Aubrey Nye Hamilton Reviews: The Fear of Falling by John Harkin

John Harkin is a native of Glasgow, Scotland, where he still lives. As a former police commander and hostage negotiator, he has first-hand knowledge on which to base his crime fiction plots. His experience in uniform, CID, and firearms teams and with policing armed sieges and major incidents has clearly informed his debut novel, The Fear of Falling (Bloodhound Books, 2022), the first DI Luc Kidston police procedural.

Set in the late 1980s, when Glasgow is beginning to emerge from its long economic decline, crime is still rampant, especially in and around the famous Gorbals tenements. Someone with a samurai sword decides to punish one of the most egregious drug pushers, leaving Kidston’s team frantically searching for him before the victim’s friends find him and make him an object lesson to anyone else who might be feeling unhappy with their activities.

In addition, one of Kidston’s Detective Sergeants has been charged with severely injuring a young woman. The investigating officer has a long-standing grudge against Kidston and is plainly using the case as an opportunity to embarrass Kidston. Kidston is convinced of his officer’s innocence and launches an unofficial and unsanctioned investigation of his own, despite the damage that discovery of his efforts to protect his officer will do to his own career.

I find it hard to believe that this is a debut. The writing is confident and competent, the characters are fresh and well developed, and the story line drips with authenticity. The vivid portrayal of teamwork and competition within the police department speaks compellingly to the author’s front-line experience. The action sequences are especially good; the final confrontation with the samurai avenger would translate into a great visual for a film. Harkin is an author to watch.

 

·         Publisher: ‎ Bloodhound Books (January 4, 2022)

·         Language: ‎ English

·         Paperback: ‎ 336 pages

·         ISBN-10: ‎ 1914614631

·         ISBN-13: ‎ 978-1914614637

 

Aubrey Nye Hamilton ©2022

Aubrey Hamilton is a former librarian who works on Federal It projects by day and reads mysteries at night.