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Release date: April 4, 2017

Publisher: Ecco Books

Genre: Mystery/Thriller 

Blurb: 

A body is discovered with the dismembered parts of six victims stitched together like a puppet, nicknamed by the press as the ‘ragdoll’.

Assigned to the shocking case are Detective William ‘Wolf’ Fawkes, recently reinstated to the London Met, and his former partner Detective Emily Baxter.

The ‘Ragdoll Killer’ taunts the police by releasing a list of names to the media, and the dates on which he intends to murder them.

With six people to save, can Fawkes and Baxter catch a killer when the world is watching their every move? 

Review: 

This had one of the most explosive prologues I’ve ever read, it was amazing and really set the tone for the book. It always delights me when a book can shock me early on and this one surely did. After the prologue, you fast forward to four years later and are thrust right into a gruesome murder case with Wolf and team. A sadistic serial killer has fashioned a ragdoll together made of six different people and using six different body parts to create a creepy and shocking corpse. This is such a twisty plot the less you know the better, but with such a chilling premise and some really outstanding writing from Cole, this one is a winner. 

While this is a police procedural as you follow the case alongside Wolf, Baxter, Edmonds, and Simmons, the author did something unusual that I really appreciated. Cole didn’t spoon feed readers obvious details and explain unnecessary things, instead he took the approach that the reader is intelligent and allowed you to reach your own conclusions and work out the details on your own. This was clever and almost made me feel like I was actually part of the team. There were no long, drawn out recaps, you need to focus on what is being said in order to stay caught up. I had no problem with this and was completely focused and engrossed throughout. 

I haven’t fallen so hopelessly in love with a detective since Sirens and Wolf reminded me a bit of Aidan. His past is super complicated and though I feel I have a good sense of who he is, there is so much still to explore. Wolf has a dark, sardonic sense of humor, in fact the whole book has this trait which I love. This is intricately plotted and had some stunning twists that left me reeling, I changed my mind more times than I can count. I’m so happy this is the first in the series, especially after the way things ended, I HAVE to know what happens next. With fantastic characterization, a unique storyline, compelling situations and strong writing, Ragdoll has earned itself one of my spots on my best books of 2017 list already. (Yes, I know it’s only April, it’s THAT good) Cole is an exciting, impressive new voice in crime fiction and I cannot wait to see what he comes up with next. 

Overall rating: 5/5

Thanks to James at Ecco Books for my review copy. 

About the Author: 

(Photo credit to Orion Books) 
At 33 years old, Daniel Cole has worked as a paramedic, an RSPCA officer and most recently for the RNLI, driven by an intrinsic need to save people or perhaps just a guilty conscience about the number of characters he kills off in his writing.
He has received a three-book publishing and television deal for his debut crime series which publishers and producers describe as “pulse-racing” and “exceptional”.
Daniel currently lives in sunny Bournemouth and can usually be found down the beach when he ought to be writing book two in the Nathan Wolfe series instead.
Ragdoll is his first novel.

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