Just Had Another Good Review Go Up On Amazon!

Here it is, from one of Amazon's Top 100 Reviewers! He really got what the book was about, which was gratifying.


4.0 out of 5 stars Top notch and thought provoking, 15 July 2010

By N. Brett (Wiltshire, England) - See all my reviews
(TOP 100 REVIEWER) (REAL NAME) (VINE VOICE)

This review is from: Rough Justice (Dan Shepherd Mystery) (Paperback)

Having read all of Stephen leather's thriller and particularly enjoyed the "Spider Shepherd" tales, I am an established fan but I can honestly say that Rough Justice is as good as anything the author has written. Rough Justice works on a number of levels, it is a thriller that deals with the very grey areas between justice and revenge and also asks some uncomfortable questions.

Here we have Spider going undercover to expose some rogue Police officers who are taking justice into their own hands set within an environment that is perhaps overly politically correct and overly protective of the bad guys rather then the victims. Spider gets his own exposure to this in a scenario that is scarily (and sadly) true. In balance to this we also have Spider considering taking things into his own hands as a result of a terrorist attack....

This moves at pace but the author does a great job of giving all the characters real personalities amid excellent research. The banter and process of the Police team that Spider works with felt spot on, as did their varying attitudes and frustrations. I sense that Stephen Leather is no fan of the "Nanny State" (a theme repeated in his other recent book, Nightfall), and it would be hard to argue with him based on the themes in this book. But this is a thriller and it works very well at that level, you get a sense of the tension and the pressures of working undercover and the difficulty of maintaining two identities. As a reader you are likely to change your mind about what is acceptable and what is not, or at the very least you will pause to think about your views of right and wrong.

There are some significant changes in this novel as well, and a possible change of direction for Spider, it's an interesting one although it may well take future books into a direction already quite well populated and away from the unique(ish) undercover scenario we have become used to. And there are still some things to be resolved........

A great thriller from an author at the top of his game. Recommended.