Totally Gripping
The Price by Darren O’Sullivan is a fabulous contemporary crime thriller that I just could not put down. It consumed my every moment.
Darren O’Sullivan has created an exciting, well thought out and executed plotline. As the action heated up, so my pulse rate rose… and just when I thought the action couldn’t get any more tense… it did!
The story is written from alternating points of view and in the first person and as such, we appreciate and experience the action from different viewpoints. I identified with the female lead. I could sense her desperation and desolation at times, as well as the hope she held on to. “Amongst the grief and the worry was hope.” If hope dies, it is an awful wasteland to inhabit.
We follow parents through a terrible diagnosis for their child. The support group sessions are as vital as breathing. “There were no words to help, but having people to listen meant everything.” We all need people to listen when we feel alone. It helps to hear positive words, giving us something to cling to. Conversely if we hear negative situations and words, our hope shrivels.
A mother’s love is fiercely protective. There is nothing a mother will not do in order to help her child – no matter how young or old they are.
We see the strain that a cancer diagnosis puts on a family. We all cope in different ways, but if one half withdraws, cracks will begin to appear.
The sun still shines even when we hear the worst news possible – why does the world keep turning? We expect it to stop… I can certainly empathise with this emotional feeling.
Running in tandem with this personal nightmare is the underworld of the local criminals. Everyone knows who the big criminal boss is, but to go against him is to sign your own death warrant.
We witness what happens when someone has what we need. Desperate times call for desperate measures.
The Price was an absolutely cracking read. Darren O’Sullivan has a perfectly balanced novel alternating between the criminal underworld and the law enforcement agency. We see that life is not always black and white but varying shades of grey.
The Price was superb and would make a marvellous movie.
I received a free copy from the publishers. A favourable review was not required. All opinions are my own.
JULIA WILSON
