Book Review: Blood and Steel, A John Steel Thriller Book 4, Stuart Field
Thriller: Blood and Steel, A John Steel Thriller Book 4, Stuart Field
BLOG TOUR AUGUST 14, 2020
John Steel is a man of action. A brilliant detective with the skills and experience of an army killing machine, he is seemingly able to accomplish almost everything. But when a murder takes the life of a team member’s girlfriend, the stakes become significantly greater. Worse, the murder has the hallmarks of a previous killer’s handiwork. Has Mr. Williams returned to New York City?
In Blood and Steel, Stuart Field stays with the New York setting that has served him so well in the previous John Steel thrillers. Steel’s team includes the team leader, Detective Samantha McCall, and detectives Joshua Tooms and Tony Marinelli. It is Tony’s girlfriend who has been brutally tortured and disfigured beyond recognition. What no one knows is why. Why was she targeted? Or was it her roommate who was the target–a roommate who has seemingly disappeared without a trace? The detectives feel that something else is going on, something they cannot yet see. The question is whether they can solve the case in time to prevent whatever larger event is looming.
The Steel thrillers are fun, fast, and exciting reads. Field is a very good storyteller, with inventive plots and very high body counts. Like most thriller writers, he conveniently overlooks the real world reality of internal investigations, community outrage, and police oversight. The carnage Steel leaves behind would create an absolute nightmare for any metropolitan department, particularly in these days of heightened sensibilities toward police actions in the post-George Floyd era. But the thriller genre does not flourish in the real world, and the violence toward the fictional bad guys is delivered both in the fictional world and on the actual page with flair and elan.
John Steel is one of the good guys though he is a very bad man to cross. Still seeking those responsible for his family’s murder, he is able to be caring and thoughtful toward those in need, charming to almost everyone, and truly the next best thing to Batman. In fact, sometimes he calls himself Batman, and indeed the caped crusader might struggle to keep up with Steel. If action packed thrillers are your thing, John Steel never disappoints.
Our thanks to Emma Welton of Damp Pebbles Blog Tours for our copy of this book, given solely in exchange for our honest review. The opinions are solely those of Scintilla. For other perspectives on this novel check out the rest of the Blood and Steel blog tour.
Also see – Book Review: Steel and Shadows, A John Steel Thriller Book 1, Stuart Field
Book Review: Blood and Steel, A John Steel Thriller Book 4, Stuart Field
Thanks so much 🙂