Crime Thriller Archives

A good crime thriller should give the reader the feeling that they are solving the crime right along with the police. There should be ties between characters, and conflict that impacts the effectiveness of the officers/detectives (because that is true to real life). Clues should only come to light as characters discover them, but it’s okay to give the readers a few red herrings along the way to keep them off balance.

Given these parameters, I am pleased to say that Silent Night by Geraldine Hogan qualifies as a terrific crime thriller!

I will admit, the beginning was very slow, and I did sometimes feel like there was too much exposition. But I quickly realized that the author was setting a complete and detailed scene for the reader because once the action picked up, it was vital to have the information from the beginning.

As always, you will not find any significant plot points or spoilers here. I will say that I got the definite feeling that the author either was personally familiar with law enforcement or did a bang-up job researching because she hit the nail on the head with her descriptions of both methods and relationships between members of the squad, as well as investigative techniques.

Every reviewer has their pet peeves, and this is one of mine. I get frustrated at crime novels that don’t get those aspects correct; it ruins the book for me. Not the case here.

I also particularly enjoyed the way the author crafted the plot. There were times that I thought, “Oh, it must be this” (not revealing anything here, sorry) or “Aha, I thought so!” I love it when I am right sometimes and wrong others. Being kept off-balance keeps me engaged. There is little that is more annoying than a predictable crime thriller. Again, you won’t find that problem here; instead, you will find twists and surprises throughout the book.

Silent Night is the first in the new Detective Iris Locke series, and it is a stellar read. Just make sure that you have time to devote to this one because reading carefully is a must. If you skim, you will miss important information. I do hope that future books move a little bit faster, now that we have been introduced to many of the characters (or have we?), but I will be looking forward to the next in the series.

SILENT NIGHT

AMZ:  https://geni.us/B07S9XPT9TSocial
Apple Books: https://tinyurl.com/y5nxuz7z
Kobo: https://tinyurl.com/yxpq5nk2 
Googleplay: https://tinyurl.com/y3ctd462

About the author
Geraldine Hogan was born in Ireland. She gained an Honors Degree in English Literature and Psychology from Dublin City University and a Postgraduate Degree in Training and Management from University College, Galway. She is an Irish award-winning and bestselling author of four contemporary fiction novels under the pen name Faith Hogan.
Silent Night is her first crime novel, her second is due out in December 2019.
She is currently working on her next novel. She lives in the west of Ireland with her husband, four children, and a very busy Labrador named Penny. She’s a writer, reader, enthusiastic dog walker, and reluctant jogger – except of course when it is raining!

You can find out more about Geraldine here:
www.Facebook/GeraldineHoganAuthor.com
Twitter @gerhogan
https://www.instagram.com/faithhoganauthor/

Silent Night by Geraldine Hogan
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Many crime thrillers claim to be “absolutely gripping,” but sometimes don’t live up to the hype. I’m happy to say that Silent Night by Geraldine Hogan does live up to the phrase. There is a lot to wade through at the beginning, but once the characters and setting are established, the action takes off. The reader is taken on quite a ride through the twists and turns of the murder investigation. I thought the author did a great job of keeping the action taut because it kept me hooked to the end. For more thoughts on what was so right about this five-star read, please visit my blog at Fireflies and Free Kicks Fiction Reviews. Thank you to NetGalley, Bookouture, and the author for a complimentary, pre-release, digital ARC of this book.

View all my reviews

This book drew me in right away with the premise of Innocence UK, a group that takes cases in which people may be imprisoned unjustly. I have always been fascinated with how “justice” works, so this looked very promising.

I thought Tess was an interesting character. It was apparent that she had issues of her own and used her job as a way to avoid dealing with her problems. However, when her latest case caused her to visit the town in which she grew up. Past and present collide to make one page-turner of a book.

The plot was well-paced. There was enough action to keep everything moving along, but it was methodical and didn’t feel like details were crammed in. Everything unfolded in a natural way, which I appreciated.

I also liked the way the author interspersed the flashbacks for both Carrie (the “case” that Tess is working on) and for Tess herself. The characters were similar in many ways, and the backstories of each woman illuminated the parallels. That being said, the method also gave me just enough information to keep me guessing and second-guessing what I thought I knew. I love it when a book does that.

Of course, this being a crime novel, I’m not going to give away the ending, but I will say it’s a good one. There were also a few twists that I did not see coming (I think one of my notes was “Oh, no WAY did that just happen!”) If you are looking for a cracking good entertaining novel to get you through the end-of-summer doldrums, pick up Clear My Name. A definite five stars. You won’t be disappointed.