Cathy Vasas-Brown

Every single one of Vasas-Brown’s books is compelling, gripping and just, well, brilliant. I can’t recommend them enough.

Whilst this book features a former character…and a former criminal…fear not, Vasas-Brown has makes these books stand alone very skilfully. And for those readers who have met the characters before, there’s no point at which you say ‘yawn, yes, I know all this’.

Dear old Hamlet said, ‘Tis now the very witching time of night, When churchyards yawn and hell itself breathes out.’ And in this story, it does…it so does.

The one piece of scum who’s managed to slip through Latham’s fingers before, re-enters her life. Despite having to get to the bottom of a series of fires, obviously the work of an arsonist, in her home town, her obsession and dogged determination to catch her nemesis is too powerful to resist when he sends her some rather creepy emails and reports of some awful events in India. An evil man, with a hideous proclivity, has got to be stopped and she is the only person to do this.

Vasas-Brown does everything to perfection: she develops her characters, structures a faultless plot, creates the right emotions for any scene, whether it’s criminal, romantic, sad, humorous or descriptive. It’s a book you wish you had the luxury of reading in one sitting. Annoyingly, I didn’t have that luxury, but the best thing, for a few days, about going to bed, was the thought of diving into Carolyn Latham’s quest.

Probably the worst thing about this book is finishing it. It’s impossible to get to the end of this author’s books without craving more.… (altro)

Oh. My. Goodness. I was well and truly thrilled by this thriller. I think my jaw dropped at page one and didn’t close until five minutes after I turned the last page. I think I need to seek out a thesaurus and look for every possible word for ‘outstanding’.

Opal: the girl at the end of a phone (a phone-sex line). The True Gentleman: he always speaks to Opal. She understands him. He adores her, he wants to be with her forever. But Opal leaves the phone-sex business and takes her true identity with her. The True Gentleman has to find her at all costs: she is ‘the one’.

Paige Rowan knows about the phone-sex business. And she knows who and where Opal is. Her discovery of a human foot by her car is a little too convenient. And the toe-ring…where has she seen it before? Is she in danger? Her terror is further intensified by the discovery of human remains on her property. Her now almost-perfect life is on the verge of being dismantled. By whom? The True Gentleman? The ex-boyfriend from whom she fled from Europe? The dissenters of the religious cult formed by her fanatical parents? Oh, what a web has been weaved!

Cathy Vasas-Brown’s writing is powerful and captivating. Every word, every scene is bang on point. There are twists and turns and just when you can think you’ve got it sussed, smack! you find yourself down another cul-de-sac.

Gripping, compelling, real edge-of-your seat class. Absolutely wonderful.
… (altro)

This was another outstanding novel by Cathy Vasas-Brown and the third I've read by this extremely talented author. I finish her books with the same thought each time: now THAT is what good writing is all about.

A young mother is half beaten to death. Her young daughter, Abby, disappears. Whilst Susan's waste-of-space, part-time...and now nowhere-to-be-found...husband is high on the list of suspects on both counts, Lieutenant Carolyn Latham is increasingly worried when the days stretch into weeks and the missing child still hasn't been found. Little does she realise the answer could lie in the connection between the murder of a young woman further afield and the death of a young student a number of years previously.

It's a riveting story, perfectly written; it's gripping, penned with efficiency and clarity, peppered with just enough emotion. Carolyn Latham is a committed and dedicated police officer with heart. She has people she loves around her, but always remains focussed on her job.

Vasas-Brown keeps you on your toes: I changed my mind a number of times about the identity of the evil-doer.

Carolyn Latham appears in Vasas-Brown's Safe as Churches and The Monitor (equally excellent books), and whilst Sympathy for the Devil is completely stand-alone, there's a very tantalising prospect of one more enthralling case.

Thank heavens for that.
… (altro)