Absolutely thrilled to be hosting the Highest Lives blog tour today! Huge thanks to Anne Cater for the invite and Gordon Brown/Strident Publishing for the ARC. This is the fourth book in the series – I’m a huge fan and have read them all – but can easily be read on its own in my opinion. Here are the other three titles and my reviews (click on the title) in case you’re interested- Book 1: Darkest Thoughts. Book 2: Furthest Reaches. Book 3: Deepest Wounds.
Let’s find out a bit more about the author and this book, before I share my review…
About the Author
Paul Reich
Gordon Brown has seven crime and thriller books published to date, along with a number of short stories (including a story in an Anthony Winning anthology). His latest novel, Highest Lives, is the fourth in the Craig McIntyre series. He also helped found Bloody Scotland, Scotland’s International Crime Writing Festival (see www.bloodyscotland.com), is a DJ on local radio (www.pulseonair.co.uk) and runs a strategic planning consultancy. Gordon lives in Scotland and is married with two children. In a former life he delivered pizzas in Toronto, sold non-alcoholic beer in the Middle East, launched a creativity training business, floated a high-tech company on the London Stock Exchange, compered the main stage at a two-day music festival and was once booed by 49,000 people while on the pitch at a major football Cup Final.
About the Book
In cities across North America people are dying in seemingly impossible ways. Is history’s most outrageous serial killer on the loose? When LAPD Detective Sarah Tracy is secretly instructed to recruit Craig McIntyre to help her investigate the deaths, she is unaware that his mere presence can transform people s darkest thoughts into action. As Sarah and Craig hunt the murky underbelly of LA for the malevolent figure responsible for the bizarre deaths, they stumble upon the most expensive narcotic ever to hit the streets – a substance that promises something so unbelievable that users are willing to risk death to experience it. With government black ops agency head Senator Tampoline always lurking in the shadows, Craig is used to being hunted. Now he is the hunter. And thousands could die if he fails to track down the killer.
Set in Los Angelas the reader is taken on one doozy of an action-packed ride! Revenge, manipulation, greed, power are just some of the themes that riddle the pages like the bullets that seem to chase McIntyre throughout this series.
Wow! Wow! WOW!! The opening of this novel takes you back a year and reminds those of us who have read the previous novel about the jaw dropping event(s) that has changed poor McIntyre’s life. Once again I found myself holding my breath as I read the words. High tension and immense suspense had me gripping the arm of my chair (poor chair!) and then BOOM – you know you are in for one hell of a read! Told in first person POV, the characters instantly pull you in – well developed, interesting and some downright creepy … loved it! What I love about this series is the pure and seamless mix of thriller, supernatural, almost sci-fi elements where even though you have to suspend your disbelief, the plot, narrative and characters have you scratching your head thinking WTAF – what if this could happen!? BRILLIANT! I think this one was my favourite in the series to date!
Character-wise we are given a fantastic cast and Craig McIntyre is the ultimate lead: he’s now a PI in LA and still has the ability to bring out the worst in people with an almost always lethal ending – for them. He was an experiment in the army and as much as he tries to fight it, sometimes…sh*t happens! Clever, determined and somewhat secretive (more out of self preservation than wanting to be deceptive) this guy just has a likeable side, you can’t help but root for him to succeed. I have to say, I quite like the dark side of him…
Charlie is Craig’s partner-in-crime (PI) and we learn more about him through Craig – how he saved his life, killed someone close to him (great backstory which I won’t reveal as you learn all about it) This pair need and feed off each other.
I have to say though that I really ADORED Sarah and hope that if there is more in this series…we see more of her! She’s a police officer with the LAPD and just won’t let things go! Determined to get to the bottom of the strange occurrences happening not only in her city but across the world…well, it’s almost a ‘be careful what you wish for’ scenario as once the lid to pandora’s box is opened, it’s very hard to close it again…
There are plenty more characters to keep the reader on edge, including the elusive Tampoline – Craig’s nemesis but I will leave you to find out more about them when you read the novel.
Do I recommend this read? Come hell or high water, I am determined to get people to read this series. I’d love to see it on screen as I think it would make an excellent series! So yeah – I definitely recommend it! A high-concept, nail-biting, action-packed thriller that will have you desperate for more, grab your copy of Gordon Brown’s HIGHEST LIVES today.
Follow the rest of the tour here:
Thanks for having me, Anne x
Thanks so much for supporting the blog tour Noelle xx