This isn’t a ‘Life or Death’ situation, however I am delighted to be sharing my review of Chris Merritt’s latest novel today, as part of the blog tour! Many thanks to Bookouture for the blog tour invite and ARC. Here is my review:
Never forget. Never forgive.
As a detective in the Metropolitan police, Zac is no stranger to murder cases, but this one is different. This is his daughter’s murder.
Years after Amelia died, Zac is still trying to trace the police office involved in his daughter’s death.
And whilst Zac is prepared to break every rule to find the man responsible, his young and ambitious deputy, Kat, is working on a high profile case of her own. But she knows Zac is keeping secrets from his team so she’s following his every move.
When one of Zac’s informants is killed, he knows he’s close to catching his man, but before he can act, he receives a call about his son which blows his world apart… And this time, he knows he’ll stop at nothing to save his family.
What does TWG think?
What the f…….!!!!!!!!! How on Earth am I meant to review this?! Geeeeeezo my poor heart! Zac always seems to grab the short straw really, doesn’t he? He certainly doesn’t get much luck heading his way, that’s for sure!
If you haven’t read any of Chris Merritt’s previous novels; don’t fret. Whilst ‘Life or Death’ is part of a series, it can be read as a standalone. That said, each book has information in the storyline referencing a previous book, so if you don’t mind only having the basic information about past events, then yes, these books are fine to read on their own. I, having read all three books, fully recommend all of them to be shunted to the top of your TBR piles, like yesterday. They are THAT good!
So yes, once again Zac finds himself in the firing line. It doesn’t seem to matter that his daughter was murdered – someone still wants to make Zac and what’s left of his family, to suffer. What a lovely person they must be!
I jest. They aren’t. They are a womble of the cockerel variety!
This book is very, very dark and severely intense. I mean, it has to be given the nature of the storyline and what Zac finds himself up against! Chris Merritt certainly has upped the ante where this storyline is concerned – I am genuinely surprised my heart didn’t fall out of my mouth (not possible I know but it felt like it might!!). Even though parts of the storyline made me feel incredibly uncomfortable, the author was very clever in creating a storyline which was so addictive, it didn’t seem to matter how uncomfortable or nervous I became, I wasn’t able to tear my eyes away until the book had finished. Seriously, I even read some of the chapters through squinted eyes as I was afraid that the inevitable was going to happen! You never know with Chris Merritt – he loves to keep his readers on their toes and raise their heartbeats a tad!!
‘Life or Death’ had me on tenterhooks the entire way through and, whilst a large portion of the storyline made for quite uncomfortable reading, I couldn’t help but be addicted with the phenomenal storyline my eyes were digesting. The characters were utterly brilliant, even the ones which had huge question marks looming over their heads – they helped make the story what it was! Don’t get me wrong, I wanted them to get their comeuppance in the most inhumane way possible, but still – beggars can’t be choosers…..right? ;).
I cannot recommend ‘Life or Death’ even more if I tried! Chris Merritt has completely outdone himself with his exceptionally crafted, wonderfully gritted, severely intense, and extremely gratifying novel which, I have to say, is wayyyyyyy more addictive than coffee. This is the book of all books and I for one cannot WAIT to read more from this author!
About the author.
Chris Merritt is a Clinical Psychologist and former diplomat based in London, who has been writing on psychology since 2010. In 2014 he decided to combine his Bring Her Back, his debut novel. He currently works on a mental health research project at King’s College London, and part-time as a psychologist in the NHS. When not working or writing, he loves climbing and basketball, and dreams of one day being able to work from home enough to own a whippet.
Author Social Media Links:
Twitter: https://twitter.com/DrCJMerritt
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/17558172.Chris_Merritt
The Writing Garnet 
Reblogged this on The Bookwormery and commented:
A brilliant review
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