Synopses & Reviews
Award-winning author Reginald Hill returns with a stunning new novel featuring his popular Yorkshire policemen Dalziel and Pascoe.
Caught in the full blast of a huge explosion, Detective Superintendent Andy Dalziel lies on a hospital bed, with only a life support system and his indomitable will between him and the Great Beyond.
His colleague, Detective Chief Inspector Peter Pascoe, is determined to bring those responsible to justice. Pascoe suspects a group called The Templars, and the deeper he digs, the more certain he is that The Templars are getting help from within the police force.
The plot is complex, the pace fast, the jokes furious, the action explosive, the characterization vivid, and the climax astounding. And above it all, like a huge dirigible threatening to break from its moorings, hovers the disembodied spirit of Andy Dalziel.
Review
"Hill delivers his usual bundle of literary treats....Characters major and minor march boldly through the dense plot, confident of being remembered for their singular personalities and inexhaustible verbal resources..." Marilyn Stasio, The New York Times Book Review
Review
"Hill, returning to his long-running series after a crossover break (The Stranger House, 2005), produces a work as richly satisfying as steak-and-kidney pudding." Kirkus Reviews
Review
"Followers of the Dalziel-Pascoe series will find it particularly suspenseful as they wait to see whether the inimitably crotchety Fat Man will come out of his coma. A satisfying, well-plotted entry in a popular series; recommended." Library Journal
Review
"The procedural elements are fairly dull this time, with the miscreants identified too quickly. This is definitely a lesser entry in the series, but Dalziel and Pascoe remain among the most popular coppers in the genre." Booklist
Review
"It's proof of Hill's skill as a writer that the reader believes not only that Dalziel's life genuinely hangs in the balance, but also that Hill is not manipulating our readerly anxieties merely to ratchet up the suspense....His ruminations lend depth to this already smart and immensely enjoyable novel." The Washington Post Book World
Synopsis
From bestselling and award-winning crime writer Reginald Hill, a "chilling, frightening, page-turning tale" featuring Yorkshire coppers Andy Dalziel and Peter Pascoe, "that won't let you go, even when you finally put it down." (Providence Journal).
Caught in the blast of a huge explosion, Detective Superintendent Andy Dalziel lies on a hospital bed, with only a life support system and his indomitable will between him and the Great Beyond. Meanwhile, his colleague, Chief Inspector Peter Pascoe, is determined to find those responsible.
Ignoring his own injuries, the advice of his friends, and the pleas of his wife, Pascoe follows a winding trail to the Templars, a mysterious group that believes the only way to fight terrorism is through terror. Where the arm of the law cannot reach, their work begins. Soon Pascoe comes to suspect that they may have support and sympathy in high places, from men ready to accept the death of a policeman or of any other innocent bystander as regrettable but unavoidable collateral damage.
From the streets of Manchester to the Yorkshire countryside, Pascoe searches for the truth. And above it all, like a huge zeppelin threatening to break from its moorings, hovers the disembodied spirit of Andy Dalziel.
Synopsis
Caught in the full blast of a huge explosion, Detective Superintendent Andy Dalziel lies near death in a hospital bed. His colleague, Detective Chief Inspector Peter Pascoe, is determined to bring those responsible to justice.
Synopsis
Not for a second did Pascoe admit the possibility of death. Dalziel was indestructible. Dalziel is, and was, and forever shall be, world without end, amen . . .
Chief constables might come and chief constables might go, but Fat Andy went on forever.
Barreling his way into an investigation of possible terrorist activities, Superintendent Andy Dalziel is caught in the blast of a huge explosion at a video shop—and only "Fat Andy's" considerable bulk prevents his colleague, Chief Inspector Peter Pascoe, from suffering a similar fate. Now Dalziel lies on a hospital bed barely clinging to life, while Pascoe remains determined to find those responsible.
But the truth is not always cut-and-dried, and sometimes those who are sworn to terror's destruction are even more dangerous than the foe they wish to annihilate.
About the Author
Reginald Hill is a native of Cumbria and a former resident of Yorkshire, the setting for his novels featuring Superintendent Dalziel and DCI Pascoe. Their appearances have won him numerous awards, including a CWA Gold Dagger and the Car-tier Diamond Dagger Lifetime Achievement Award. The Dalziel and Pascoe stories have also been adapted into a hugely popular BBC TV series.