55 by James Delargy

55 Reviews

• 
  Paromjit

  Another Aussie crime writer establishes himself as the latest to pen an intense and intriguing novel with a fabulous premise Set in Western Australia Wilbrook is a small empty shell of a town with the remnants of a history that included gold mining blue asbestos and iron ore Sergeant Chandler Jenkins leads his small police team where domestics are the usual fare Everything is about to change when a terrified injured man Gabriel enters the police station with a scary tale of being held by a serial killer Heath intent on killing him telling he will be number 55 He manages to escape and is unsettled and jittery convinced Heath will find him Chandler sees him to the local hotel with one of his team Jim on guard outside the building Another injured man Heath is bought to the station for attempting to steal a car Heath claims he only wanted the car to escape a serial killer named Gabriel who was planning to kill him as number 55 until he escaped With well nigh identical stories who is Chandler to believe? Or perhaps they are eually guilty with the pair being in cahoots working together until they fell out?The story has two timelines the present and one from 2002 when Chandler and Mitchell Andrews were rookie cops involved in search for a young missing hiker Martin lost in the unforgiving heat of the outback accompanied by a distraught father with his younger son Davie Something clearly causes a deep schism between Chandler and Mitchell in the past that resulted in Mitchell moving to the city whilst climbing the promotional ladder Mitchell is now a Inspector and Chandler's boss he arrives in Wilbrook to takeover police operations to get to the bottom of what is clearly going to be a huge case He brings his own team with every intention of sidelining Chandler A fraught and tense relationship highlights the differences between the two men Mitchell is a highly ambitious and political animal constantly denigrating Chandler not averse to manipulation engaging in brutality and not interested in developing team relationships Jenkins takes it upon himself to ensure the well being of his team and takes a keen interest in their development The past has strong links and uncomfortable echoes in the present as Chandler is to find to his costWhilst I really enjoyed this wonderful debut with its strong sense of location and the depiction of never ending heat I am not so keen on the ending Delargy does a terrific job in building suspense and tension as the reader wonders doubts debates and looks for clues as to whether the serial killer is Gabriel or Heath It is Chandler who is interested in getting to the bottom of who the two men are digging into their past history and trying to discern the motive behind the killings The characterisation is done well with Chandler the good guy and Mitchell is a self centred and unpleasant individual his interest primarily in the glory he thinks he will accrue anytime things do not go his way he has a scapegoat lined up This novel is another great addition to the rising genre of Aussie Noir I found it entertaining and engaging and such gripping reading fare despite the unsatisfying ending Many thanks to Simon and Schuster for an ARC
• 
  Kylie D

  Wow this is one book that will get a grip on you and wont let go Two suspects each with the same story blaming the other A possible 54 bodies somewhere Small town cop Chandler has no choice but to call in the bigwigs including his estranged former best friend MitchMitch and his crew come in and take over but Mitch is an arrogant moron I have no idea how he got to such a high ranking and the whole thing goes belly up With a police force divided and a serial killer on the loose this makes for an action packed explosive story As we race towards the stunning conclusion we have to ask ourselves could this really happen?This is a wonderful debut James Delargy tells a tale so astonishing it comes alive on the page The harsh outback setting adds to the atmosphere the flawed and the irritating characters all giving voice to a marvellous story I dare you to put this book down Recommended for crime lovers everywhere45 stars rounded upMy thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an ARC in exchange for an honest review
• 
  Carolyn

  Whoa This was one high tension read I don't think my heartbeat returned to normal the whole way through And that ending Mr Delargy How Could You?This is a very clever debut novel with two young men beaten and bloodied first one and then the other walking in to a police station claiming to be backpackers with an alarming story of abduction by a man who told them they were going to be killed as his victim number 55 Both tell identical stories of being locked and shackled in a small hut followed by a terrifying escape through the harsh and rugged bush surrounding the small outback town in northern Western Australia The local Sergent Chandler Jenkins doesn't know who to believe Either one of them is guilty or they're both working together to abduct and kill lone backpackers Chandler has no choice but to call the regional commander specifically Inspector Mitchell Andrews with whom he has past history Once colleagues starting out together in the force Mitch felt he was made for higher command and forced his way to the top growing in arrogance and self importance as he went Delargy keeps us guessing most of the way through this novel as to how this will all end As well as the conflict between the two suspects both claiming their innocence there is tension between Chandler and Mitch as Mitch walks in and takes over his station and sneeringly orders his staff around Flashbacks to their early days in the local force when they were both on an extended search for a missing man highlights their different natures and approaches to policing It is Chandler who will eventually through good police work discover the identity and motives of the killer but not before the tension builds to a pressure that is about to explode A well written debut novel with well depicted characters and a well paced intense plot Definitely a new writer to look out for in the future 45★ With thanks to Netgalley and Simon Schuster for a digital ARC to read
• 
  Phrynne

