Gray Justice (Tom Gray #1) [Kindle Edition]

I haven't read anything by Alan McDermott before and if this is his first crack at writing, then bring on the rest! It's a fast paced thriller with an intricate plot, carefully brought together as the story moves to the finishing post. There are plenty of twists and turns and the main character is a carefully thought out individual whose actions and motivations are totally plausible. He has suffered exceptional personal loss and we explore the effect this has on him. Is he seeking justice or revenge and retribution.

In crafting this tale, Mr McDermott raises a number of important issues about our British 'justice' system. We are asked to consider the extent to which it's fair to the victims and the scenario are all ones which the ordinary reader will be ble to relate to. Differences in treatment between terrorism and criminal acts are also highlighted; an issue which many seem to overlook. I loved the action scenes which were very fast paced, with a level of technical detail which s a lay person I must assume is authentic. It reads like a movie in places; good guys, bad guys, hostages, police, security services, SAS, it's got it all. Really enjoyed it, read it in a couple of sittings and will be buying the next in the series very soon. Thanks for a terrific read Mr McDermott.

Gray Justice is an enjoyable read. We see a slightly cliche'd start with Tom Gray losing his son to a criminal via a stolen car crashing through a wall. Clearly a tragic accident, and one you would probably turn a blind eye to Tom exacting revenge over. The CPS then lets the killer plead to a minor charge and he walks due to time on remand. I like the slight attack on our driving laws - very daily mirror. Tom's wife then commits suicide out of nowhere without him noticing, and he hatches a slightly unbelievable plan to fix the justice system.

To do so he takes career criminals (who we don't know how he identifies them beyond the one who killed his son), locks them in a bunker and threatens to execute/ birch them on the basis of a public vote, while also pushing a bill to reintroduce national service, corporal punishment etc. It's somewhat over-egged here, but McDermott gets away with it because it is a fascinating scenario.
To keep leverage over the government Gray announces he has put a device that will kill thousands, and will set it off if the police interfere with his plans.

At the same time, a terrorist group plot to kill Gray as an easy way to make sure the device does go off. This bit is where the story sags. It's lazy racism. Our terrorist cell is a group of Pakistani Muslims, and the vilification and vitriol is over the top. To compound that, they are supply by the IRA who are also rapists. It stretches belief, and McDermott really overplays his hand here.

Clearly this all comes to a head with Gray in the compound, surrounded by police who are then assaulted by untrained rocket bearing Muslims terrorists. I'll leave it at that to avoid too much by way of spoilers (though book #1 in the Gray Justice series is in and of itself a spoiler)....

There are a few minor typesetting errors in the manuscript, and we are left wondering whether the sums add up in terms of Gray's income v expenditure (he sells his business for half price, but still manages to pay for expensive security, give 8 army buddies 100k and pay for everything else his plan would need). It's well worth a read, and at £1.94 isn't overpriced. A very enjoyable read. Read more ›

Downloaded this book as it was free, though I would have bought it based on preview. A fast paced thriller, really different plot from usual storylines. Read it in one siting until 4am, because I could not wait to see what would happen next. Definately worth a read, have downloaded the follow up Gray Resurrection for later.

I purchased this book because I found the idea fascinating and when I started to read it I found it very difficult to put down. Having finished it, it's not the best book I've ever read and it's far from being the most well written, but the concept has been crossing my mind frequently in the week or so since I read the last page.

Tom Gray's child was killed by a uninsured, unlicensed driver with a string of convictions and who shows no remorse for his actions. He walks free from court in a scenario that is all too easily believable in this day and age where I know a lot of people have lost faith in the 'justice' system. I think that's where the magic of the book lies - it's hard not to imagine what you would do in that scenario. All of us know someone that's been let down in one way or another by what we consider to be a lenient sentence handed down from a court of law. I can't have been the only person reading this that was secretly cheering inside for Mr Gray.

I also found the social aspect of it very thought-provoking. It reminded me of that series of films that were on TV last year. I can't remember what they were called but they disturbed me in the same way - that pressure from social media and free speech that forced characters into often grotesque and inhumane situations (prime minister and pig?). This book disturbed me because it skimmed the surface of topics such as whether or not the public would vote for corporal punishment if we were given such a voice and how those voices can be manipulated by the government/media so easily.

I was sorely tempted to give this book 4* but in all honesty, as some other reviewers have mentioned, I found the terrorist aspect of it very contrived.... I appreciate that the author needed some way to (quite literally) blow the story wide open, but there must have been some more realistic way of doing it.

The ending is absolute sterling though - I totally didn't expect the twist, even after all the discussions with the Home Secretary. Very clever. Read more ›