Denise Ryan writes a good thriller. She begins this book with unconnected events, past and present, and then weaves her characters’ stories together. I like the juxtaposition of these as they smoothly mesh into a coherent whole. I am familiar with the book’s backgrounds in the Netherlands and the North West of England and find them both equally convincing. The leading actors are firmly rooted in their respective careers and homes or in the lack of those attributes. Denise Ryan makes excellent use of her own work experiences to supply the diplomatic background for the Amsterdam sections and paints a clear picture of the Dutch scene; similarly modern Liverpool emerges clearly as the setting for realistic events.
The tale centres on the half-sisters, Alyssa and Frankie, both with appalling problems facing them and caught in situations which are not fully of their making and which seem outside their control. The twists of events are sometimes breathtaking as they both try to deal with their inner and outer enemies. Alyssa has served a sentence for murder but insists that she is innocent, and hopes that she can contact the mother who left her and the sister who does not know of her existence. Frankie has a marriage that is suddenly collapsing and an unexpected debt which is large and which she cannot pay. As both sisters struggle in these toils, a mystery character offers Frankie financial aid - but what will she have to do in return?
The cover has a lovely representation of Liverpool behind a young woman who is, I am sure, intended to represent the two sisters at the heart of the drama - since they are characterised by their identical luminous grey eyes it is a pity that here we have a dark-eyed lady!
This is an enjoyable and exciting read which grabs your attention and makes
you fully involved in the roller coaster of emotions experienced by those characters.
The end is a satisfying and thrilling one with all the threads then firmly tied
up.
------
Jennifer Palmer
Denise Ryan has written four previous crime novels, The Hit,
Dead Keen, Betrayed and Backlash - two of these feature Shannon Flinders,
two, like Blood Knot are stand alone titles.