This is the third Tony Parsons book I've read and the third Detective Max Wolfe. Whilst I've read them in order, I've skipped over a few. I'm totally hooked on this author. He delivers. He's an excellent crime writer, but at the same time, his characters' relationships are credible and well observed.

This time, DCI Wolfe is hunting down kidnappers, who have taken a young mother. But they've got the wrong woman. Of course, our hardy Max has to wade through vile criminals, vile crimes and a whole heap of immorality to try to find her before the kidnappers carry out the inevitable.

As always, there are twists and turns, nail-biting scenes and just general excellent page-turning stuff. Parsons has a wonderful way of explaining police procedures in a gentle, clear and concise way and unpatronisingly. The only thing that irritated me…again, but more this time…was the obsession with Max's BMX X5. The constant reference to make and model has now got tiresome. It's a car. Just a car. It hasn't put me off this brilliant author's work, of course, but, please, stop.

No sooner finished, than I'm hunting around for the next Parsons read! ( )

Tony Parsons will always have a warm place in my heart after his ground breaking Man & Boy now unbelievably written 20 years ago, What Parsons excels in is relationships and in particular the dynamics of family life how passion can easily turn to sadness,and how there is very little that separates those great human emotions; love and hate. So when the author turned his skillful hand to writing a detective series I was eager to see if he could bring the same warmth to characters in a totally different setting, and I was certainly not disappointed. D I Max Wolfe is a a single parent living above Smithfield meat market in central London. He shares his life with daughter Scout, Stan the dog and irascible Mrs Murphy who sees herself as guardian of this lovely little family. Ex wife Anne has flown the nest although we do meet her periodically in the series and she paints a rather sad picture of a mother too concerned with her own financial aspirations to be bothered about her daughter. But this helps Parsons develop the character of Wolfe letting his warmth shine through and loved without question by Stan and Scout. To me relationships form the heart of TP's writing brilliantly depicted against a criminal background

Not like most crime novels Parsons has a clear simple plot; Jessica Lyle is kidnapped whilst driving her friend Snezia's BMW. Is this a case of mistaken identity were the kidnappers really after Synezia and by doing so hoping to blackmail her gangster boyfriend Harry Flowers. Thats the plot and it runs along at a cracking pace but as implied above this is not what endears me to this novel. It is TP's razor sharp observations of the human condition and the human heart with all the pain it must endure in a short lifetime......"the recently dead do not leave us immediately. They stay close by, held by the sadness of leaving, and the human bonds that were made in this world"...."They were like brother and sister towards the end. Isn't that the way it always ends up between men and women, if you leave them together long enough?",,,,,

There is a wonderful scene in the final chapter. It is sports day at Scouts school and because her birthday is at the end of July she is always competing against fellow classmates who are older and thus have the advantage of age. All she wants to do is just once win a gold, silver or bronze sticker either in the heats or in the final. She lines up against 3 fellow competitors one of whom is a rather overweight pupil...surely on this day she can win not a first place not even a second place but just possibly a third and perhaps finally receive a bronze sticker...well this is Tony Parsons writing and I am sure if you now understand his psyche a little better you will surely know the answer and the race outcome. A wonderful writer that brings a much needed warmth to a great detective series. Highly Recommended ( )

When Jessica Lyle is abducted in front of her apartment, the kidnappers obviously made a big mistake. It was not the lovely mother of a baby-boy, but her flatmate Snezia Jones who was the target since she is the mistress of London’s drug dealer number one: Harry Flowers. This is personal, the woman has been taken to get to the underworld boss who is so distressed that he comes personally to DC Max Wolfe to offer his assistance. It does not help the police that Jessica’s parents immediately go public with the case, they want their daughter back and they give their mission a hashtag to spread the word: #taken. Yet, this media hype only leads to more people who have waited a long time for their chance to take revenge on Harry Flowers. Jessica remains missing and obviously, the time is running out.

I absolutely love Tony Parson’s series about DC Max Wolfe, the sixth instalment actually was one of the best so far. The author has created a plot that can really surprise due to the astonishing twists and turns.

This time, Max Wolfe’s team really has a hard job to do since they need the cooperation of the drug dealer Harry Flowers and have to rely on his information – which not only is all but reliable but also brings Max and also his daughter Scout in the highest danger. The threat comes from a very unexpected side but it was absolutely credible from a human point of view. Apart from the missing person’s case, Max has to struggle again with his ex-wife Anne and the question of how to educate Scout. Surprisingly, the loss of Max’s lover Edie Wren which happened at the end of the last book in the series did not really play a big role even though I expected this to have a large impact on him.

Again, a masterly crafted plot around a set of very unique characters makes a great read. ( )