



The word ‘executed’ is described as ‘a happy-looking word: a little smile for the first syllable, a soft pucker for the third.’ Scott is ‘a soft name, just sibilance and air.’ I loved the freshness of this voice for a hard-boiled detective it’s bold and confident writing. Caleb’s deafness makes his voice arresting and unpredictable. ‘Tedesco was watching him: a face hewn from stone, with all the warmth to match.’ ‘Frankie … was wearing her usual jeans and battered leather jacket her short, grey hair purple-tipped and scarecrow-wild.’ The law of physics.’Ĭharacters are drawn in swift, deft strokes. The style is curt and intense: ‘It had been an hour before he’d read the message, another two in the car, stuck behind every double-B and ageing Volvo. This is a high-octane thriller, thrumming with pace and tension. Caleb is a private investigator who had asked for his help on a case. Gary was a policeman with a young family. But does his persistence border on stubbornness? And at what cost? As he delves deeper into the investigation Caleb uncovers unwelcome truths about his murdered friend – and himself.Ĭaleb Zelic has discovered his best friend lying in a pool of blood, his throat cut. Caleb is a memorable protagonist who refuses to let his deafness limit his opportunities, or his participation in the investigation. This gripping, original and fast-paced crime thriller is set between a big city and a small coastal town, Resurrection Bay, where Caleb is forced to confront painful memories. Caleb and his troubled friend Frankie, an ex-cop, start with one clue: Scott, the last word the murder victim texted to Caleb. When a childhood friend is murdered, a sense of guilt and a determination to prove his own innocence sends Caleb on a hunt for the killer. Caleb Zelic, profoundly deaf since early childhood, has always lived on the outside - watching, picking up telltale signs people hide in a smile, a cough, a kiss.
