Long Reach (Eddie Savage Thriller) [Paperback]

Peter Cocks' book LONG REACH is a gritty crime thriller...not old enough to be noir..or hard boiled but plenty cynical. A young man goes undercover to make up for his brother's suicide gives his life direction but may lead to his death...it's all in the timing. Eddie Savage...a name picked out by his handlers turns out to be the name of his grandfather who died in WWII. The narrative, carried by Eddie himself. There are one or two plot holes but we hardly notice as the story speeds along. A quick read with short chapter. A straightforward story that seems to circle on itself. The matter of factness of evil is presented...sometimes with a smile...I was reminded of THE GODFATHER but with an economy of characters. The question that is asked on almost every page is...Do they know who Eddie really is? Have they discovered his real mission. Big time criminal, Tom Kelly, has opened his home to his daughter's new boyfriend. He likes him. He takes him into the family business and we catch a glimpse of international crime just as things coming crashing down. A great read!

When he is seventeen Eddie Savage learns two things: the first is that his brother Steve has been working undercover. The second is that his brother is dead. Eddie is suspicious about the circumstances of Steve's death and decides to follow in his footsteps, taking on a job to infiltrate the Kelly family and try to find out more about Tommy Kelly, the boss. He does this through Tommy's beautiful daughter, Sophie - but is he falling for her? And is he getting in too deep?

This was a BRILLIANT book! The undercover and shady world of Tommy Kelly, and the equally rather sinister department trying to get their man, are brought to pulse-pounding life by the intimate style of first person perspective writing. We are in Eddie's head the whole time, watching through his eyes and feeling the pain and panic of the events that he gets caught up in.

The style of writing is as though someone had sat you down and was telling you this story verbally, which makes it compelling and insistent to read. I devoured this book in two sittings - and it would have been one if I hadn't had to do my day job goddamit! I started it on my lunch hour at work, and found myself immediately caught up in Eddie's life, to the point that I was almost late returning to work because I wanted to read just a little more.

There are some harrowing scenes in Long Reach, some that shocked me to the core. Peter Cocks does not hold back in his portrayal of the very nasty world of underground crime. I actually found myself cringing as I read the book, wanting to look away but not being able to.

For me, the best part of Long Reach is Eddie wondering about his own moral compass. As he is drawn into the Kelly family and their daily life, he finds himself enjoying their company and is forced to address those ideas that no one is completely evil. Crime bosses will go home and enjoy time with their families, cooking Sunday lunches and taking dogs for a walk. As Eddie's moral compass becomes confused, I found myself contemplating the ideas that he is dwelling on, which provides a real warmth to this novel which was in danger of being all glamour and no heart.

I also loved the ending - there are no clean final scenes where Eddie is sat down and everything explained. We leave Eddie hanging - and this tremendous climax makes me want the second book NOW! Write faster Mr Cocks!

DEFINITELY read this book. It is brilliant, heart-stopping fun, with a fantastic protagonist in the form of Eddie Savage. Awesome compelling writing that deserves to be widely read. Go buy it now!

This book is fast paced, gritty and a crackingly good read.

The thing that I love about this book is that it is so different from any other Young Adult book I have ever read. I've seen books with similiar concepts in the Adult section but nothing of its kind aimed at teenagers.

The book follows the story of Eddie, a young man who, after the death of his brother, is drafted in to work for a private security firm. His assignment is to get close to a girl of his age who is the daughter of a local crimelord.

I found Eddie to be a really interesting character. He obviously wants to do the right thing but learns quickly that doing the right thing long term means doing some questionable things short term. I really liked seeing how his relationship with Sophie developed and how he grappled with his ideals and the morales of what he was doing as he went along.

I was gripped throughout the book, I never found the story to be dull at any point as there was so much going on as Eddie found his feet in his new position of double agent. There were loads of parts where I couldn't put the book down because things were so intense and you weren't sure as the reader which way it was going to go.

Reminiscent of something by Harlen Corben or James Patterson this fantastic new title tackles a genre which is not widely aimed at the Young Adult market. An engaging, fastpaced and thrilling read.