Book info

• Title The Rock
• Author L. J. Ross
• Year 2021
• Genre Mystery

When a fishing boat is wrecked off the treacherous North Sea coast and the body of a young woman washes up on the beach beside the iconic ‘Marsden Rock’, DCI Ryan cannot ignore the call to duty. With one already dead and more human cargo missing from the wreckage, Ryan and his team race to find the remaining souls — before it’s too late, and their investigation turns to murder. As they uncover the seedy underbelly of Tyneside, cold and calculated opportunism clashes with the rock-hard arm of the Law, but there’s one thing that proves stronger than stone... The human spirit.

Thoughts

This was a really good read but I found it quite hard going, just in terms of the content. We’re following a human trafficking organisation this time, and we get some pretty brutal insights into that world, particularly as we follow the point of view of one of the victims who desperately tries to escape and stay alive. Aside from that, though, it has moments of humour that we come to expect from our intrepid heroes, but also the ups and downs of relationships as these familiar faces navigate life and work.

Rating: 4 / 5