I started reading The Two O’Clock Boy and THAT kept me up at night. Because I couldnt put the blinking thing down and it was entirely brilliant. I can say in all honesty that it was banging good – insanely addictive – as dark as you like (and I like it dark) with a main protagonist to die for. Add in a twisted, compelling story with some relevant and thought provoking themes and you have a magnificent read that will stay with you long after you put it down. If you love tv shows like Luther and you like the good guys to be not quite as good as all that then you’ll love Ray Drake even though he’ll possibly terrify you too. But hey I always liked the bad boys. And to be fair he’s going after a killer who is pretty terrifying too. If you like a thriller that has great depth of character, enough twists in the tail to satisfy a rattlesnake, a fantastic supporting cast and the ability to make you keep turning the pages as if they were a drug habit you just can’t quite quit then this book is for you. More if you are a crime fan. Even MORE if you just like blinking good writing which tells a blinking good story and then leaves you just wanting more. Highly Recommended

Casting aside his nom de plume of Crime Thriller Fella, former blogger, Mark Hill marches stridently onto the crime fiction scene with a debut that is compelling and intriguing, and perhaps more importantly a damn good read.  With one of the most ominous and chilling openings that I have encountered this year, as the story draws you in, you would be forgiven for thinking that this would then appear to be a pretty standard London set police procedural. But you’d be wrong. Oh yes, and here’s why… There is a pernicious killer at work in old London town with the self-styled monicker of the Two O’clock Boy, the reasons for which are gradually unfurled in a real smoke and mirrors tale of childhood abuse, combined with slick police procedural. With its intertwining timelines, depicting the less than savoury goings on at a children’s home some years previously, and the spotlight on DI Ray Drake and his team to solve the current murders, the links between the past and Drake’s own personal history are neatly threaded together. With some degree of frustration, this is one of those books that thwarts the reviewer at every turn, without stepping in a big pile of spoilers, but suffice to say Drake proves an interesting and damaged conduit between past and present, and his character is never less than intriguing and utterly instrumental to this reader’s enjoyment of the book. The plotting is consistently superb, tinged with a real darkness that unsettles and disturbs throughout, and the pacing and balance between the two gradually revealed interconnected time periods is beautifully weighted. Likewise, the characterisation of both the police protagonists, and the characters connected to the children’s home, both in the past and present is assuredly done. Hill captures not only the naivety, false bravery, and emotional fragility of the children’s personalities, but how this shapes and moulds them and their experiences on reaching adulthood. It’s sensitively and realistically handled, despite the darkness of his central plot, and I guarantee that when certain truths are revealed about this period in some of the protagonist’s lives, your sense of empathy will be roundly manipulated. As I have alluded to, the character of Drake is of tantamount importance to the whole plot, as is the multi-faceted nature of his personality that he presents to the world. I also liked his sidekick, DS Flick Crowley, whose exasperation with Drake, and some personal issues of her own, provide a bit more colour to the whole affair, and provide a strong partnership for future investigations. So, pleased to report that Two O’Clock Boy delivers on so many levels, with emotional depth,  strong characters, and an effective and suspense-building use of contrasting timelines, to carry the plot along at a pleasing pace. The Raven recommends. Highly.

When I first heard about this book, I knew that I had to read it. Not only is the author, Mark Hill, a brilliant book blogger (well, once upon a time before he wrote a cracking novel!) but oh my gosh, THAT blurb! That blurb feels like it was written for me. There was also a fabulous .gif doing the rounds, which caught my eye too (I do love a .gif). I felt this book was destined for my TBR. DI Ray Drake’s past is coming back to haunt him. People he knew as a child are being horrifically killed along with their partners and children. It can’t be something to do with Ray though, can it? Whilst investigating the murder of ex-associate, Kenny, it comes to light that he was in the process of writing his memoirs, an exposé of his time at the ill fated Longacre children’s home. DI Drake is only supervising the case though, newly promoted DS Flick Crowley is in charge and Ray is determined that his secret will never see the light of day. And he’s prepared to do whatever it takes… From the opening chapters you feel that there is something….amiss about DI Ray Drake. There is no reason to dislike this man but you can feel he has deeply buried secrets and boy, you want to know what they are! He gets under your skin. Then he starts to behave inappropriately for a DI and your brain goes into overdrive; ‘what is going on with this fella?’ you find yourself asking. He is a brilliantly written character and I take my hat off to Mark Hill. I became quite obsessed with trying to work out what was going on with Ray, what his thing was and maybe even a little obsessed with Ray, himself! DS Flick Crowley didn’t have the same draw as DI Drake did for me. I liked her, and I can see her being a favourite of many other readers, but I think I was so totally smitten with DI Drake that Flick wasn’t really on my radar. I hope there is a second book as she may be one of those characters that, for me, needs time to grow and develop. There were two other characters in The Two O’Clock Boy who won my heart; Elliot and Connor. Connor is a complete enigma, the cool kid at the home who beats up the bullies but stands up and says I was wrong, when the moment requires. And the bully turned family man, Elliot. How I absolutely loved Elliot. The plot is very clever. This book felt fresh to me; something different that I haven’t encountered before. There’s not a lot else I can say about the plot without giving away spoilers but just let me say that it’s quite an intricate storyline. I’m afraid I managed to work out who the killer was but it’s a habit of mine now to look for the killer (I really need to stop doing this and just enjoy the book!). It didn’t spoil my enjoyment of the rest of the book and to be honest, there are much bigger twists than the reveal of the killer for the reader to concentrate on. Would I recommend this book? I most definitely would. In fact, this is a book that all crime fiction fans should read as it’s quite different to other detective novels. Not only do you have a cracking whodunit story but you also have a cast of brilliantly written characters that make reading this book a joy. I was so captivated with what Ray’s secret could be and oh my, it’s a corker! And to think this a debut – I can’t wait to see what else Mark Hill has in store for us. Four and a half stars out of five. I chose to read and review an ARC of The Two O’Clock Boy.