Six by G.S. Locke (Review)

 

Six by G.S. Locke.

Published 19th August by Orion.

From the cover of this book:

Successful criminal defence lawyer, Jon Shaw, comes face to face with, Danny Hallam, the man he tried to murder twenty-five years ago...

Then: While drug running for a local crime lord, Danny decides to call in a large debt from a young female drug addict, Micki Ashton. During a chaotic night on a riverbank, in which punches are thrown, Shaw steps in to protect the defenceless woman, but things turn deadly when Danny produces a knife and Micki is stabbed. Appalled by his friend's actions, Shaw deliberately pushes Danny into the river. Danny survives and, arrested and charged for murder, spends the next quarter of a century in prison.

Now: Meanwhile, the gang disintegrates, each haunted by the death of a young woman. Throughout his sentence, Danny refuses to name those involved. But someone knows and believes they should all pay. As, one by one, the former friends are picked off only Danny and Shaw remain. With the race on to identify a determined and forensically aware killer, Shaw throws in his lot with a detective who has her own cross to bear and her own reasons for abandoning routine police procedure.

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To all intents and purposes, Jon Shaw is a respectable criminal defence lawyer living a comfortable life in leafy Cheltenham, but he is forced to confront his uncomfortable past when an associate from his less reputable youth drops back into his life. Danny Hallam, the man in question, has every reason hate the person he once looked upon as a brother, as Shaw tried to kill him twenty-five years ago after an violent altercation with a young drug addict, Micki Ashton, led to her being stabbed to death by Hallam. 

It was crime that took Hallam to prison, although he never revealed the names of his fellow gang members. Newly released, having paid his debt to society, he has sought Shaw out, but not for revenge - instead he needs his help. It seems that someone from their drug running days wants vengeance for what happened to Micki - two members of their former gang of six have already been murdered and it is only a matter of time before they too receive their comeuppance.

Shaw finds himself reluctantly joining forces with Hallam to track down their old friends and enemies to discover who is after their blood, although he is not sure if Hallam can be trusted given their past history. It's a quest that also has Shaw crossing paths with the discredited DI Samantha Deeley who is investigating the deaths of their fellow gang members - a woman with past secrets of her own, who is no stranger to crossing the line of accepted police procedure. Can Shaw and Deeley work together to solve this case and salvage their lives from the terrible mistakes of their past?

Six is a gripping crime thriller that combines a gritty gangland murder mystery with a police procedural, and delves cleverly into themes of misspent youth, brotherhood in adversity, loyalty, guilt, retribution and absolution.

Jon Shaw is a man who has spent twenty-five years trying to run away from the sins of his past, but the guilt he feels has not been as easy to shed as the northern accent he has worked so hard to lose. Destiny comes a knocking with Danny Hallam and throws his life into chaos as he struggles to reconcile feelings of old loyalties and the fear of losing the life he now has. Deeley carries guilt of her own too and her desperation to prove she can still do her job, despite what her colleagues feel about her, makes her a loose cannon. Locke uses Shaw and Deeley's remorse to drive the story nicely: both have to proceed slowly and carefully, while never knowing who they can really trust and this builds the suspense beautifully. injecting spine-tingling menace as they get into hot water and second guess themselves at every move. 

There are so many lovely twists, turns and blind alleys that crop up in the telling of this tale, and I enjoyed how you feel yourself working the case right alongside Shaw and Deeley, following the trail of breadcrumbs Locke cleverly scatters throughout. Intriguingly, this is also a story that is filled with relatable and realistic characters, even the 'bad' ones, which makes it very engaging: everyone is drawn in shades of grey, each of them trying to atone for their mistakes or salve the bitterness of their perceived misfortunes, even if their judgement is fatally flawed, and the way their motivations are explored by Locke builds in an emotional depth that is sometimes lacking in a crime story. 

I thoroughly enjoyed this book, lapping it up in a single entertaining sitting. It has just the right balance of grit, gore, passion and tension that I like, and although this is my first G.S. Locke, it will definitely not be my last!

Six is available to buy now in paperback, ebook and audio formats from your favourite book retailer.

Thank you to Orion for sending me a copy of this book in in return for an honest review.

About the author:

G.S. Locke is the pseudonym of E.V. Seymour. Neon was her first foray into serial killers hence the name change, and Six is her follow-up crime novel. She is a plotter rather than a 'pantser' when creating storylines, and by day, works as a freelance editor so she tries to take the advice she dishes out.

Her passions are family, film, playing classical piano, which she's done since the age of five, and she is a demon house-mover due to a nomadic and restless personality. She strongly dislikes cold tea and adores chilled white wine.