#BookReview | #PerfectKill by @Helen_Fields | #BlogTour with @AvonBooksUK

‘He had never heard himself scream before. It was terrifying’
– Perfect Kill

[ About the Book ]

Alone, trapped in the darkness and with no way out, Bart Campbell knows that his chances of being found alive are slim.

Drugged and kidnapped, the realisation soon dawns that he’s been locked inside a shipping container far from his Edinburgh home. But what Bart doesn’t yet know is that he’s now heading for France where his unspeakable fate is already sealed…

DCI Ava Turner and DI Luc Callanach are working on separate cases that soon collide as it becomes clear that the men and women being shipped to France are being traded for women trafficked into Scotland.

With so many lives at stake, they face an impossible task – but there’s no option of failure when Bart and so many others will soon be dead…

[ My Review ]

I am thrilled to bits to be part of the blog tour today for this really phenomenal read, Perfect Kill by Helen Fields. Just released on February 6th with Avon Books, it is described as ‘a rollercoaster ride like no other…the next gripping thriller from the number one bestselling crime author, Helen Fields. The perfect read for fans of M. J. Arlidge and Karin Slaughter.‘

Perfect Kill is the sixth book in this series featuring DCI Ava Turner and DI Luc Callanach and I can quite honestly say that I was completely immersed and gripped from the opening chapter.

‘It was the stench that woke him. Something acrid with a heavy undertone of sulphur had filled his sinuses and was threatening to make him gag And now that he registered the pain in his body, Bart realised he wasn’t in his bed‘

Bart Campbell, a young man in the prime of his life, is out one night doing an extra shift in the restaurant where he works part-time. He lives with his Mum and their relationship is very close, following the death of his father some years previously. But Bart never arrives home that night. His Mum is concerned and raises the alarm. Meanwhile Bart wakes up alone, in a dark enclosure chained up, unable to make sense of where he is or why? The smell, the motion, the eeriness of his environment is enough for Bart to know that something is very very wrong.

Meanwhile DCI Ava Turner is on the scene of a local murder, but what starts out as one dead body soon escalates and Turner finds herself embroiled in a major investigation involving sex trafficking and a prostitution ring. DI Luc Callanach is in Paris liaising with his old colleagues in Interpol when a brutal discovery is made of the tortured remains of a young man. As Callanach’s case unfolds a connection is tentatively made between the case Turner is working on and this unearthed body found in an abandoned building site hidden among the streets of Paris.

There are scenes in this book that make for extremely uncomfortable reading. I was appalled, troubled and upset as I turned the pages and the pure horror of the lives lived was unveiled. Helen Fields writes vividly with descriptions that really bring all your senses alive. There are powerful scenes scattered throughout the chapters that are depicted with such clarity, bringing the horror, the fear and the pain right into your mind, where it remains long after you have closed the covers.

Callanach and Turner have a very fractious relationship. They have a personal history together which throws constant challenges in front of them but their professional relationship has always been just that, professional. They work well together and even though parted by the Channel, they know what makes the other tick and between them they are determined to solve their respective, yet intertwined cases, before anymore dead bodies surface.

Although this book is crime fiction, Helen Fields also writes about societal issues that are very relevant in our world today. Health, immigration, drugs, trafficking, enforced prostitution, gangs, friendship, relationships and family. The way all these themes are intermingled throughout adds that extra layer of authenticity to the writing. As a reader you really care for many of the individual characters and you feel a real personal sense of anger and upset toward others.

Perfect Kill is an excellent read with a truly engaging plot. I recently tweeted about it and I think the words of my tweet really encapsulate my feelings about this shocking and addictive read..

Perfect Kill is…
Disturbing..
Upsetting..
Distressing..
Gripping..
Compelling..
Thrilling..
Breathless..
Heart pumping..
Just bloody brilliant really!!

Highly recommend folks….

[ Bio ]

Helen Fields studied law at the University of East Anglia, then went on to the Inns of Court School of Law in London. After completing her pupillage, she joined chambers in Middle Temple where she practised criminal and family law for thirteen years.

After her second child was born, Helen left the Bar.

Together with her husband David, she runs a film production company, acting as script writer and producer.

Helen and her husband now between Hampshire and California with their three children

Twitter – @Helen_Fields