Pat's Reviews > Her Child’s Cry

This is the third Boyle and Keneally book and it’s another cracker! Nine year old Arizona Rose Blake (Rosie) is undergoing essential treatment in a private hospital for her cancer when she is kidnapped from the ward right under everyone’s nose. This is definitely a case for the special crime unit reporting directly to Garda Commissioner Dawn Wilson and comprising criminal behaviourist Dr Jessie Boyle, Detective Sergeant Seamus Keneally and technical wizard Terry Kehoe. Who would kidnap such a sick child?

The parents are summoned but seem somehow not as distraught as you would expect. Nevertheless it is not long before they find the kidnapper - shot dead at what is referred to as the Hellfire Club, a derelict building on the top of Montpelier. The spot has a dark history though. There is no sign of Rosie however, just her sadly discarded panda. The kidnapper was a hospital orderly called Richard Roche and everyone questioned about him had only good things to say. So why did he take Rosie?

Meanwhile Terry’s research unearths many references to the Reavers, a strange satanic cult that hasn’t ever quite disappeared. There are also possible links to a Dublin crime family. The police feel the urgency as Rosie cannot go much longer without her cancer treatment. They have, however, formed an opinion that Rosie was not close to her parents and that Roche had concerns for her safety, prompting him to take her from the hospital.

The plot thickens as more bodies turn up and, not unexpectedly, Jessie’s nemesis, Uruz, makes contact again. This time though it almost seems that Uruz is being helpful - cryptic but somewhat helpful. The team faces many challenges and dangers and when the villains of the piece are finally revealed it’s a bit of a shock!

The police team work so well together and Commissioner Wilson is refreshingly hands on and direct. She is not afraid to get into the thick of things. The pace was fast and furious as we have come to expect but I did think the ending may have been just a little too much this time. Still, I can’t wait for the next instalment. The slightly supernatural elements in each story really add something unique. Many thanks to Netgalley and Bookouture for the much appreciated arc which I reviewed voluntarily and honestly.

4.5 rounded down.