‘The Pain Of Strangers’ by Andrew Barrett

Synopsis

When damaged people reach positions of power, there is no hope for the innocent.

In 1987, Norton Bailey became known as the Madman of Mabgate. A damaged person in a position of power, he built a machine to take care of his problems and used money as bait.

CSI Eddie Collins is feeling alone and adrift. Even work is unreliable and tense, and brings conflict with bad people. One damaged person in particular seeks to choose how Eddie, and the victims he tries to protect, will die.

Is there still no hope for the innocent?

Forensic evidence has always lit up the way, but now the light shines dimly. It’s just bright enough to illuminate the fight of Eddie’s life.

My Review

I read the synopsis for ‘The Pain Of Strangers’ and it certainly sounded rather intriguing.  I couldn’t wait to dive in and so without further ado I settled down for what proved to be one hell of a read and then some.  I thoroughly enjoyed reading ‘The Pain Of Strangers’ but more about that in a bit.

‘The Pain Of Strangers’ is the first book in the series featuring Crime Scene Investigator (CSI) Eddie Collins.  This isn’t the first time that I have met him though.  I read and loved the last book of the series and so I decided to read the series from the start and in order.  Eddie is certainly an intriguing character and then some.  He isn’t perfect and he would be the first one to admit it.  He has his problems and in this book his marriage is hanging by a thread.  Eddie seems to love his work and often his personal life suffers due to his professional life taking over and that is part of the problem.  Eddie does have a sense of right and wrong and he often goes the extra mile for the victims of crime and their families.  Eddie can be a grumpy pain in the bottom at times but he can also be quite funny.

It didn’t take me long to get into ‘The Pain Of Strangers’ which has a lot to do with the fact that the lead character is a Crime Scene Investigator (CSI).  Crime Scene Investigation is certainly interesting and something that I am fascinated by.  I made the fatal mistake of starting to read this book shortly before I went to bed which was a huge mistake.  Let’s just say that bedtime was postponed and I had a ‘lack of sleep’ hangover the following morning but it was so worth it.  I found reading this book became addictive and the story stayed in my mind whether I had the book in my hand or not.  I had my own theories as to what was going to happen and so I had to keep reading to discover if I was anywhere near the truth or if I had the wrong end of the stick entirely.  The more of the story that I read, the more I wanted to read and the quicker the pages seemed to turn.  All too quickly I reached the end of ‘The Pain Of Strangers’ and I had to leave Eddie Collins behind.  I found ‘The Pain Of Strangers’ to be a gripping gritty and at times brutal unputdownable page turner of a read, that kept me guessing and kept me on the edge of my seat throughout.

‘The Pain Of Strangers’ is superbly written and then some.  The fact that the author is a CSI himself makes the story seem that bit more authentic and real.  The author certainly knows how to grab the reader’s attention and draw them into what proves to be one hell of a read and then some.  For me the story hit the ground running and maintained a fairly fast pace throughout.  Reading ‘The Pain Of Strangers’ felt like being on a scary and unpredictable rollercoaster ride with more twists and turns to it than you would find on a ‘Snakes & Ladders’ board.  Just when you thought that you could take a moment to gather your thoughts, take a breather and reclaim your stomach then off the action would go again.  I love the way in which the author makes the reader feel as though they are part of the story themselves and at the heart of the action. 

In short, I thoroughly enjoyed reading ‘The Pain Of Strangers’ and I would definitely recommend this book to other readers.  I will certainly be reading more of Andrew’s work in the future.  The score on the Ginger Book Geek board is a very well deserved 5* out of 5*.