Damaged Goods by Jack Everett and David Coles

Having penned five novels together, authors David Coles and Jack Everett are back with the first in their new Inspector White series.

Damaged Goods intertwines the stories of a tortured American soldier on a rampage and the crafty British cop on his trail, two very different men whose paths cross in the ultimate test of will. DI Stewart White, newly arrived in Leeds to head up the area police office, is investigating a string of murders that seemed to have been committed by a preternaturally skilled warrior. Robert Cleghorn, a former Special Forces operative governed by severe mental and emotional trauma, is determined to reunite with the British woman who stole his heart – whatever, or whomever, the cost. As Cleghorn tears his way through the country, the clock is counting down for White to figure out his motive, his identity, and his ultimate end-game.

Damaged Goods is a superb start to a promising new series, with a consistently engaging story from beginning to end. The authors write from several different angles in this novel: sometimes from DI White’s first-person perspective, other times following Robert Cleghorn or other characters in a third-person narrative. The transition is well done and scenes manage to shift without causing confusion for the reader – a nod to the talent of the writers, especially when changes in the narrative tense are involved. Of their story they keep much to themselves, revealing portions of the troubled Cleghorn’s motives and history only when the time is right. As the truth of the story unravels itself and the depth of Cleghorn’s devastating experiences are revealed, the novel is heading into its climactic finale, which creates a sort of cinematic tension.

As the protagonist of this new series, DI White is an amiable hero. With Sherlockian insight and an easy charm, he’s quick on his feet and often manages to be one step ahead of his colleagues – all the while being right on the tail of his suspect. Things come almost too easily for White, although he has his share of troubles: the pressures of making a good impression on an unfamiliar squad now under his control, a complicated and unsteady romantic history, and a growing attraction to a beautiful sergeant, Shelly Fearon – not to mention a murderer running rampant across England. While authors Coles and Everett introduce readers to their new hero, they simultaneously weave the tragic and gripping story of Robert Cleghorn; the result is a novel that will delight fans of smart, action-packed dramas.

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Thank-you to the authors for providing a copy of Damaged Goods for me to read!