Rookie detective Joe Finch knows better than most what tragedy looks like. But trying to solve the brutal murder of an entire family? Just another day in Cooper.
Even for the sleazy backwater of Cooper, Nebraska, the multiple murder of an entire family, brutally bludgeoned to death in their beds, is big news.
Detective Joe Finch, raw with guilt over his partner’s traumatic shooting during a routine traffic stop, hopes the case will at least focus his mind. But then he discovers that the crime scene is the house he grew up in, and the ghosts of his own tragic childhood come rushing back to confront him.
As Finch dredges the corrupt and criminal mires of Cooper in a desperate search for the truth, the only certainty is that everyone there is lying. Caught between greedy politicians, a violent cartel boss, an ambitious reporter and a sinister cult lurking in the cornfields on the outskirts of town, Finch is soon out of his depth.
In a town where the law exists only to be bent or broken, can Finch steel himself against entrenched evil and the haunting spectre of his past—and live to serve justice in Cooper?
I absolutely loved Tariq Ashkanani's debut, Welcome to Cooper when I read it last year and was delighted to see it crowned Bloody Scotland's Debut of the Year 2022. I've recommended it at every opportunity and so despite Cooper being a deeply troubled town, I couldn't wait to return there. It's always interesting to read an author's second book, especially when the first was as brilliant as Welcome to Cooper and I wondered how Tariq Ashkanani would handle a revisit. However, any concerns were quickly swept aside and my belief that he is one of the most exciting new crime fiction authors writing today was soon confirmed; I devoured Follow Me to the Edge and read it in a day.
It's not necessary to have read Welcome to Cooper because this is a prequel of sorts and indeed, the books could be read in chronological rather than published order. That said, given what we learned about Detective Joe Finch in the first novel, I found it fascinating to meet him as a younger man. Even at this point in his career, Joe is a complex individual who blames himself for the catastrophic injury suffered by his partner, Frank. Following the shooting at a routine traffic stop, he makes the decision to get his detective badge but as tragic as Frank's situation might be, his first major case is utterly monstrous.
Tariq Ashkanani never flinches when it comes to portraying the violence some people are capable of but his writing is never gratuitous. The sheer horror of the brutal deaths inflicted on the Richardson family – including four month old baby Jacob – is only described in the aftermath but is still almost too awful to contemplate. Matters are further complicated for Joe because the murders took place in his childhood home and it immediately becomes evident that he is still tormented by his past. His tragedy is only superficially linked to this one but naturally it does trigger some difficult emotions for Joe and in what is as much a perceptive character study as it is a murder mystery thriller, discovering what shaped this complicated, introverted man is riveting.
He is clearly somebody who has built walls to protect himself and as a consequence to the devastating events in his past, he claims he prefers to work alone. Nevertheless, he is partnered here with Brian Ackerman. Described as a burnt-out wreck of a detective, Ackerman has recently transferred to Cooper from Texas but as the more experienced officer, Joe has no choice but to work with him. Ackerman only briefly appears in Welcome to Cooper but in Follow Me to the Edge, he became one of my favourite characters in the story. As with everybody here, he is undoubtedly flawed and damaged by what he has seen and done but in a town where everybody seems to be hiding something, he is a more likeable inhabitant.
I liked Joe too and as the pair follow various leads without making much headway, the terrible choices and decisions he makes are easy to understand, even when both the short and longer-term risks are inescapable. Their sense of frustration and impotence, especially after some shocking revelations which make it hard for both Joe and the reader to know who can be trusted, is powerfully expressed and a dark melancholy pervades the book throughout. Interspersed between the main storyline are chapters about a woman called Laura who seems to epitomise the saying about jumping out of the frying pan into the fire. She has clearly escaped a dire situation but as the novel progresses, it becomes obvious that she has returned to a place she left in the past. Her reappearance doesn't seem to be universally welcomed and there are wonderfully chilling hints regarding this strange group of people and what they might be capable of.
A small town full of dark secrets, a damaged cop and a religious cult sounds like a plot we've read several times before but Tariq Ashkanani is such a superb writer, it never feels anything less than fresh and exciting. This is the sort of gritty, risky fiction I most love; the razor-sharp writing penetrates the corrupted underbelly of the town but it also explores guilt, regret and just what people can be driven to. Uncompromising, twisted and almost unrelentingly grim, Follow Me to the Edge isn't a comforting read but with a sense of place that crackles with energy and characters who leap from the page, it is another first-class thriller from an author who is now most firmly a must-read for me. Very, very highly recommended.
Follow Me to the Edge is published by Thomas & Mercer and can be purchased here.
About the Author
Comments
Post a Comment