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Snapshot by Craig Robertson
The Blurb On The Back:
A series of high profile shootings by a lone sniper leaves Glasgow terrorised and the media in a frenzy.
Who is behind the executions of some of the most notorious criminals in the city? As more deaths occur – including those of police officers and innocent members of the public – the authorities realise they have a vigilante on their hands.
Police photographer Tony Winter has seen more than his fair share of dead bodies – his job grants him a front row seat at every major crime scene. So when he notices something in one of his prints that the forensic team has missed – something that seems to link the sniper’s victims with the case of a badly beaten schoolboy – he launches an investigation of his own.
Meanwhile, DS Rachel Narey is smarting after being transferred from the sniper case onto a seemingly routine enquiry into the death of a prostitute. But she can’t help but notice how every lead draws her back to the sniper.
As Winter and Narey delve deeper, their quest for the truth and search for the killers will lead them both down increasingly dark and dangerous paths.
Tony Winter is a police photographer in Glasgow whose interest in his work goes beyond the professional. He’s addicted to photographing the dead, so much so that he’s compelled to visit crime scenes so that he can see death close up. When a sniper starts killing Glasgow’s biggest criminals, Winter’s got all the death he could ever wish for and, spotting a link in the crime scene pictures to a photo of a badly beaten schoolboy, he decides to carry out his own investigation ...
Winter’s girlfriend, DS Rachel Narey desperately wants to be involved with the sniper case but has instead been moved to investigate the murder of a prostitute. When the sniper starts targeting cops and members of the public though she has to juggle both cases and finds that the case might well strike her very close to home …
Craig Robertson’s second novel is a sequel of sorts to RANDOM in that DS Rachel Narey remains a key character, but the focus is Tony Winter. Although it’s brave of Robertson to hang a story around a character with such profound psychological issues, I found Winter too creepy to root for and wondered how he was allowed to keep doing his job and what Narey saw in him. The sniper story is slow to get going and creaks at the seams while the prostitute storyline is basically there to keep Narey occupied. In addition, Robertson’s dialogue isn’t as crisp as it is in RANDOM with the banter between Winter and best friend DI Derek Addison rapidly becoming repetitive and dull. This is a shame because Robertson is great at making the most of his Glasgow location, wringing every bit of character out of it as he shows off a city in transition. Ultimately, although this isn’t as good as RANDOM, it’s still an okay read and I will check out the next in this series.
I had been hoping for more Narey in this book and was disappointed that seen through Winter’s eyes she’s more two dimensional – a clichéd hot-bodied, hard headed career woman obsessed with her work. I liked the way she separated her personal and work life but never bought into her relationship with Tony, who seems profoundly psychologically damaged. I do look forward to seeing more of her though in this series and hope that she will develop more as it continues.
The Verdict:
Craig Robertson’s second novel is a sequel of sorts to RANDOM in that DS Rachel Narey remains a key character, but the focus is Tony Winter. Although it’s brave of Robertson to hang a story around a character with such profound psychological issues, I found Winter too creepy to root for and wondered how he was allowed to keep doing his job and what Narey saw in him. The sniper story is slow to get going and creaks at the seams while the prostitute storyline is basically there to keep Narey occupied. In addition, Robertson’s dialogue isn’t as crisp as it is in RANDOM with the banter between Winter and best friend DI Derek Addison rapidly becoming repetitive and dull. This is a shame because Robertson is great at making the most of his Glasgow location, wringing every bit of character out of it as he shows off a city in transition. Ultimately, although this isn’t as good as RANDOM, it’s still an okay read and I will check out the next in this series.
Thanks to Simon & Schuster for the review copy of this book.
A series of high profile shootings by a lone sniper leaves Glasgow terrorised and the media in a frenzy.
Who is behind the executions of some of the most notorious criminals in the city? As more deaths occur – including those of police officers and innocent members of the public – the authorities realise they have a vigilante on their hands.
Police photographer Tony Winter has seen more than his fair share of dead bodies – his job grants him a front row seat at every major crime scene. So when he notices something in one of his prints that the forensic team has missed – something that seems to link the sniper’s victims with the case of a badly beaten schoolboy – he launches an investigation of his own.
Meanwhile, DS Rachel Narey is smarting after being transferred from the sniper case onto a seemingly routine enquiry into the death of a prostitute. But she can’t help but notice how every lead draws her back to the sniper.
As Winter and Narey delve deeper, their quest for the truth and search for the killers will lead them both down increasingly dark and dangerous paths.
Tony Winter is a police photographer in Glasgow whose interest in his work goes beyond the professional. He’s addicted to photographing the dead, so much so that he’s compelled to visit crime scenes so that he can see death close up. When a sniper starts killing Glasgow’s biggest criminals, Winter’s got all the death he could ever wish for and, spotting a link in the crime scene pictures to a photo of a badly beaten schoolboy, he decides to carry out his own investigation ...
Winter’s girlfriend, DS Rachel Narey desperately wants to be involved with the sniper case but has instead been moved to investigate the murder of a prostitute. When the sniper starts targeting cops and members of the public though she has to juggle both cases and finds that the case might well strike her very close to home …
Craig Robertson’s second novel is a sequel of sorts to RANDOM in that DS Rachel Narey remains a key character, but the focus is Tony Winter. Although it’s brave of Robertson to hang a story around a character with such profound psychological issues, I found Winter too creepy to root for and wondered how he was allowed to keep doing his job and what Narey saw in him. The sniper story is slow to get going and creaks at the seams while the prostitute storyline is basically there to keep Narey occupied. In addition, Robertson’s dialogue isn’t as crisp as it is in RANDOM with the banter between Winter and best friend DI Derek Addison rapidly becoming repetitive and dull. This is a shame because Robertson is great at making the most of his Glasgow location, wringing every bit of character out of it as he shows off a city in transition. Ultimately, although this isn’t as good as RANDOM, it’s still an okay read and I will check out the next in this series.
I had been hoping for more Narey in this book and was disappointed that seen through Winter’s eyes she’s more two dimensional – a clichéd hot-bodied, hard headed career woman obsessed with her work. I liked the way she separated her personal and work life but never bought into her relationship with Tony, who seems profoundly psychologically damaged. I do look forward to seeing more of her though in this series and hope that she will develop more as it continues.
The Verdict:
Craig Robertson’s second novel is a sequel of sorts to RANDOM in that DS Rachel Narey remains a key character, but the focus is Tony Winter. Although it’s brave of Robertson to hang a story around a character with such profound psychological issues, I found Winter too creepy to root for and wondered how he was allowed to keep doing his job and what Narey saw in him. The sniper story is slow to get going and creaks at the seams while the prostitute storyline is basically there to keep Narey occupied. In addition, Robertson’s dialogue isn’t as crisp as it is in RANDOM with the banter between Winter and best friend DI Derek Addison rapidly becoming repetitive and dull. This is a shame because Robertson is great at making the most of his Glasgow location, wringing every bit of character out of it as he shows off a city in transition. Ultimately, although this isn’t as good as RANDOM, it’s still an okay read and I will check out the next in this series.
Thanks to Simon & Schuster for the review copy of this book.