Stalkers
Crime
Paul Finch
DS Heckenburg, Book # 1
HarperCollins Publishers
2013
ebook
400
English
January 24, 2019 January 29, 2019
"All he had to do was name the woman he wanted. It was that easy. They would do all the hard work."
Detective Sergeant Mark 'Heck' Heckenberg is investigating the disappearance of 38 different women. Each one was happy and successful until they vanished without a trace.
Desperate to find her missing sister, Lauren Wraxford seeks out Heck’s help. Together they enter a seedy underworld of gangsters and organised crime.
But when they hear rumours about the so-called 'Nice Guys Club' they hit a brick wall. They're the gang that no one will talk about. Because the Nice Guys can arrange anything you want. Provided you pay the price…
About the book
Stalkers is the first volume of the Paul Finch saga in which Mark Heckenberg is the protagonist. In this first volume Mark finds a connection between 38 abductions, but no one believes him and his superiors close the case.
The book is very slow and has too many insignificant details, such as the full description of a criminal’s clothing, all to lengthen the book. Yes, because I sincerely believe the story has no substance, there aren’t even real crimes, since we don’t see them being committed because they all already happened in the past and we don’t even know what happened during the abductions. We see only number 39 kidnapping, which lasts two chapters and then moves on to another “story” (obviously this one has to do with cases, but it seems almost another story, the abduction cases are almost in the background).
I don’t understand the English title of the book, I understand that those who wants to kidnap those women are also stalkers but not necessarily. And I must say that in addition to the synopsis of the book, the English title draw me in. Big mistake!
I don’t like when the police is involved in the case, when a detective is accused of something, usually when it happens I lose interest, but since I am a masochist I always end the book. And how hard it was to finish it! I decided to read at least 60 pages a day to finish it quickly and I fell asleep many times.
There is nothing “thrilling” here. At the beginning it seems to take speed and I must say that I really enjoyed the first chapters because I wanted to know about victim, but then no suspense, it’s just the story of a policeman who investigates illegally. As mentioned, the crime and the victim were seen only for two chapters. There was also no mention of the husband who denounces the disappearance. After several chapters one of Mark’s chiefs (who still supports him) talks about the kidnapping that may perhaps be connected to the case.
I found the chapter in which Mark talks about his brother Tom more interesting than the rest.
The premises of the book and the synopsis were promising, but then the story is flat and speaks only of Mark’s adventures, a detective who against all and illegally, investigates with the help of a victim’s sister.
And the book does not end! Or at least the case is solved, but there is always a glimmer open on a topic that I will not say to avoid giving spoilers. I don’t think I’ll read the second book.
