Bloodhound Books
Book Description
Be careful who you trust… The Mailer family is oblivious to the terrible danger that enters their lives when seven-year-old Anthony is referred to the child guidance service by the family GP, following the breakdown of his parents marriage. Fifty-eight-year-old Dr David Galbraith, a sadistic, predatory paedophile, employed as a consultant child psychiatrist, has already murdered one child in the soundproofed cellar below the South Wales Georgian town house he shares with his wife and two young daughters. When Anthony becomes Galbraith’s latest obsession he will stop at nothing to make his grotesque fantasies reality.
But can Anthony be saved before it’s too late? The book includes content that some readers may find disturbing from the start.
Wow! What a story, despite its horrendous subject matter this book had me gripped from the outset. A story with three strands, the psychopathic Dr Galbraith, who will stop at nothing to satisfy his deviant needs, desperate Molly Mailer wanting to help her son Anthony, but unsure how best to do this and the Police investigation into paedophile activity in the Welsh community where the story is set. These stories skilfully ran parallel, interwoven into one with the reader knowing what was coming, in terms of Anthony’s fate, thus creating a level of suspense that remained until the very last page.
The characterisation was superb, Dr Galbraith despicable but so believable in terms of his arrogance and power. Respected in the community, familiar with the networks in place to protect children and in a position discordant with the private persona. Preying on targeted individuals, Anthony in his dysfunctional family, keen to please and susceptible to deception is the perfect victim. A positive portrayal of police and social care working together was pleasing and stereotypes of the latter were nicely absent.
The Author draws well on his own professional background in Policing and Child Protection Social Work to create an authentic story, detailing the aspects of grooming and control necessary to act in this predatory way plus the joined up investigations between agencies required to respond to crimes of this nature. This aspect of the story provided additional tension in terms of the amount of intelligence the police had coupled with their strategic arrest plan to maximise prosecution opportunities. This slower paced police work was at odds with the ‘live’ criminal investigation which overlapped, the need for sensitive handling was evident but was an excellent aspect of the story.
A five star read from me, yes some of the content was disturbing and uncomfortable but never gratuitous and told as part of a well formulated story, cohesive in content and plot. Definitely recommended!
This is a Blog Blitz, special thanks to Sarah Hardy at Bloodhound Books for organising and providing me with an E Book. You can check out the rest of the tour here –
Author Bio –
John Nicholl, an ex-police officer, child protection social worker and lecturer, writes popular dark psychological suspense thrillers, each of which has been an Amazon international bestseller, reaching #1 in multiple categories in the United Kingdom, France, Spain, Australia, Canada and the USA. John is happily married, lives in rural west Wales, and has three adult children and one grandchild. He began writing after leaving his job heading up child protection services for Carmarthenshire. A Cold Cold Heart, John’s sixth book, is published by Bloodhound books in January 2018. John is represented by Toby Mundy – Literary agent at TMA.
Links –
Author Website
https://www.facebook.com/john.nicholl.988
Goodreads
https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/13795294
Agent
ilovedreadingthis 
Fantastic review! I really like the sound of this, seems incredibly disturbing though! 😳
LikeLiked by 1 person
It was brilliant, I was very impressed and it is an awful subject matter but it’s crime fiction and is what it is!!
LikeLiked by 1 person