Spider’ Shepherd is an undercover police officer who finds himself on remand in prison after the armed robbery operation he’s working on is busted by the local police. Having to remain in character as Bob McDonald as he is worked through the system he finds himself placed within Shelton’s prison. Eventually he is briefed and told that his new objective is to get close to a known drug dealer named Gerald Carpenter. He is also on remand but is currently doing all he can to collapse the case against him by having witness killed and evidence destroyed – something he can only do with the help of corrupt prison officers inside the prison walls. Therefore not only must Shepherd stay in character 24/7, he must also fight to survive amongst some of the most hardened and dangerous criminals the justice system has to offer. However, Carpenter has many contacts and eventually Shepherd’s cover is blown. Using Shepard’s skills to his advantage, Carpenter forces him to break him out of prison using Shepherd’s son on the outside as a suitable incentive…
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Like I say, it’s a pretty good read, the story is a good one and Leather tells it well. Shepherd’s character is full and well thought out, and finding things out about his background makes us care about him. There is one situation in the book that could have been developed a little more. Whilst inside, Shepherd’s wife is involved in a fatal car accident and it would have been nice to get a little more character development of Shepherd because of this. Obviously he can’t do much to show it inside but the funeral is pretty much glossed over – but then I guess this isn’t really instrumental to the plot, it’s probably just the woman in me wanting to know details about emotions and stuff, lol. And at the end I would have liked him to have given Carpenter the good and proper beating he rightly deserved… but unfortunately he only gets shot, which is a bit of a bummer.
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One final word is that the proof readers over at Hodder and Stoughton should have been shot along with Carpenter. The amount of words missing in the text as you read is crazy and at other times extra words are added in. However, my personal favourite appears on page 330:
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....Morrisons eyes were tightly shut, and his whole body was trembling. 'Have they gone?' he whispered.
....'Yeah, it's over'
....Morrison opened his ears. Tears ran down his cheeks.
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Quality, lol. But seriously, don’t let the dodgy proof reading put you off – it’s definitely worth a read if you like the whole thriller, espionage, cops and robber genre. I liked it :)
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Dan ‘Spider’ Shepherd is an undercover police officer who finds himself on remand in prison after the armed robbery operation he’s working on is busted by the local police. Having to remain in character as Bob McDonald as he is worked through the system he finds himself placed within Shelton’s prison. Eventually he is briefed and told that his new objective is to get close to a known drug dealer named Gerald Carpenter. He is also on remand but is currently doing all he can to collapse the case against him by having witness killed and evidence destroyed – something he can only do with the help of corrupt prison officers inside the prison walls. Therefore not only must Shepherd stay in character 24/7, he must also fight to survive amongst some of the most hardened and dangerous criminals the justice system has to offer. However, Carpenter has many contacts and eventually Shepherd’s cover is blown. Using Shepard’s skills to his advantage, Carpenter forces him to break him out of prison using Shepherd’s son on the outside as a suitable incentive…
.
Like I say, it’s a pretty good read, the story is a good one and Leather tells it well. Shepherd’s character is full and well thought out, and finding things out about his background makes us care about him. There is one situation in the book that could have been developed a little more. Whilst inside, Shepherd’s wife is involved in a fatal car accident and it would have been nice to get a little more character development of Shepherd because of this. Obviously he can’t do much to show it inside but the funeral is pretty much glossed over – but then I guess this isn’t really instrumental to the plot, it’s probably just the woman in me wanting to know details about emotions and stuff, lol. And at the end I would have liked him to have given Carpenter the good and proper beating he rightly deserved… but unfortunately he only gets shot, which is a bit of a bummer.
.
One final word is that the proof readers over at Hodder and Stoughton should have been shot along with Carpenter. The amount of words missing in the text as you read is crazy and at other times extra words are added in. However, my personal favourite appears on page 330:
.
....Morrisons eyes were tightly shut, and his whole body was trembling. 'Have they gone?' he whispered.
....'Yeah, it's over'
....Morrison opened his ears. Tears ran down his cheeks.
.
Quality, lol. But seriously, don’t let the dodgy proof reading put you off – it’s definitely worth a read if you like the whole thriller, espionage, cops and robber genre. I liked it :)
