Destination thriller set in THAILAND (and London)
Thriller set in Newcastle and Northumberland (with a little bit of Norway…)
18th November 2015
The Silent Room by Mari Hannah, thriller set in Newcastle and Northumberland (with a bit of Norway thrown in…).
The Silent Room is a stand alone thriller from Northumberland author, Mari Hannah (i.e. it is not in the successful Kate Daniels series). It is pacey, fast moving – and a real page turner. A disgraced Special Branch officer, Jack Fenwick, is being transferred from the Newcastle Courts to Durham prison when the security van he is in is hijacked. Is he being freed by the gang he was in cahoots with, or is he being kidnapped? His Detective Sergeant, Matthew Ryan, investigates – first as a serving officer, then as a serving officer under suspension for his association with his ‘freed’ friend, and finally again as a serving officer working alongside Eloise O’Neil, the DI in charge of Professional Standards. They are a great team. The investigation takes them up and down Northumberland and then to Norway… and a thrilling finale back on Tyneside. I can’t really say much more without giving too much of the plot away (always an issue when reviewing a thriller). But, trust me, The Silent Room is a great and exciting read that you will find hard to put down.
For me The Silent Room illustrates perfectly the rational behind TripFiction. Yes, the book is a really good read for anyone who likes thrillers. But I happen to live in Northumberland just outside Newcastle – and that gives an added dimension. ‘See a location through the eyes of an author’ could not ring truer. I was mesmerised as the action moved from the Newcastle Crown Court on the Quayside, over the iconic Tyne Bridge, and then around several familiar parts of Newcastle and Northumberland. Mari’s home is in South Northumberland (not far from where I live…) and her descriptions of the locations in the book are both accurate and evocative.
The location-based bit is, of course, the icing on the cake and not the cake itself. The book has to be good and stand alone – and The Silent Room certainly is. Mari used to be a Probation Officer and her partner just happens to be an ex murder detective. She writes with authority and understanding of the police service (flaws and all…). A very ‘real’ account…
The Silent Room is a genuinely worthwhile read. I thoroughly recommend it.
Tony for the TripFiction team
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