  This book started so well with two men in police custody each one claiming to be the victim of the other Who to believe and how to discover the truth?What a great premise which led to an interesting and intriguing story The Australian setting was well done but I thought the characters needed work Most of them had a name but no background and the two main players who did have a lot of background Chandler and Mitch became rather tedious with their overdramatised feudStill a good readable story until the last page That was one of the worst endings ever I am afraid my disappointment in that has affected both my rating and my review
• 
  Sandy *The world could end while I was reading and I would never notice*

  EXCERPT Chandler could almost see Gabriel's heart pound under his tee shirt The memories were flooding back intense and uncontrolled After a long breath that seemed to suck the last of the oxygen from the stifling room he continued 'I aimed for the ridge I glanced back and he was about ten metres behind me I kept running and running until I stumbled on some loose soil and fell into a small clearing The ground was all dug up' Gabriel stared at him 'They were graves'ABOUT THIS BOOK Wilbrook in Western Australia is a sleepy remote town that sits on the edge of miles and miles of unexplored wilderness It is home to Police Sergeant Chandler Jenkins who is proud to run the town's small police station a place used to dealing with domestic disputes and noise complaintsAll that changes on a scorching day when an injured man stumbles into Chandler's station He's covered in dried blood His name is Gabriel He tells Chandler what he remembersHe was drugged and driven to a cabin in the mountains and tied up in iron chains The man who took him was called Heath Heath told Gabriel he was going to be number 55 His 55th victimHeath is a serial killerAs a manhunt is launched a man who says he is Heath walks into the same station He tells Chandler he was taken by a man named Gabriel Gabriel told Heath he was going to be victim 55Gabriel is the serial killerTwo suspects Two identical stories Which one is the truth?MY THOUGHTS Gabriel? Heath? Gabriel? Heath? Gabriel and Heath? My mind was rather like a tumble dryer while I read this intense debut novel set in the outback of Western Australia Then there is the back story of Chandler and Mitchell cleverly interwoven childhood friends adult rivals in ways than one Their rivalry puts than the investigation in danger There is a lot going on in this book But it is clearly written And cleverly written The tension is indescribable The ending debatable 'What?' I yelled 'That can't be the end There's got to be pages' But there wasn't I kept thumbing the page turner on my Kindle glaring at the 100% at the bottom of the page I threw my arms in the air and stomped around the house It changed nothing There was no But I hope there will be 😍🤔🤨🤯5THE AUTHOR James Delargy was born and raised in Ireland but lived in South Africa Australia and Scotland before ending up in semi rural England where he now livesDISCLOSURE Thank you to Simon and Schuster Australia via Netgalley for providing a digital ARC of 55 by James Delargy for review All opinions expressed in this review are entirely my own personal opinions For an explanation of my rating system please refer to my Goodreadscom profile page or the about page on sandysbookadaywordpresscomThis review and others are also published on Twitter and my webpage
• 
  NZLisaM

  35 rounded up to 4In the small isolated Outback town of Gardner's Hill Western Australia a distraught man named Gabriel stumbles into the police station He claims to have been held prisoner by a serial killer called Heath who intended him to be victim no 55 Later that day another man turns up with the exact same story stating his name as Heath but is adamant Gabriel is the killer not him Which man is lying? It's up to Senior Sergeant Chandler Jenkins to figure out which of the two is a threat to the people in his townA steady paced engrossing thriller with a gripping uniue premise It was well written twisty with creepy religious undertones The remote lonely location served as a scary reminder that so much of the Australian Outback is unpopulated and unliveable – the perfect private hunting ground for a serial killer to hideAside from the prologue events unfold entirely from Chandlers POV in the third person Mostly takes place in the present with occasional flashbacks to 10 years previously It is very much a male dominated book with few female characters and the ones that there are aren't well developed Chandler is a likeable character but not the brightest tool in the shed and also somewhat spineless at sticking up for himself The rivalry between Chandler and visiting Inspector Mitch Adams did become tiresome but for the plot to go in the direction it did became hugely important so keep that in mind if you find their arguments getting on your nervesThe ending saw me screaming in frustration and I'm eually divided between it being clever versus just plain annoying I'm hopeful it's foreshadowing for a seuel but could just as easily be deliberately open ended and left to your own interpretation Put it this way I think readers are going to either love it or hate it – nothing in betweenA movie is in the works and I think it has a lot of potential if done right and I'm curious to see whether they keep or change the ending? Recommend to my fellow thriller readers who enjoy small town Australian noir Would I read another book by James Delargy – definitely – particularly if it's a seuel to this one I'd like to thank Netgalley Simon Schuster Australia and James Delargy for the e ARC 55 is available now
• 
  Brenda

