Saturday, August 11, 2012

Book Review - Red for Rachel

ReviewReviewReviewReviewposted in Multiply.com on Jan 28, '06 10:00 PM

Category:Books
Genre: Mystery & Thrillers
Author:Frank Lean
David Cunane’s dad wanted him to join the police force as it seemed to be the tradition in the family. But David had different ideas and ideals. He ran a one-man private investigation service with his current girl-friend as secretary/receptionist/personal assistant all rolled into one, in a section of Manchester city which was rapidly sinking into social deterioration. He specialized in hypermarket employee thefts and CBT cases, until the day a banker hired him to look for his missing daughter. That job took him into the city’s seamy underworld of gangsters, drug pushers, money launderers who took on corrupt police officers as bed-fellows, where problems were commonly settled by the use of knives and guns and other physical threats.

Rachel Elsworth was the nineteen year old missing college girl who got dragged into the quagmire by the boyfriend, Andrew Thwaite who moonlighted as a DJ in a club owned by Mike Dyer. Mike outwardly wanted no part of the drug trade, but he was nevertheless in it his up to neck. Thus when Andrew Thwaite turned up with his throat slit, Mike was viewed as the main suspect. Along came other players like African, Sese Manteh who masqueraded as a church/community/youth leader and used his influence to lead youths into becoming users and eventually pushers. He was backed by a bunch of shady property developers whose operating methods were totally out of the book.

The more David dug the more dirt he found which led him into deeper and more dangerous situations. He had to depend on his quick thinking, street survival skills and plain luck to keep breathing. Fortunately, he had a network of friendly cops, a journalist, neighbors and his ex-police officer father to depend on.

A fast-paced and realistic tale which keeps one turning the pages until the very end.

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