Serial Date by DV Berkom

AMAZON UK
AMAZON US

Now this, this is what thrillers are made of: grit, spunk, no-nonsense and one-hundred-and-ten-percent unputdownability. (Yes, I made that word up.) I’m not going to make any excuses for using those frequently bandied-about words like 'fast-paced', 'action-packed', 'page-turner' because this book quite simply is all of those things and more.

So, by now you’ll have realised that I really liked this book. I just love picking up a book by an author I’ve not read before, thoroughly enjoying the book and then finding that s/he has many more books tucked under his or her belt for me to enjoy. I can’t wait to feast on this author’s collection.

This was the first in the Leine Basso thrillers. Unusual reality show Serial Date hits a bit of a snag when a contestant is murdered…seemingly by one of the other contestants. Leine Basso joins the show as a security officer. Which is rather handy for the killer, who seems hell-bent on revenge on her. The skills she learnt in her former capacity as an assassin are not allowed to rest. She has to draw on every single one of them when he abducts her daughter to lure her to him.

Cleverly threaded through the story is Leine’s back story. Subtle snippets here and there until you realise you know a whole lot about her, her marriage, her daughter, her dramatic past, without being overly aware of the information fed to you. Throw in a bit of love interest with the detective on the case, a seedy senator, the show producer with a mentally ill brother, a sadistic killer, quite a lot of blood, and you’ve got one vindaloo of a thriller: hot, spicy, eye-watering, fiery, strong and sharp.

Quite simply: brilliant.