One Man's Opinion: ROAD KILL by ZOE SHARP

In Road Kill (US)Charlie Fox becomes involved in an investigation centring upon a motorcycle gang in the Lakes after her close friend is laid up in hospital following a bad motorbike accident.

Her suspicions about the crash arise when she finds she was on the back of another bloke’s bike rather than her husband’s and when her friend mentions a white van that seemed to come for them.

Right from the beginning she’s faced with conflict.  She’s at odds with her father who sees her military and close protection career as a complete failure when compared to the family’s middle-class ambitions; there’s her relationship with Sean, her boss and ex-lover for whom she longs and yet fears getting close to; there’s an Irish thug who has his fingers in unpleasant pies; there’s the bike gang whom she wants to get to join so that she can find out what the hell’s been going on; there’s her friend’s son who needs her to keep him safe yet wants her as far away as possible from him and his mates; and there’s the policeman who has her taped but also has a soft spot for her.

The zest for the pursuit of the facts as a reader is sharpened by the fact that Charlie and Sean, working together with their smouldering chemistry, don’t have a lot to go on.  The evidence they find is often ambiguous and their confusion keeps the suspense at a high level.

In the end, it’s a trip to Ireland that opens things up in more ways than one.

Throw in the adrenalin created by the bike rides, the satisfaction of following such a top heroine, the violence and the sense of threat and you have a very full and satisfying story.  Lots of fun if you like your kindle journeys to be turbulent and gripping.