Warning – This blog post will discuss books 1 and 2 in the Fawkes and Baxter series, but I will try and avoid any big spoilers! Nobody likes a spoiler – or at least I don’t. Hate them. Anyway…
So, Ragdoll (Book 1) was good. Really good. I thought it was gripping, violent, disturbing and I couldn’t look away. And I loved Emily Baxter who is now one of my all time favourite characters and Wolf, AKA William Fawkes was ok. He was probably better than ok, but Emily was my gal.
And then Hangman (Book 2) was Epic. It had everything about Ragdoll that kept me glued to my kindle the first time around but it just had MORE. It was more disturbing, more violent, more gripping and I raced through the pages. The only thing that was missing in Hangman was Fawkes – Wolf, and I didn’t miss him. Emily got in there and got the job done.
So, I went into Endgame with BIG, big expectations. And I wasn’t disappointed.
My very first thought was – Fawkes was back! And as much as I hadn’t missed him in the last book the character tension between Baxter and Wolf added a whole other level to the story. And a splash of humour that was missing from the previous two books.
I do love Emily Baxter – she can be a bit of a badass, but Daniel Cole does a brilliant job at making sure all the characters are unique, memorable, dysfunctional and a real mish-mash of personalities. I loved Edmunds as always. And Andrea.
The writing was great, the pacing was spot on and I couldn’t put the book down. But, as with the first 2 it is not for the faint-hearted.
Endgame was maybe my favourite book in the trilogy (I can’t quite pick!?!), but Cole writes in the author note that he has the bare bones of an idea for a further novel lined up. Yay. So not just a trilogy.
In my opinion, Cole found his writing stride with Endgame and I hope he hurries up and writes the next book. I will be pre-ordering.
Daniel Cole is now one of my favourite crime writers, I tend to stay away from author comparisons, but I think it’s a safe bet to say if you like Chris Carter then you will enjoy Daniel Cole’s writing style.
Highly recommended.
I received a copy of Endgame from the publisher via NetGalley for the blog tour – Thank you!
Book Blurb:
A locked room. A dead body. A secret that went to the grave.
When retired police officer Finlay Shaw is found dead in a locked room, everyone thinks it’s suicide. But disgraced detective William ‘Wolf’ Fawkes isn’t so sure.
Together with his former partner Detective Emily Baxter and private detective Edmunds, Wolf’s team begin to dig into Shaw’s early days on the beat. Was Shaw as innocent as he seemed? Or is there more to his past than he’d ever let on?
But not everyone wants Wolf back – and as his investigation draws him ever deeper into police corruption, it will not only be his career on the line – but the lives of those he holds closest as well…
One More Word 
Great review, I loved all three of these books, I had read Ragdoll just as Hangman came out and then was really pleased to get Endgame as an ARC just took a little remembering what had happened as it had been a year since reading the others. I think now I try and read a trilogy one after the other. But these were so good. I too think Daniel Cole is a great crime author.
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Thank you! Cole certainly knows how to write a gripping crime novel.
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Ooh this sounds really good! I read a review for Ragdoll a while ago and that looked good too! Definitely need to track down a copy! Great review!
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Thank you!
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