The greater the evil, the more deadly the game…
When Emma awakens in total darkness, she is aware of her nakedness. Injuries. A bed not her own. A blindingly bright light suddenly pierces the blackness and a disembodied male voice calls her “Venus”. Venus – the goddess of love, beauty, sex and desire. He says she is “Venus Six”. What does this predator want from her? Can she outwit the masked … masked man who demands to be called “Master”? Or will he be looking for Venus Seven?
Detective Inspector Gravel finds himself floundering when a local nineteen-year-old university student is abducted and imprisoned by a sadistic serial killer who has already tortured and killed at least five young women.
A gripping page-turner of a serial killer thriller packed with suspense. If you like Rachel Abbott, Angela Marsons and Robert Bryndza, discover John Nicholl’s chilling new thriller today.
How far would you go to save your life?
Praise for Portraits of the Dead:
‘Another brilliant offering. Portraits of the Dead is a gripping thriller with more than a few surprises.’ By The Letter Book Reviews
‘Brilliant. With this tense, harrowing, edge of your seat tale John Nicholl triumphs again. Very well written, this is story telling at its honest, unflinching best.’ Renita D’Silva – Bestselling Author
‘Portraits of the Dead is a serial killer thriller that will chill you to the bone. I will read anything by this author. He is that good!’ Sue Leonhardt – Top Rated Goodreads Reviewer
‘I could not put this novel down! Disturbing and compelling, an edge-of-the-seat story. John Nicholl is a fresh innovative and powerful new voice in crime fiction.’ The BooK Revue Cafe
‘Ingenious and blood-curdling. The story is very gripping and tense. A clever original plot, great characters, non-stop tension and a very satisfying ending.’ Relax and Read Book Reviews
‘As far as thrillers go, this one is a great one!’ Lady Erynn’s Reviews
‘I remember his first book, his second book and now I will remember this one. They are ‘stand out from the crowd’ books for sure. I love it!’ Read Along With Sue
‘Lovers of both crime fiction and psychological thrillers will enjoy this book. It’s a winner!’ Booklover Catlady Reviews
Praise for White is the coldest colour:
‘One of the best psychological thrillers I’ve ever read.’ The Book Review Cafe
‘The writing is superb, I was totally gripped by this psychological thriller.’ Read Along with Sue
‘Confident crime writing at its best. A must read for lovers of very dark crime.’ Northern Crime
‘One of the best psychological thrillers I’ve read.’ Carissa Backherms – Bestselling Author
‘One of the most disturbing psychological thrillers I have read. I literally could not tap to the next page on my kindle quick enough. If you are a lover of dark psychological suspense thrillers, you will not be able to put it down.’ By The Letter Book Reviews
Praise for When evil calls your name:
‘If you like psychological suspense thrillers, this is as good as it gets.’ Frank Scozzari – Bestselling Author
‘Brilliantly written, I wouldn’t hesitate to recommend both books.’ Little Bookness Lane
’ A superbly written thriller. Dark, gritty, and gripping. I cannot recommend it highly enough.’ Louise Mullins – Bestselling Author
‘Thought-provoking, dark, and completely magnetic reading from start to finish.’ Tome Tender Book Revue
‘A brilliantly written book that really spoke to me.’ Renita D’Silva – Bestselling Author
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When Emma wakes up, she’s not in her room. She’s in a prison, and a serial killer is her warden. He has plans for her. How well she obeys will decide how long she gets to live. Detective Gravel finds himself responsible for finding her, and when it comes out that she’s in the hands of someone who has potentially killed five other women, the stakes are instantly raised.
This was one of those books that hooked me right from the beginning, and I wanted to devour it all in one setting. Pretty unnerving killer. Right from the beginning, we’re shown the depths of his depravity, and as the book goes on, we see it gets worse. I don’t want to give anything away, but I found his choice of partners to be most intriguing. Emma, the heroine, was pretty interesting in her own way, but I found a lot of her arc to be predictable. Her actions at the end were badass though.
Narration was well done.
This book was given to me for free at my request and I provided this voluntary review.
This is the first novel I’ve read by this author & it certainly won’t be the last. The plot unfolds around missing student Emma Jones, the target of a deranged psychopath who is intent upon adding one more more victim to his long list of blondes. Enter DI Gravel, rough around the edges, imperfect, yet relatable as the lead detective on the case, working side by side with colleague Clive Rankin. Gritty, realistic & compelling, this would make a great TV drama. I was surprised at the ending, perhaps a little left field, but this is a book that deserves to do well. Five stars.
