Thriller
By Cara Hunter
No Way Out is the third installment of Cara Hunter's highly successful British crime thriller series featuring DI Adam Fawley. Having now read them all, this latest novel is my least favourite. Although the plot was good, I found it lacked excitement. I so much wanted to enjoy it as much as its predecessors but for me it fell a little flat. I hasten to add I'm in the minority here - other reviewers are loving it and currently extolling its virtues.
Set in Oxford, the reader is reunited with coppers Fawley, Gislingham, et al, who find themselves investigating a house fire - believed to be arson - in which a mother and child are killed. The story is told through events leading up to the tragedy and the present-day police investigation.
As with the previous books, newspaper reports and online comments are inserted into the story. To be perfectly blunt, I found them distracting and unnecessary. I think the book would work better without them.
Don't get me wrong, the plot is solid and there are plenty of twisty, unexpected developments as the police investigation progresses. The characters are exceptionally well developed; feeling both believable and real. It's not that I didn't enjoy the story; I did. I just didn't love it.
Book Source: Review copy from the publisher
The Christmas holidays, and two children have just been pulled from the wreckage of their burning home in North Oxford. The toddler is dead, and his brother is soon fighting for his life.
Why were they left in the house alone? Where is their mother, and why is their father not answering his phone?
Then new evidence is discovered, and DI Fawley's worst nightmare comes true.
Because this fire wasn't an accident. It was murder.
And the killer is still out there...
Paperback 384 pages
Publisher Penguin (18th April 2019)
'Hunter's novel is a tour de force, providing one plot twist after another without losing sight of her characters' vulnerable humanity.' Sunday Times
📕My Review
No Way Out is the third installment of Cara Hunter's highly successful British crime thriller series featuring DI Adam Fawley. Having now read them all, this latest novel is my least favourite. Although the plot was good, I found it lacked excitement. I so much wanted to enjoy it as much as its predecessors but for me it fell a little flat. I hasten to add I'm in the minority here - other reviewers are loving it and currently extolling its virtues.
Set in Oxford, the reader is reunited with coppers Fawley, Gislingham, et al, who find themselves investigating a house fire - believed to be arson - in which a mother and child are killed. The story is told through events leading up to the tragedy and the present-day police investigation.As with the previous books, newspaper reports and online comments are inserted into the story. To be perfectly blunt, I found them distracting and unnecessary. I think the book would work better without them.
Don't get me wrong, the plot is solid and there are plenty of twisty, unexpected developments as the police investigation progresses. The characters are exceptionally well developed; feeling both believable and real. It's not that I didn't enjoy the story; I did. I just didn't love it.
Book Source: Review copy from the publisher
Rating ⭐⭐⭐
Other Reviews:
It's one of the most disturbing cases DI Fawley has ever worked.
Why were they left in the house alone? Where is their mother, and why is their father not answering his phone?
Then new evidence is discovered, and DI Fawley's worst nightmare comes true.
Because this fire wasn't an accident. It was murder.
And the killer is still out there...
📘The Author
I'm lucky enough to live in the city I write about. Oxford will be familiar to crime fans across the whole world because of the fabulous Morse novels and TV, but my version of the town is a long way from the beautiful ivy-clad colleges. A much edgier place where the crimes are darker and closer to home.
I've always been a voracious reader and viewer of crime - I've learned so much from the outstanding writing that we now see on crime TV like Line of Duty or Broadchurch, and I've tried to recreate the experience of watching series like that for my readers. I love true crime TV as well - my husband used to tease me about it but now just nods sagely and says 'research'!
What else about me? I have pet cats who do their best to distract me whenever I get close to a keyboard (if you have cats, you'll know), I love travelling, spending time with friends, and I have never knowingly turned down a glass of champagne....
Cara Hunter on Twitter
I've always been a voracious reader and viewer of crime - I've learned so much from the outstanding writing that we now see on crime TV like Line of Duty or Broadchurch, and I've tried to recreate the experience of watching series like that for my readers. I love true crime TV as well - my husband used to tease me about it but now just nods sagely and says 'research'!
What else about me? I have pet cats who do their best to distract me whenever I get close to a keyboard (if you have cats, you'll know), I love travelling, spending time with friends, and I have never knowingly turned down a glass of champagne....
Cara Hunter on Twitter
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