  Sergeant Chandler Jenkins was in charge of the small police station in Wilbrook Western Australia One morning a bedraggled and bloodied individual who said his name was Gabriel entered the station telling of the horror of being abducted beaten and threatened with murder; that he would be victim number 55 He said the person who did this way out in the bush called himself Heath But it wasn’t much later that another individual in the same shattered state entered the station gave his name as Heath and said Gabriel had abducted him telling him he would be number 55Much against Chandler’s wishes the big guns from Port Hedland were brought in and his nemesis the now Inspector Mitchell Andrews put himself in charge Determined to find the answers to who the serial killer was; who the two men were; and receive accolades for his cleverness Andrews uickly turned people against him Chandler relegated to lower duties put his time in trying to work out who was who and why the events were happening What would be the outcome in this baffling case?With a terrible ending – shocking horrible completely unexpected – and a lot of macho posturing from Mitch amid his ongoing feud with Chandler this debut novel was less than perfect in my opinion The tension is gripping; breathtaking but rather spoiled by Mitch and his determination to better Chandler Author James Delargy’s novel 55 has divided people into two different groups going on the ratings so far and I’m afraid I’m in the lower rating category The formatting left a lot to be desired as wellWith thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for my digital ARC to read in exchange for an honest review
• 
  Pauline

  A small police station in a uiet remote town in Australia is sent into chaos when a man arrives stating that he has been held prisoner by a serial killer and he was to be victim number 55 Later that day another man arrives with the same story and these two men are blaming each other Unfortunately the first man can no longer be foundA slow burning story with some good charactersThank you to NetGalley Simon and Schuster UK Fiction for my e copy in exchange for an honest review
• 
  Liz Barnsley

  One sitting totally absorbing and utterly addictive read with a KILLER ending that is “55” the novel coming next year from James DeLargey definitely a writer to watch although I’m not sure I’d like to live in his headOne victim One killer But which is which? This is the conundrum facing our beleagured main protagonist Chandler manning a small police station in the back end of nowhere suddenly thrust into a case beyond imagination Invaded by an old nemesis whose belief in his own investigative skills is second to none Chandler leaps from one disaster to another as the press descend and suddenly the spotlight is everywhere The plotting is taut and very very clever the characters are all intriguing and fascinating not least our two prospective killers who you’ll waver between with every passing chapter The setting is wide open and beautifully described adding an atmospheric sense of place to proceedings the wilderness being a character in it’s own rightOverall this was a hugely fun read in its mystery element and packs uite the emotional punch on occasion too The ending really is killer I let out a little yelp fairly sure that one isn’t leaving my head anytime soon Brilliant Loved it Highly Recommended
• 
  Marianne

  From the opening pages of his first novel 55 Irish born author James Delargy creates instant intrigue when two men clearly in fear of their lives enter a remote Western Australian town in short succession claiming to have barely escaped a serial killer The details of their ordeals are virtually identical except that each names the other as the killer and themselves as number 55 With his staff of four Wilbrook’s Sergeant Chandler Jenkins is ill euipped to mount a search when one of the men disappears and finds his town overrun by the expensively besuited Inspector Mitchell Andrews and his slick looking team of ten Mitch and Chandler started out in the force together but ten years earlier their paths divergedDelargy’s protagonist is a young cop with integrity whose focus on the case is blurred by the uncomfortable history he has with Mitch Chandler chose family life while ambitious Mitch chose a career; now though Chandler finds that what he does have is under threat While Chandler is a believable character although his self pity and resentment wears a little thin Mitch seems exaggerated to almost a stereotype The minor characters show a little depth but don’t really get a chance to shine A secondary narrative details the search ten years earlier for a missing bush walker that highlighted how very different Chandler and Mitch were both as policemen and as people a difference that seems if anything to have amplified over the intervening years Delargy’s descriptive prose easily conveys the Pilbara the dry searing heat the desiccated landscape the vastness the challenge of distance and the isolation Well articulated too are the small town attitudes with some sense of community but also gossip nosiness and the disconnection from the city The resultant boredom evidenced by the younger police officers’ hunger for some excitementDelargy certainly keeps his reader guessing about what really happened and whether either of the two are telling the truth as he sprinkles clues and red herrings throughout the story inserting twists and turns right up to a dramatic climax and the shocking conclusion A crime thriller that starts with great promise but doesn’t uite deliver This unbiased review is from an uncorrected proof copy provided by NetGalley and Simon and Schuster Australia