Review: CRUCIFIXION CREEK, Barry Maitland

• 
   this edition on Kindle (Amazon)
  
• ASIN ‏ : ‎ B00LZ1U6IY
• Publisher ‏ : ‎ Text Publishing; UK ed. edition (September 23, 2015)
• Language ‏ : ‎ English
• Print length ‏ : ‎ 260 pages 
• #1 in the Belltree trilogy

Synopsis (Amazon)

Homicide detective Harry Belltree wouldn't usually be looking too hard at an elderly couple's suicide pact. Especially now, when his brother-in-law Greg has just been stabbed to death. But it seems Greg and the old couple had ties to the same man, a bent moneylender with friends in high places - and low.

Harry can't get officially involved in Greg's murder, but he suspects a link with two other mysterious deaths: his parents'. And when he goes off-grid to investigate, that's when things start to get dangerous

Set in Sydney, this dark, morally ambiguous and adrenaline-charged new series is a triumphant change of direction for Barry Maitland.

My Take

My main reason for re-reading this title is that I have decided to read the two remaining novels in the trilogy, and couldn't trust my memory of the first novel.

The author says in his Afterword that "Harry Belltree is an entirely fictitious character and his activities in no way represent the real behaviors of the New South Wales police." However it does show corruption and self-serving among police, politicians, and bikie gangs. There is a horrendous level of violence, and Harry Belltree, ex-soldier who served in Afghanistan, is really a loose cannon. His wife, blinded in the car crash that killed his parents, has become an IT expert who can break into security systems, wipe CCTV records, and disable alarm systems. 

A good novel that fairly gallops along.

My rating: 4.6

My earlier review

I've also read

BRIGHT AIR
mini reviews

• 4.7, ALL MY ENEMIES  -#3 Brock & Kolla
• 5.0, NO TRACE - #8
• 4.7, SPIDER TRAP  - #9

4.7, DARK MIRROR - #10
4.8, CHELSEA MANSIONS - #11
4.7, THE RAVEN'S EYE -  #12
4.7, CRUCIFIXION CREEK
5.0, THE PROMISED LAND