Cold Justice: The Sunday Times bestselling thriller (Mallory)

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SYNOPSIS: Mallory, a former member of the special forces, is burnt out. After a mission to grab a High Value Target (hvt) goes wrong, Mallory consumed by guilt, is drifting through life with no purpose. He spends his time visiting a brother in arms who was injured in the aforementioned mission. While visiting at the hospital, Mallory is approached by the fellow soldiers mother. She wants Mallory to find her other son who has gone missing in South Africa. Can Mallory find redemption, a new purpose, were he will need every ounce of training, to rescue his friends brother, and get out alive. Meet Mallory, ex Special Forces soldier, a man with baggage and a temper. He’s seen a lot in his time in the forces and believe you me, it’s traumatic. But now he’s looking for a missing man and the local police aren’t the most helpful… missing adult men don’t seem to be treated as a concern.

Mallory is a typical superhero in physical terms and the novel is, as expected, a fast-paced read with several twists and turns, gunfights, fistfights, explosions, secret organizations, counterintelligence, subterfuge, and car chases. There is very little, if any character development; the focus is on action. The chapters are short; no time is wasted on long explanations and dialogue is relevant and to the point. The unravelling of the mystery was quite interesting, and a few hits came straight from left field. The last chapter, especially, caught me unaware; lovely twist, setting the table for a sequel. (And it is indeed on the way; titled ‘Red mist’.) It's probably unfair to compare Lee Child, he's had years and many books to get Reacher that way. I truly hope Middleton can discover that element for his character. It's about time that we have a UK version of Reacher, Mallory can be, I want him to be, hopefully we get that as the character grows in the next book. I truly wish Middleton all the good fortune he deserves, to make it happen. As he navigates his way through the tough streets of Joborg, the slippery swaps of Louisiana and home, he uncovers something that could change the future.This was a solid read, with action spread over three continents, a believable plot and interesting enough characters. I did start liking Mallory less towards the end, where he became more like an American propaganda hero than the traumatized man he started as but that final plot twist at the end was everything I didn't know I wanted and left me screaming! This is not a genre I would normally read, however it was offered on pigeonhole, and the author is from my city, so I couldn't resist it.

As Mallory heads to South Africa, I got an blow by blow insight into his past traumas as the story jumped between timelines all held together by one man in a coma. Mallory’s loyalty to this man knows no bounds, putting his life on the line to find Donno’s brother up against some seriously dangerous people with unlimited reach and resources. Will Mallory find Scott? Will Donno wake up? I needed answers to both questions !!!This was not my usual read, but I really enjoyed it. The pace was fast and the writing excellent. The descriptions of Johannesburg really brought the city to life. The characters were well written and the main character, Mallory, was strong, kind and interesting, with shoulders big enough to carry off the story. This leads to Mallory going to South Africa, to the place where Scott was last seen, and try to find out where he is and if he is in danger. Short chapters which personally I like, very suspenseful and encourages you to read on. Mallory feels he owes this manhunt to Donno's mum, and the search for Scott reveals many different twists and turns. Scott and Donno's dad died in a tragic accident a little while before Donno got hurt, could the death of Bartho and Scott's disappearance be connected? This is what Mallory has to find out, when he realises all it not as it first seemed. Scott has got himself involved in something he shouldn't and Mallory has to uncover the facts and find him. I started this book without any expectations but was pleasantly surprised by the beginning: I liked Mallory a lot more than I expected to like a thriller hero. Mallory is the kind of man that is so sure of his capabilities and masculinity that doesn't need to put others down and that is sadly unusual in a lot of thrillers. "Cold Justice" features not only a diverse cast of characters but several female characters that are interesting and dangerous on their own without being sexualized. This was a good, fast paced action thriller with well written, rounded characters and a good smattering of humour. I didn't have a clue who Ant Middleton was, sorry, so I read this purely because I like to challenge myself to different types of reads.