I love reading but for some reason I don’t seem to have the time to read as much as I would like to so my recent holiday meant that I got some time to loose myself in a good book – The Business Of Dying The Business of Dying is Simon Kernick’s first book.
About The Author Simon Kernick was born 1966 in the town of Slough. After leaving school in the mid 1980s, he worked in a variety of jobs including bring a labourer on a road-building gang (until an industrial accident cut short a promising career); stockroom assistant for a major IT company and a fruit picker, He also spent several years living and travelling in Canada and the USA before returning to England via Australia and the Far East to complete his studies. Simon Kernick currently lives in Oxfordshire with his wife and two young daughters and is just about to start writing his sixth book.
About
The Book As I already mentioned, this is the first book by Simon Kernick and it was also the first book I read. I have to admit that the book made very good reading and had me captured from the very first page. The style is fast paced with twisting storylines meaning you will find it hard to put this book down!.
The book itself is very well written and really gets you gripped from the first page as it has a rather exciting start to the book - Detective Sergeant Dennis Milne shooting dead three drug dealers, only to find out afterwards that he has in fact killed three innocent men. Not only are they innocent men, they are also Customs & Excise Officers. The main character of the book is Detective Sergeant Dennis Milne who I would describe as an old school policeman. The twist is that Milne is also a hit man on the side which does sound slightly far fetched but the writing style of this author certainly makes the whole plot very believable.
The book is fairly fast paced and filled with suspense, leaving you wondering about what is going to happen next. Throughout the book you get to see Milne trying to balance the life a Policeman alongside that of the professional hit man. As a Sergeant, Milne is put on the case of a murdered prostitute. While investigating the murder he has to investigate the prostitutes world in London’s King Cross, unravelling all the seedy things that happen.
His double life becomes increasingly difficult for him to keep a secret. At the back of his mind, he has the worry that he might be found out as the murderer of the three Customs and Excise officers. As Milne continues the investigation into the murder of the young prostitute he discovers sickening practices involving other Police officers and also a child care worker. Milne’s life begins to spiral out of control, with more and more evidence against him for the murders of three Customs Officers he has committed, he begins to think his secret life might suddenly be uncovered. The last few chapters of the book are extremely gripping and there are so many twists and turns until you finally discover the ending. Will Milne be discovered foe killing the three officers? Will he find out who kills the prostitute? And why can’t he get hold of his friend Danny?? If you are already a fan of Thrillers then I would highly recommend this book.
Summary / My Opinion I would highly recommend this book to any fan of thrillers. I think the writing style is fairly similar to that of Ian Rankin so if you are a Rankin fan, then this would probably be a book for you! I thought that Kernick managed to make quite an unbelievable story really come to life, the copper who is a hit man on the side does sound quite laughable but Kernick brings the character to life and really has the reader believing the plot.
One thing I especially liked about the book was the fact that throughout the book, I was never entirely sure whether the reader is supposed to like Milne, after all, he has killed three innocent men… but on the same note, you get to learn a bit about Milne as a person and are left wondering if he really is that bad…
Highly recommended book! So much so that I am already halfway through his next book!!
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