Today I’m thrilled to be one of the bloggers taking part in Killing Pretties by Rob Ashman blog tour. If you are a fan of the authors this is probably his darkest book yet, and you are going to love it. If Rob Ashman is a new author to you and you enjoy a dark gritty crime thriller then look no further. Before I share my review here’s the book description…..
Detective Sergeant Khenan Malice is a rubbish ex-husband, a crap father but a damned good detective. It’s a shame he spoils his only redeeming quality by being a bent copper.
Detective Kelly Pietersen joins the team to help find a missing woman. But Kelly has a secret…
Damien Kaplan is a leading criminal barrister and a keen amateur potter. He also happens to be a serial killer with a chilling approach to creating his art. He’s married to Elsa, though she considers him more of a possession than a husband. She controls those around her using sex and procures men and women for her husband to play with but only after she’s finished with them first.
Killing Pretties is his passion, having sex with them is hers. It is difficult to say which one is worse.
The missing woman brings all four crashing together – an incendiary mix that doesn’t end well.
’OMFG’ God The ‘king’ of twisted crime thrillers is back! Rob Ashman is one of my ‘turn to authors’ when I’m looking to read a dark crime thriller and Killing Pretties is unquestionably his darkest book yet! The authors latest heart thumping crime thriller has all the elements I enjoy, a protagonist whose beyond twisted, gory crime scenes, a tense plot, and a style of writing that is sharp and to the point. The authors draws the reader in with a shocking opening chapter, that’s full of promise and sets the dark tone of the book. The good news is this is a brand new series featuring DS Malice, so there’s no backlog of books to catch up on.
There’s no need for me to give a recap on the plot, as the book description pretty much covers it, so let’s move on to the characters, starting with Detective Sergeant Khenan Malice. I have a feeling Malice is a character reader’s will have a love hate relationship with, he wouldn’t win a father or husband of the year award, he’s considered to be a good Detective but he’s also bent. Normally in a crime thriller Detectives are sterotyped, ‘the conventional good guys’, so it makes a change to have a character who will freely cross the line, it means that Malice is unreliable, and unpredictable.
The author takes a bold step and reveals the serial killer Damien Kaplan from the off, and ‘oh my giddy aunt’ twisted doesn’t even cover it! Sick, depraved, and warped spring to mind. Kaplan is enigma on one hand he’s smart, funny, clever and sought after crime barrister, and then there’s the dark side of his character. He has a disturbing relationship with his wife Elsa, let’s just say it’s a ‘match made in hell’, a relationship that reminded me of the infamous Rose and Fred West, spine chilling to say the least! The nature of this book made for an uncomfortable read, and yet at the same time I read on with morbid curiosity, I’m a sucker for a well depicted serial killer! Killing Pretties is fast-paced, gruesome, and shocking, there are so many ‘OMFG’ moments that I’m sure I read most of the book with my mouth open!
Thank god for Rob Ashman’s twisted imagination, he has such a vivid and dare I say fertile imagination I do wonder how he manages to sleep at night! No one can ever say his books are ‘boring’ that’s for sure! This isn’t a book that I would recommend to those of a nervous disposition, as there are sexual scenes (although not in the romantic sense) included. But if you aren’t averse to a dark crime thriller with blood and guts, and you enjoy a dark, twisted read then it’s one I would happily encourage you to buy.
- Print Length: 292 pages
- Sold by: Amazon Media EU S.à r.l.
Buying link: Amazon UK 🇬🇧
My thanks to a Rob Ashman and Sarah Hardy for an ARC in exchange for an honest and unbiased review.
About the author
Rob is married to Karen with two grown up daughters. He is originally from South Wales and after moving around with work settled in North Lincolnshire where he’s spent the last twenty-two years.
Like all good welsh valley boys Rob worked for the National Coal Board after leaving school at sixteen and went to University at the tender age of twenty-three when the pit closures began to bite. Since then he’s worked in a variety of manufacturing and consulting roles both in the UK and abroad.
It took Rob twenty-four years to write his first book. He only became serious about writing it when his dad got cancer. It was an aggressive illness and Rob gave up work for three months to look after him and his mum. Writing Those That Remain became his coping mechanism. After he wrote the book his family encouraged him to continue, so not being one for half measures, Rob got himself made redundant, went self-employed so he could devote more time to writing and four years later the Mechanic Trilogy was the result.
Rob published Those That Remain, In Your Name and Pay the Penance with Bloodhound Books and has since written the DI Rosalind Kray series. These are Faceless, This Little Piggy, Suspended Retribution and Jaded which are also published by Bloodhound.
His latest work sees the introduction of a new set of characters – DS Khenan Malice and DC Kelly Pietersen. The first book in the series is titled Killing Pretties and the second is Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Lies. Both books will be published this year.
When he is not writing, Rob is a frustrated chef with a liking for beer and prosecco, and is known for occasional outbreaks of dancing.
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Rob-Ashman-Author-1428800800468097/
Website: http://robashman.com/
Twitter: @RobAshmanAuthor
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Sarah Hardy
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