Stalkers (Detective Mark Heckenburg, Book 1)

This is a suspense loaded story, with a lot of twists and turns. There are no knight in shinning armor, just a had working cop, trying to find some answers! Some he finds, some he doesn't. Not the kind of plot you want to read before bed, unless you don't incorporate parts of the plot into your dreams. (Note- fore warned, is fore armed.) Not much else to share, without giving parts of the story line away. I enjoyed it, but you'll have to judge for yourself.

Gritty and shocking are words of the day for today aspiring crime writer. Good, logical, convoluted puzzle that slowly unravels went out of fashion long time ago. Nobody has the time to think and pay attention. "Stalkers" is skillfully written slasher thriller, that is best enjoyed without poking holes in its flimsy fabric. One single DS is running the investigation on disappearance of 38 women, very unlikely if I might say so, but this caper needed a lone wolf and unwanted sidekick, so who cares. This is a lonely, dystopian world of sociopaths both criminal and so-called respectable. In fact, they hard to distinguish one from the other. Mr. Finch knows how to tell a tale and it would be petty of me to berate him for writing a, well put together, book of a genre that I don't particularly enjoy. He did his job well, and I made my choice. Now we are even.

Rarely does a book come along that combines the non-stop action of a thriller with a good old fashioned police procedural. But that is exactly what we have here. Nonstop action, combined with a who-dun-it.The book starts with a kidnapping/rape/murder, but quickly shifts entirely to the police point of view. "Heck" is a mis-fit in the English police force--not a follower of rules, not a team player, with no regard for the chain of command. But of course, as with all such characters, he survives in the police bureaucracy because he is really good, and has a great close rate. But, as we open, he is being pulled off his current assignment--trying to solve a long series of women who simply disappeared with no apparent connection or cause. He has produced no result, and can not even prove a crime occurred. Add in an ex-special forces soldier, whose sister disappeared, and who (of course) is stunningly beautiful, and the mad race to find the bad guys takes off.After many dead bodies, serious injuries to Heck, and yet more disregard for procedures, the good guys win.....but at least two bad guys are left alive, one of which has never been identified...although Heck has his suspicions. This setting us up for a sequel. This is apparently the first of four, so far. I personally hope there are many more to come!

A nice read on those sleepless nights or on a travel. Keeps you engaged and on the edge. However the plot seems forced sometimes. Some situations seems like they were just added just to make it more interesting. But as a thriller it delivers the punch, Characters are indeed scary and strong.

It was good. Fast paced. However the author is british and he writes about london. I don't understand all the words or slang. But still very entertaining and an original storyline.

Started with a bang and galloped all the way to the conclusion! Great characters and a twisting plot with many heart-stopping moments. Lots of fun for other adventure freaks!

I maybe converted to liking UK crime writers. This was a great story with lots of action, intrigue and suspense.

I liked that by the end you have to accept that sometimes there exists such evil you have to throw away the "book." It is, however, difficult for us American readers to completely "get" all of the British terminology. I wish some British author would come up with a dictionary of British slang for us Americans.

Really enjoyed reading this

標的とした女を誘拐し、レイプした後殺害する。これを組織的に冷酷に実行する集団とはぐれ刑事との闘いを描く。はぐれ刑事が警察内で孤立しながらも独自の捜査で真相に迫る物語だと期待していたが、描写の中心は活劇でした。個人的はこの点は期待外れ。客に指定されたターゲットを誘拐し、客がレイプして満足した後冷酷に始末するという一連の犯罪をセットにし、超高額で販売する。日本では現実味が薄い犯罪だが、英国は階級社会なので別なのだろうか。本作では闇の部分が多く残されるので、次回作以降に続くのかもしれないが、そこまで確かめてはいません。また、エロチックサスペンスを期待していると全く違います。

Tolle Story mit einem sympathischen Heck - wie auch die anderen Bücher ist dieses sehr spannend. Viel Action, Spannung. Bin gespannt auf die anderen Bücher

I almost couldn’t get past the first chapter because it was so disturbing, it made me want to look over my shoulder more than once and I just knew something terrible was going to happen.This is the first Paul Finch book I’ve read and I bought it along with a couple of others as part of a special deal – I’m so glad I did.Basically there’s a renegade cop called Heck (DS Mark Heckenburg to give him his full name), he likes to do things his own way, he doesn’t take too kindly to senior police officers who are only doing the job for political motivation.He’s been investigating the disappearances of women from quite ordinary backgrounds and is starting to put together a pattern of sorts when he is inexplicably pulled off and told the cases of the missing women cases are to be farmed out to local stations.He’s obviously very annoyed (to say the least) and his boss Gemma Piper tells him he must take some leave. Heck uses this forced break to continue his own investigation into the missing women following up on a lead that ends up taking him all over the country and nearly killing him more than once.The Nice Guys are not nice guys and show no mercy to anyone who crosses their path, even those innocent people who inadvertently cross their path.If you like crime novels as I do, this is a must. It’s well written, pacy and has great descriptions of locations and Paul obviously has an in-depth knowledge of police procedure which shines through and makes the story all the more believable.

Stalkers is pure escapism.I've had this book on my kindle for ages but only just read it. I very much enjoyed it. There is nothing particular original here--rule-bending cop fights his way out of numerous scrapes with the help of the ex-army sister of one of the missing girls he is hunting who just happens to be pretty... before the inevitable conclusion. All that Said, Finch tells a good tale and the book is a very easy read. This sounds like I'm being critical, I'm really not, as I said at the top of this review, it is escapist fun. There are some good action sequences, and the author definitely has a vivid imagination when it comes to unusual ways to commit murder. The characterisation is good, I liked `Heck' the main character, and Lauren was an excellent supporting character.The book ends with some things still unresolved which will lead on nicely to the second book in the series.Recommended.