Genres: Mystery, Thriller, Crime
Blurb:
Meet Detective Sergeant Alicia Friend. She’s nice. Too nice to be a police officer, if she’s honest.
She is also one of the most respected criminal analysts in the country, and finds herself in a cold northern town assigned to Donald Murphy’s team, investigating the kidnap-murders of two young women—both strikingly similar in appearance. Now a third has been taken, and they have less than a week to chip away the secrets of a high-society family, and uncover the killer’s objective.
But Richard—the father of the latest victim—believes the police are not moving quickly enough, so launches a parallel investigation, utilising skills honed in a dark past that is about to catch up with him.
As Richard’s secret actions hinder the police, Alicia remains in contact with him, and even starts to fall for his charms, forcing her into choices that will impact the rest of her life.
Prologue
Katie Hague knew she was swimming. She just didn’t know why. She wasn’t a strong swimmer, even though she’d spend hours in the pool on holidays, sometimes even brave enough to dip in the sea. Always with her parents watching, though.
She’d been thirteen on her last family holiday, a self-catering deal to Turkey, not that her dad couldn’t afford somewhere more exotic. Turkey was Katie’s choice. Gobble gobble, she’d said, again and again until the day of departure; then all through the flight, her mother fighting the urge to strangle her only child, her dad smiling quietly.
Now, eight years later, Katie swam alone. Somewhere she didn’t recognise. Somewhere black.
She trod water for a moment, something she always found hard. With her feet unable to touch the bottom, or anything solid, she looked around. She was never out of her depth, not without her dad nearby, or, more recently, unless Brian was with her. And where was Brian now?
Katie remembered them arguing, then him sloping off with his mates. It had not been loud, just testy, in a late bar somewhere. She was hungry, had suggested a curry, but Brian wanted to go on, just for one more, babe, please? A taxi. That was Katie’s last thought, the last she remembered, here, now, in this pool.
Now something happened nearby, a movement she did not see because of the dark. She felt a sweeping cold, embracing her head and shoulders like an undercurrent flowing in from deeper water. But that wasn’t quite right either. All her body below the surface was numb, unfeeling, and now all above felt chilled. She hadn’t seen the event, that something, but she knew:
A shadow had fallen over her.
“Who’s there?” she said.
No echo. Nothing whatsoever. The dark ate her voice right up. She expected her words to reverberate around the walls of a municipal pool, or a private home in the middle of the country. No echo, no sound coming back at her. This meant there were no walls. So she was swimming outside. But even outside there were buildings, trees, rocks. She was treading water, outdoors, with nothing around, no lights, no people.
So why did she get the impression she was not absolutely alone? Other than the invisible shadow, she had no reason to think there was someone watching her, not here.
Whatever ‘here’ actually meant.
Outside? No light? No buildings? Was she in the middle of a lake?
Her breathing began to grate in her throat.
No, of course not. There would be light. There’s always light. The darkest of freezing British waters still drew moonlight and stars; even when hiding, their light still penetrates. There is no absolute dark.
Each breath now hurt. She needed her inhaler. Her throat was swelling within. She kicked her numb legs to no avail, and when she flapped her arms, no splashes whipped up. This can’t be, she told herself. Alone; swimming; out of her depth; an asthma attack.
Something wedged in her mouth, something hard, plastic. She gagged, tried to spit it out but it was too big, lodging itself between her teeth. A hiss. Then light. A pinprick, not in front of her but inside her head. Her shoulders grew cold now, as if she were gliding upwards, out of the … lake? The sea? The pool?
That thing, still stuck in her mouth, gave another hiss.
And Katie breathed.
The object hissed a third time and the cold spread to her chest, her back, down her stomach. Her hips. The light inside her expanded, enveloping her in cold. She wanted to use her arms to wrap around herself for warmth, but found them stuck behind her. Looking down now, struggling to free herself, she saw her thighs raised, the clothes she was wearing when she’d argued with Brian still on her, strangely dry. The odour of sweat and booze and a faint whiff of cigarette smoke made her want to undress and shower, but her hands remained bound tight. She couldn’t see behind her, could not turn at all.
Then, like a spotlight growing, her vision improved: a white-tiled floor, her bare feet bound by handcuffs, stockinged legs moving up into the little skirt that barely covered her underwear. She could not see past her chest, other than to confirm her clothing remained intact. She was sitting on a hard wooden chair.
“Hello, Katie.”
A deep voice from outside the spotlight; calm, polite even.
