Book Review: The Hurting, DS Thoroughgood Book 2, R.J. Mitchell
Thriller: The Hurting, DS Thoroughgood Book 2, R.J. Mitchell
Almost anyone who’s been in love believes they would be willing to die for that special someone. Whether that’s a significant other, a spouse, a child, or many other relationships that shape a life, our willingness to die as a sacrifice so the other person can live is one of the things that tells us we are indeed in love.
When you are the one who is left alive, though, the world is a bitter place.
The Hurting starts with DS Angus “Gus” Thoroughgood at the end of a mandatory bereavement leave after the events of the previous book left the woman he loved dead. Thoroughgood is not at all sure he wants to continue living without her. Although they were apart more than they were together, he had obsessed over her, longed for her, hoped for a seemingly impossible reconciliation for more than a decade. At long last, just as it appeared they were going to find a way to make things work together, her life was snuffed out and his life appeared to be over.
His partner and friend, DC Kenny Hardie, is charged with bringing Thoroughgood back to Glasgow and hopefully back to work. Despite his reluctance and some misadventures along the way, the two make it back to Glasgow and are very quickly thrown into the middle of an international terroristic nightmare. Al Qaeda inspired terrorists are wreaking havoc in Glasgow. Seemingly random bombings have killed many people. Many more were injured, including DS Hardie’s wife who fortunately escaped with some minor cuts. Others were not so lucky.
Despite this being well beyond the pay grade of ordinary detectives, this is their city. This is their turf. And they will not sit back and allow terrorists to win in their city. Someone is guiding the terrorists, though, someone who knows Glasgow as well as, if not better than, the detectives do. It’s hard enough to fight the enemy you know. It’s even harder to find the enemy you cannot see.
RJ Mitchell uses the setting as almost another character itself. We see Glasgow both above and below ground. Abandoned tunnels give access and hideaways to criminals. Mosques and ethnic restaurants and foreign language bookstores give comfort to those trying to become a part of the fabric of Scottish society and give something quite different to those trying to destroy that same society. The city, like so many cities around the world, has its share of urban decay and flourishing neighborhoods. Like most multi-ethnic cities, there is tension between the newcomers and the natives, and tension within communities between those who wish to assimilate and those who wish to remain separate. Some are eager to help the police. Others want to kill the police. Some are reluctant allies, torn between their conflicting rules and values and communities.
What is true for everyone is that hate and terrorism changes everything.
Our thanks to Emma Welton of Damp Pebbles Blog Tours for inviting us to participate in this tour and providing us with our copy of the book in exchange for our honest review. For other perspectives on this book, check out the other bloggers on the tour. The opinions here are solely those of Scintilla.
Also see – Book Review: Parallel Lines, A DS Thoroughgood Thriller, R. J. Mitchell
Book Review: The Hurting, DS Thoroughgood Book 2, R.J. Mitchell
Thanks for being part of the blog tour 🙂