#WinterChills ‘Hangman’ by Jack Heath

About the book…

A 14-year-old boy vanishes on his way home from school. His frantic mother receives a disturbing ransom call. It’s only hours before the deadline, and the police have no leads.

Enter Timothy Blake, codename Hangman. Blake is a genius, known for solving impossible cases. He’s also a sociopath – the FBI’s last resort.

But this time Blake might have met his match. The kidnapper is more cunning and ruthless than anyone he’s faced before. And Blake has been assigned a new partner, a woman linked to the past he’s so desperate to forget.

Timothy Blake has a secret, one so dark he will do anything to keep it hidden.

And he also has a price. Every time he saves a life, he takes one…

Published in 2018 (2018!!!!)  ‘Hangman’has ,in my opinion, been the victim of not one but 2 (2!) crimes.

Firstly, it has not been read enough.

Secondly, it has been compared to the Dexter series and the Lecter series. This is sloppy, inaccurate and does Jack’s creation as disservice as Timothy Blake is the darkest, nastiest creature imaginable working for the side of law enforcement.

An uneasy truce exists where the justice system looks away from Tim’s proclivities because he is very, very good at catching monsters. Maybe it is because he is one himself, but as he peels away his layers in a grotesque strip tease through the chapters, his motivations and reasonings take on such logic that you find yourself siding with him.

This is another one of the unearthed, as I shall henceforth be referring to my back catalogue, and one which I regret not reading sooner.

Timothy is a character that bites down hard on your peace of mind and doesn’t let go, as the clues mount up, the riddles fry this reader’s brain. As the titular hangman, he solves mysteries and puzzles sent to him and this is his primary source of income.

He lives in the worst type of housing with the housemate from hell, has some terrible appetites that the FBI help him with in return for consulting with them on cases which they cannot crack. In this debut opening, he is paired with a handler to investigate a kidnapping of a teen boy.

So far, so Law and Order.

But oh my god the twists and turns that Jack Heath makes with a simple premise will leave your jaw unhinged and your sense reeling.

I will say no more other than to highly recommend this fiendish puzzle book wherein you and the protagonist are playing hangman against the clock in a game of survival. Will you make it to the very end?

About the author… 

Jack Heath wrote his debut novel, The Lab, in secondary school and sent it to a publisher at age seventeen. He’s now the award-winning author of forty novels for adults and children, including the international bestsellers Hangman, ‘The Wife Swap’ and 300 Minutes of Danger.

His books have been translated into ten languages, optioned for TV and adapted for film. He lives on Ngunnawal/Ngambri country in Canberra, Australia, with his wife, their children, several chickens, a few fish and a possum named Oreo.

Twitter @jackheathwriter @Hanover_Square

Links-http://jackheathwriter.com/