Bastei Entertainment is a
publisher with several fingers on the pulse. In case you missed out on their
recent publications, there have been new novels from Anthony
Neil Smith and Keith
Nixon.
Another of their current
crop of talent is Douglas Lindsay. His work, Cold
Cuts (US),
is the opener for a police series involving the characters Pereira
and Bain.
Cold Cuts tells the story
of what happens when human flesh is discovered as the filling in a sandwich served up by a small sandwich shop. The press kick up
a storm and the pressure is on to solve the case.
There are plenty of leads
to follow as well as the responsibility to contain any further incidents of
people entering the food chain.
The theme itself is pretty
dark and you might think it couldn’t become any more sinister than cannibalism. If you’ve
read any Douglas Lindsay in the past (and I hope, for your sake, that you have),
you’ll realise that he’s able to delve much further into the disturbing than that.
The final lines are enough to chill the warmest bones. The dish is served up
with a Scottish twang and dashes of humour to add seasoning to the
entertainment.
This one’s a quick and
gripping read. As bait for the follow on, it should lure many a fish to the
hook. Put another way, the flesh of Kevin Moynes' thigh is the perfect appetiser for the main course.