Thursday 20 August 2020

Six Days, Six Hours, Six Minutes - Alex Smith - A Brutal British Crime Thriller

Six Days, Six Hours, Six Minutes
A Brutal British Crime Thriller
Zertex Crime
ISBN 9781913877033
ASIN B0881X8MFS


The subtitle of this book calls it a Brutal British Crime Thriller, and it lives up to that. There is a lot of language in this read, and a lot of violence. If it was a movie and I was rating it, I would give it an R or an X. It was a disturbing read. Dark, gritty, and really disturbing. I really enjoyed Alex’s book for young adult. And I loved the first book in the Softley Softley series, The Harder They Fall. I have also been enjoying the DCI Kett novels which begins with Cry Baby. The Kett novels are dark, but this story takes it to a whole new level. In fact I took a break from reading it. It was so intense and dark. 

The first words in this book are:

“In six days, six hours, and six minutes, I will come back and kill you.”

The main character, Blake Barton, finds a strange carving on his door frame at home. And he is soon plunged into a nightmare when a stranger shoves into the house and says:

“In six days, six hours, and six minutes, I will come back and kill you.

Tell anyone, and your wife and child will die. Call the police, and your wife and child will die. Try to run, or hide, or trick me in any way, and your wife and child will die. And they will not die quickly, Blake. Theirs will not be a good death. It will be slow, and it will be bloody, and they will know the full horror of hell before I end them.”

And from there the story gets scarier and more terrifying with every chapter. The story follows Barton as he tries to handle this situation. First fear, then denial. Then anger. You are carried along at a breakneck pace. Follow Barton down the rabbit hole of this nightmare tale. He is living in fear for his own life, his wife, his son. And every time he thinks he has a plan. The stranger or one of his minions turns up. Can he find a way to outsmart someone who claims to be the devil, and seems to be guessing his every move? No matter what he tries they seem to be there. He is beaten up. Threatened, and abused. But ever man has a breaking point, some snape and some snap back. To find out which Barton is you will need to read this deeply disturbing novel.

This novel pushed my limits. It was so disturbing I almost gave up on it. I am thankful I finished it. But I prefer the Softley or Kett series to this book. There are references to events in some of the Kett books in this volume and it seems like it might be possible the stories will end up intersecting. Much as Softley and Kett have briefly intersected. It is a great read for those into horror or thrillers. A gripping page turner.  

Mystery Books as Alex Smith:
Six Days, Six Hours, Six Minutes
...

Softley Softley Series:
2.0 Hard Luck House
...

DCI Kett Series:
0.5 Cry Baby
2.0 Bad Dog
3.0 Three Little Pigs

Books By Alexander Gordon Smith:
Escape from Furnace:
Lockdown

Solitary
Death Sentence
Fugitives 
Execution
Execution Epilogue - Short Story
The Night Children - Short Story


Fury Series:
The Fury
The Storm

The Inventors:
The Inventors
The Inventors And The City of Stolen Souls

Non-Fiction:
1001 Questions and Answers
Inspired Creative Writing: 52 Brilliant Ideas from the Master Wordsmiths
The Solar System
Family Quiz
Writing Bestselling Children's Books: 52 Brilliant Ideas for Inspiring Young Readers







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