“Please stop struggling, Katie, I don’t want to hurt you.”
From swimming in blackness to being tied to a chair. Nothing. Nothing could explain this. She tried her voice. “Who are you?”
It hurt to speak. Now her head throbbed also. Like a hangover. She was about to be sick.
A bucket came into view within the spotlight, a glimpse of a foot which kicked it closer.
“Please use this if you need to vomit. I won’t be angry if you miss. Only if you don’t try.”
The foot peeking out of the dark into Katie’s halo of light meant something. A clear fact, a truth that really should not be.
“The spotlight’s real,” Katie said aloud.
“Of course it’s real,” came the man’s voice. “What a strange thing to say.”
“Why am I here?”
“You are my second.”
“Your… what?”
“Please don’t make me repeat myself, Katie. It annoys me. You are my second. This…”
Another spotlight cracked to life. It illuminated a girl about five feet from Katie, dressed similarly to Katie, like she was going clubbing, with long dark hair like Katie’s, about Katie’s age.
And then it all fell away from her. The swimming, the light, the dark, this disembodied voice from the blackness all around. But the girl frightened Katie the most. This girl, bound to a chair, gagged, blindfolded, looking so much like Katie they might have been sisters.
“This is your new roommate,” the man said, now behind Katie, hands on her shoulders, his breath on her neck. “She is my first. You will be my second.”
And, doing her very best to aim for the bucket, Katie vomited. She was pleased that a lot of it missed.
“Hmm,” the man said. Then footsteps. An arm flashed into the light and tossed Katie’s inhaler onto her lap. The footsteps receded. “Goodnight.”
And both lights went out, leaving nothing but pitch black.
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About the Author:
A. D. Davies grew up in Leeds, West Yorkshire. In high school his ambition was to be a writer of horror novels, although in adult life he became an avid fan of crime fiction. After a long stint in an unsatisfying job, he attended the University of Leeds where he attained a degree in creative writing. Shortly after graduation, he moved to the Midlands to marry the love of his life.
He is well-travelled, his favourite destinations being New Zealand and Vietnam, which has influenced his writing immensely (as yet unreleased). For now, however, globe-trotting is taking a back-seat to raising his two children and writing, although he hopes to one day combine all three.
He now resides in Staffordshire, UK, with his wife and two children.
AUTHOR Q&A
Q: Alicia Friend is kind of an oddball, isn’t she?
A: I’d say she’s unique. She knows who she wants to be and she doesn’t compromise. Most police officers she meets are dour and grumpy, and she sees how that impacts their personal lives. She doesn’t want to be like that so radiates the sort of perkiness that sometimes grates on her fellow officers. But it’s who she is.
Q: Unlike the detective she has to advise during the investigation. Isn’t he more of a stereotypical hard-bitten type of investigator?
A: I think of him more as an archetype than a stereotype. The committed detective whose personal life went to pieces because of the job. I needed him to be this way as a contrast to Alicia. We meet Alicia through his eyes. He doesn’t like her at first but he warms to her and slowly becomes less of a grump.
Q: And the novel goes to some dark places.
A: Yes. I found that at one point I was trying to include ALL my research, and I’m really aiming for a thrill ride as much a straight police procedural. I’m trying to emulate the likes of John Connolly and PJ Tracy. I originally included the sort of forensic details you get with Patricia Cornwell or Kathy Reichs, but it wasn’t right for this book. I keep it as accurate as possible, but it’s about the characters and how they uncover secrets, both externally and within the police.
Q: The title is a bit odd. Can you explain it?
A: Not without spoilers. Although, if the reader figures it out early on, it won’t ruin the experience. It’s a small part of the story, but fits the mood. It relates to something the killer tells his victims. I used to simply call the novel “First & Second” but this felt a bit vanilla.
Q: The cover mentions that one victim’s father, a widower, has a dark past. What is that?
A: It is covered early in the novel, but I’d rather not spell it out here. It enables Richard to run a parallel investigation, though, one that hinders Alicia and Murphy. While he really begins to like Alicia, he senses she likes him back, so it’s also a way of staying inside the case, of pushing on to find his daughter. The real question, as the novel progresses, is how damaging this will be for Alicia.
Q: What’s the tale of the novel itself then?
A: I wrote the original in 2004, then rewrote it in 2007, and now it’s had another polish via myself and a professional editor. It was actually the sub-plot (or side-plot) that came first, the idea of Richard tracking his daughter and circumventing the police. But, as I made him more devious and conniving, I realised I needed a different angle. So I came up with Alicia.
