THE LINES by Matt Brolly

4.99* Well written, well plotted, with the biggest baddie a shock and a betrayal. 

This is pretty fast moving, with a tale that felt all too true and believable in 2025 - Anywhere, not only UK. If Fentanyl really is the threat it's made out to be, it's freaking scary that it could be on our shores this easily (not done the research, 2025 is directly enough). 

The cop side of the tale works well, with a bunch of competent cops, even if the lead character - I've already forgotten his name - is kind of faceless. I recall his alopecia, that he came near to drowning and has issues with open water, has a kid with an ex, but he didn't stand out like a lead does, although that kind of made for a better tale for me, as I concentrated on the latter, solely. Yes, there's cop politics, and something that's been in the UK press about past police operations reared its head, again done so well, I couldn't figure out if I was seeing a baddie, a good guy turned shades of baddie, or a broken good guy. The ending, although there'd been hints of what transpired, felt believable, and there wasn't any sympathy to be had. The personal betrayal was a shocker, but blaming stuff on 'he was born a sociopath' felt a tad too much suspension of disbelief and didn't get enough page time, so it felt the tiniest bit...convenient. It didn't ruin anything but for me, more of an explanation was needed. 

That the romance aspect of the tale wasn't scuppered by what happened in the penultimate chapter (or possibly the last) surprised me. I fully expected the lead to get dumped, and tbh, the tale would've worked well without it, but it's nice that he's getting a life. Definitely worth reading, and I'm up for books 2, and the rest. 

ARC courtesy of NetGalley and Thomas and Mercer for my reading pleasure. 

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