Absolution
"Absolution is a very clear winner by a stunning new author.."
Synopsis:
Alan McAlpine is given what looks to be an easy task when he returns from grieving over his dead brother. All he has to do is guard a woman in hospital who had been the victim of a savage acid attack. No one would guess that McAlpine would get so involved and fall in love with this woman who’s name he does not know.
Twenty years later and the young PC is now a bitter Chief Inspector. He is also looking down at the eviscerated body of a woman that not many people liked. This is the second victim of a killer the newspapers are calling ‘The Crucifixion Killer’. McAlpine and his team must catch this man before he claims any more victims. The leads take the team to a centre called The Phoenix Refuge. Is it a refuge for a killer? As the team get ever more involved with the case, for McAlpine it becomes more personal and soon his future and past are colliding in ways he could never imagine.
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Review:
Caro Ramsey’s first book, Absolution, is a many layered novel. It doesn’t simply deal with a cold killer who is gutting young women in Glasgow, but also with the personal demons of the man who has been placed in charge of the investigation - whilst examining how they slowly begin to unravel his very psyche. McAlpine strikes us as a very sad creature because, despite the twenty year gap, he is still stuck in 1984, still a young PC and still by the bedside of a woman who’s face has been burnt off by acid and with whom he is rapidly falling in love. McAlpine is portrayed as a man who is in love with the notion of love - and yet cannot cope with the reality of the emotion that he receives from his long suffering wife who appears understanding beyond the point of belief. The story flows along nicely and would, no doubt, very easily transfer onto the TV screen. This would be a perfect substitute now that the gritty Prime Suspect series has finally been laid to rest. The identity of the killer isn’t really a surprise - but the journey to the conclusion is certainly entertaining. Absolution is a very clear winner by a stunning new author who we trust has many more aces up her sleeve, and will be thrilling her growing legion of readers for many years to come.