Q: And how, exactly, do you come up with a character like that?
A: She is based on a real person. But very loosely. The essence is there, although I had to invent certain aspects for dramatic effect. The parts from real life are: a ditzy, perky outer shell, yet possesses a fierce intelligence, true dedication, and being brilliant at her job.
Q: So the real Alicia Friend isn’t a serving police officer?
A: No, she isn’t. And if she was, I certainly wouldn’t say
Q: Alicia Friend is kind of an oddball, isn’t she?
A: I’d say she’s unique. She knows who she wants to be and she doesn’t compromise. Most police officers she meets are dour and grumpy, and she sees how that impacts their personal lives. She doesn’t want to be like that so radiates the sort of perkiness that sometimes grates on her fellow officers. But it’s who she is.
Q: Unlike the detective she has to advise during the investigation. Isn’t he more of a stereotypical hard-bitten type of investigator?
A: I think of him more as an archetype than a stereotype. The committed detective whose personal life went to pieces because of the job. I needed him to be this way as a contrast to Alicia. We meet Alicia through his eyes. He doesn’t like her at first but he warms to her and slowly becomes less of a grump.
Q: And the novel goes to some dark places.
A: Yes. I found that at one point I was trying to include ALL my research, and I’m really aiming for a thrill ride as much a straight police procedural. I’m trying to emulate the likes of John Connolly and PJ Tracy. I originally included the sort of forensic details you get with Patricia Cornwell or Kathy Reichs, but it wasn’t right for this book. I keep it as accurate as possible, but it’s about the characters and how they uncover secrets, both externally and within the police.
Q: The title is a bit odd. Can you explain it?
A: Not without spoilers. Although, if the reader figures it out early on, it won’t ruin the experience. It’s a small part of the story, but fits the mood. It relates to something the killer tells his victims. I used to simply call the novel “First & Second” but this felt a bit vanilla.
Q: The cover mentions that one victim’s father, a widower, has a dark past. What is that?
A: It is covered early in the novel, but I’d rather not spell it out here. It enables Richard to run a parallel investigation, though, one that hinders Alicia and Murphy. While he really begins to like Alicia, he senses she likes him back, so it’s also a way of staying inside the case, of pushing on to find his daughter. The real question, as the novel progresses, is how damaging this will be for Alicia.
Q: What’s the tale of the novel itself then?
A: I wrote the original in 2004, then rewrote it in 2007, and now it’s had another polish via myself and a professional editor. It was actually the sub-plot (or side-plot) that came first, the idea of Richard tracking his daughter and circumventing the police. But, as I made him more devious and conniving, I realised I needed a different angle. So I came up with Alicia.
Q: And how, exactly, do you come up with a character like that?
A: She is based on a real person. But very loosely. The essence is there, although I had to invent certain aspects for dramatic effect. The parts from real life are: a ditzy, perky outer shell, yet possesses a fierce intelligence, true dedication, and being brilliant at her job.
Q: So the real Alicia Friend isn’t a serving police officer?
A: No, she isn’t. And if she was, I certainly wouldn’t say
Connect With The Author:
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Giveaway:
Two giveaways! Win a $20 Amazon gift card on the His First His Second book tour and giveaway! This giveaway will run 11/20/14 – 11/27/14. Open to residents worldwide. Enter through Rafflecopter.
Enter to win a print copy through Goodreads. This giveaway will run the same dates. Available to residents of the USA, Canada, UK, New Zealand and Australia.
MY REVIEW.
★★★★★
Ooh what a wonderful twisted mind this author has.
Ooh what a wonderful twisted mind this author has.
A body has been found after a young woman had been reported missing. Murphy has been assigned the case, and a new partner to go with it. Murphy is a middle aged fuddy duddy, also a good cop. Alicia is a young highly intelligent detective. She uses her bubbly personality to keep some people from realizing just how clever she is.
Murphy and Alicia soon find out that this is a huge case, stretching back at least 18 months. They must have a serial killer to find.
Murphy and Alicia soon find out that this is a huge case, stretching back at least 18 months. They must have a serial killer to find.
This book is full of very dangerous people. Some you will be very shocked to find yourself rooting for. The relationships that develop are intense and surprising. I could not guess who the person they were hunting was. The climax of the story is very violent, it needed to be. The ending leaves us hoping for more.
This was the first book from this author for me. I will definitely look for more.
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