Considering that he only turned to novels two years ago, Bryan Marlowe proved himself prolific and more than adept at handling a range of genres, from the whimsical nostalgia of Memoirs of an Errant Youth, via the military rough and tumble of Tarnished Heroes, to riveting revenge yarn A Kind of Wild Justice.
Settled Out Of Court runs along similar lines to ...Justice, but Marlowe's choice of a sociopathic, revenge-driven young man as central character lifts the narrative into the realm of psychological study, as well as being a cracking read.
Dermot Baxter is the man with a plan - his father Rex died in jail after being wrongly imprisoned for the murder of his au pair lover. Still at home but distant from his mother, Baxter embarks on a calculated mission of revenge against all those members of the law and judiciary whom he believes must pay for the injustice. But the law is slowly and surely closing in...
Marlowe's own police experience (he worked for 20 years with a northern force in the UK) is put to good use here; the dialogue between the `coppers on the case' is believable, even if it occasionally seems forced between Baxter and his mother. By the same token, the writer's gift for creating enjoyable page-turners has once again been employed - that we are suckered into sympathising for a cold-blooded killer is an impressive turn from Marlowe, and there are more than enough twists and turns, coupled with genuinely suspenseful set-pieces, to keep thriller-hounds happy.