Emma doesn’t know where she is. Emma doesn’t know who took her. Emma doesn’t know why she was chosen. Emma does know she’s scared, she’s in pain, and he’s never going to let her go … at least not alive. He calls her Venus 6. He orders her to call him Master. And he wonders .. is she the one?
DI Gareth Gravel and DS Clive Rankin are investigating Emma’s disappearance. At first glance, she looks like a 19-year-old college student, most likely traipsing out yonder with a boyfriend. But Emma’s mother is absolutely insistent that her daughter would never do that.
Gravel practices due diligence and speaks to Emma’s housemates and discovers that she had had a stalker of sorts. An old bearded, gray-haired man had seemed to be following her. Rankin takes on the university and her professors. No one knows anything, no one has seen anything out of the norm.
But then 5 bodies are found in various stages of decomp. All are missing parts of their bodies and when finally identified, they all resemble the missing Emma.
And so begins the hunt for one of the most sadistic, brutal, cold-blooded killers I’ve had the pleasure of reading. The author’s pen has brought this human monster to life… a monster that we hope is only fiction.
This is an extremely well written psychological thriller. After reading this author’s first two books, I expected nothing else. The characters are drawn with fine precision. The storyline is such that the reader cannot put the book down until the very end.
About half way through the book is quite a twist … one I certainly never saw coming. The ending is quite intriguing, a cliff hanger of sorts. Normally I do not care much for cliff hangers, but this one has whetted my appetite for the follow-up book.
Many thanks to the author / Bloodhound Books / Netgalley for the advanced copy of this riveting book. Opinions expressed here are unbiased and entirely my own.
What attracted me to this authors first book when I came in contact with him via a group on Facebook was first the cover. I am a sucker for a good cover especially that relates to what is inside the book.
Then the blurb, then his background in real life.
Just look closely at this cover. Never ignore the front cover from this author. It tells a story.
I saw that White is the Coldest colour was his debut book. To have such a high regard for presentation was great to see. We are human and we ‘eat’ with our eyes, hence, I was hungry to read it.
From then, he has gone on to write the secound book in that series.
This book however is a stand alone, it does have a small mention to one of the main characters in his first book. But nothing major.
Based around the city of Cardiff in Wales was good. I remember getting my first parking ticket there!! I love Cardiff and surrounding areas.
Portraits of the dead is a book that you need to set aside time for. Once you start reading it then you are hooked. The author has a very professional way as only recognized by top best sellers to have the ability to sustain a readers hunger for more. Top crime and psychological crime best sellers that you may know and love to read have a ‘signature’ its like a personality that shines. Its like an antique that you recognize belongs to a certain type of creator and this is something that John Nicholls has. His signature [or way of writing] comes through in his first book, and now it comes through in this one. I LOVE it.
What I love in his books so far is the ability to bring to a person the inside workings of an evil mind, a corrupt and distorted mind. It makes you wonder. These type of perpetrators have a conscience, but its a conscience that only they can excuse. Maybe others can excuse it too. Who knows.
We see this within the realms of each book that this author writes.
This takes a different kind of subject matter into a depth that you, the reader will find fascinating.
To put yourself in the shoes of the victim in this will relay how a person can gain some strength when undergoing duress.
I am aware not to give too much away, but the author has written this in such a way that you get a shock. A really wake up call to a twist that is so profound. An unexpectedness you would feel your mouth dropping to the floor and you having to lean down and pick it up again.
NO SPOILERS
There one character that is mentioned stood out to me. This was apart from the two main ones and the Detective.
Let me know when you have read it, who you think I mean.
There are not heaps and heaps of characters to get your confused and a reader trying to keep up, no, not in this authors books. The simplicity that this author makes it this way makes it even more paramount in your head because you feel the characters, you get to know them, you get to imagine them inside your minds eye. They take on forms of a human shape as you read.
I feel honored to read for this author. I am no expert, I am ‘just a reader who loves a good story’ and its not difficult to give this book 5. I would give it much more.
He has written three books now and each one different but with his ‘stamp’ on it.
I can certainly see how he draws on his life experience and career he had. Although all of his books are fiction, they could be true.
This is an author within my top 4 that I so look forward to grabbing his next book hot off the press. I drop everything and read it because I know I am going to be well entertained, I am going to have my mind so solid in the story that nothing else matters until its finished.
This is also an author that I can remember where I was when I asked to read his very first book.
I remember his first book, his secound book and now I will remember this one. They are ‘stand out from the crowd’ books for sure.
If you’ve not read any of John Nicholl’s books yet, may I encourage you to read this one which will be out soon.
I hear he is writing his 4th book, and I for one, cannot wait.
Everything comes to those who wait and the waiting is well worth it.
My thanks to the author for my copy, I will always be your cyber stalker [in a nice way]