The Silent Room

November 13, 2017
This disappointing thriller from Hannah (the Kate Daniels series) opens on an exciting note, with the carjacking of a prison van in the north of England. The van’s cargo, Det. Insp. Jack Fenwick, who’s in custody for such offenses as concealing firearms in his garage, disappears. One of Fenwick’s direct reports, Det. Sgt. Matthew Ryan, is convinced of his senior officer’s innocence, but he’s suspended because the “rubber heelers,” the British equivalent of internal affairs, suspect him of helping Fenwick escape. Ryan is determined to find and clear Fenwick, which means unraveling the corruption case that Fenwick was looking into before the van incident. Unfortunately, this foreground story doesn’t fully engage the reader’s attention, in part because the plot is so convoluted and in part because Hannah’s narrative technique—exposition via interior monologue and an overwhelming number of asides—robs the story of any real momentum. And the impetus for the case, Fenwick’s corruption investigation, is murkier still, seriously undercutting the suspense. Agent: Oli Munson, A.M. Heath (U.K.).

December 1, 2017
British Special Branch officers Jack Fenwick and Matthew Ryan are brought together and torn apart by their shared experience of grief over their losses--Fenwick of his brother, Ryan of his father--in Hannah's (Gallows Drop, 2016, etc.) stand-alone European police-procedural thriller.Fenwick, who has been accused of misconduct related to illegal arms dealing, mysteriously disappears when carjackers force a prison transfer van in which he is being held to stop on a deserted road. His loyal subordinate and close friend Ryan is determined to clear Fenwick's name and find out whether he was kidnapped or helped to escape. When Eloise O'Neill and her partner, John Maguire, two other officers, exclude Ryan from their official investigation, Ryan goes off the books, risking his career to investigate and honor a promise he made to Fenwick's wife, Hilary. Ryan is helped by his blind twin sister, Caroline, retired investigator Grace Ellis, and shadowy former MI5 operative Frank Newman. The story slows after a power-packed opening as Ryan spends a lot of time driving from point A to point B, sometimes tailed by persons unknown. The pace then picks up after Fenwick's fate is discovered and Ryan and O'Neill try to overcome their mutual suspicions to team up and investigate a secret case Fenwick was working on when he vanished.Though the villains remain little more than sketches and two romantic subplots never really sizzle, the disappearance and investigation are credible and convincing, and the high-octane ending packs plenty of firepower.

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November 15, 2017
Detective Sergeant Matthew Ryan knows that his boss, Jack Fenwick, isn't guilty of the arms-trafficking charges he's facing. Unfortunately, Ryan's plan to launch his own investigation is derailed when he's accused of colluding with Fenwick. Then, as if it couldn't get any worse, Fenwick's prison transport is hijacked. Suspended and deprived of his police resources, Ryan pairs up with Grace Ellis, Fenwick's legendary former boss and mentor, who is also fiercely determined to clear Fenwick's name. While Northumbria P.D. investigates the hijacking as a probable jailbreak, Ryan and Ellis desperately dig for clues to identify the hijackers. Their only lead is one of the hijackers' Scandinavian accent until Ryan finds Fenwick's notebooks and begins unwinding clues that lead back to a recent trip Fenwick took to Norway, a whistle-blowing oil-industry engineer, and Fenwick's brother's accidental death years ago. A fast-paced read with relatable characters and a hint of romance; fans of Sara Paretsky's investigations into corporate misdeeds will find a lot to like here.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2017, American Library Association.)