Book Review – Dead Blind @RebeccaJBradley

Dead Blind

One of my most favourite crime writers and fellow Nottingham author is back with her new novel Dead Blind.

“How do you identify a ruthless killer when you can’t even recognise your own face in a mirror? 

Returning to work following an accident, Detective Inspector Ray Patrick refuses to disclose he now lives with face blindness – an inability to recognise faces.

As Ray deceives his team he is pulled into a police operation that targets an international trade in human organs. And when he attempts to bring the organisation down, Ray is witness to a savage murder. 

But it’s a killer he will never remember.

The pressure mounts as Ray attempts to keep his secret and solve the case alone. With only his ex-wife as a confidant he feels progressively isolated.

Can he escape with his career and his life intact?”

My Thoughts:

What would you do if you work up from a serious accident and couldn’t recognise anybody? Further more desperate to return to a job you love and you witness murder only feet in front of you, but you are unable to identify the killer?

Hot off the tails of “Fighting Monsers” Rebecca Bradley’s latest novel “Face Blind” throws us into a game of cat and mouse, only the other side have an advantage.

The latest outing from Rebecca introduces us to a new characters and moves away from Nottingham and into the capital.

We are dropped straight in the action as DI Ray Patrick and his partner DS Elaine are in hot pursuit through the streets of London which ends in tragedy.

We zip forward six months and DI Patrick is returning to work, though he is physically and mentally fit he is hiding a secret diagnosis that threatens to end his policing career. He is suffering from a condition called Prosopagnosia or Face Blindness which means he doesn’t recognise anybody.

Like a school teacher at the beginning of every year he creates a desk plan of where everyone sits and their identifiable markers, to help him recognise his team. Which works until someone sits in a different place.

While Ray has been away his team have been investigate a case of illegal organ donation. When a young boy approaches them with an offer they can’t refuse, taking them straight to the head guy. The DI has his concerns about the meeting but is carried along by his colleagues with the promise of success and bringing a network down. But tragedy strikes and Ray witnesses it all but is unable to identify the killer.

Elaine realises there is something wrong with Ray but is heartbroken that he won’t share his problems and fears the worst. The only people who know the truth are Ray’s doctor and his Ex-wife Helen who still supports Ray even when he turns up at all hours and had left her because of the job he loves. Ray also has a new girlfriend who still seems to stick by him no matter how badly he treats her.

We meet a whole new range of characters in this book whose lives we get a sneak peek into, leaving me wondering if Rebecca plans to continue this series adding another string to her bow. Or is this the beginning of a new theme in Rebecca’s writing.

A well written book, showing us the lengths people will go to for a job they love when a medical diagnoses threats to end it all. A book whose main character I could relate to as I like anyone else suffering a chronic illness battle through our bad days for a job we love.

 

More on Prosopagnosia

Oliver Sacks explains Face Blindness

The author of “The Colour of Bee Larkins Murder”

Chris Pine’s struggles when people forget his name

Brad Pitt thinks he might be Face Blind

Rebecca can be contacted via

https://twitter.com/RebeccaJBradley

https://www.facebook.com/RebeccaBradleyCrime/

https://www.rebeccabradleycrime.com/ – lot of useful blog posts here especially for us Crime writers