Know Me Now by C.J. Carver

Know Me Now is a relatively well constructed thriller.  There is nothing ground breaking here but this is a genre that is stacked full of novels and only so many tales you can tell after all.  The writing is competent but I didn't find that it particularly drew me in to the story or made me really care about the characters.  So much so, the only one that didn't feel flat was Lucy and that was more to do with her synesthesia than anything else.

The first section of the plot deals with the death of teenaged Connor Baird.  After storming out of the house following an argument with his mother he gets lost in the rain and poor visibility of the Scottish Highlands and finds himself at a local Industrial Estate.  Shortly after his crumpled body is found at the base of the local bridge and the local doctor, Grace, attends.  Suspecting that all is now what it seems she orders a postmortem but is blocked by the Police who do not see any foul play in the event.  Connor's father, Christopher, then calls on his old friend Dan who immediately drops everything to rush up to Scotland and also calls in Lucy.

This is where it all starts to get a bit murky.  My first real issue is that a Detective Constable in the English Police Force would not just be able to walk out of her shift with a few seconds notice no matter how many holidays she is owed.  secondly an ex-MI5 operative working as a political/risk analyst would not need a "go bag" although he may well be able to drop everything at a moment's notice.  Within the first few chapters I am already having to suspend disbelief which is not a good start in this genre.

It goes from bad to worse when the secondary plot chimes in causing Dan to rush off from Scotland - remember, he was so concerned about his good friend and his deceased Godson that he dashed to Inverness - because someone has intimated his recently deceased father may not have been a victim of a sudden heart attack on the golf course but have been murdered.  Of course he can't possibly make the calls he needs to make from his friends house, no he has to rush immediately to his father's residence in Weston-Super-Mare.  Oh and did I mention his wife is heavily pregnant and about to drop their third child and his firstborn has died prior to this book.  Not only does Dan's behaviour seem completely bizarre but the premise of a potential government secret project that is related to his father's (and his father's close friend) youth is a trifle beyond the acceptable pale.

Sadly the majority of the book follows Dan as he dashes from pillar to post tracking down what happened to his father and then a deathly scramble to tie the 2 divergent storylines together.

Sounds like I hated this book doesn't it.  However, it may not be up there with the best of this genre but neither is down at the bottom of the pile.  It is amiable guff and the threat level only seems realistic in a couple of places - strikingly involving Lucy.  Maybe this would have been a better book if more time had been spent from her perspective.  It would have also benefited from sticking to one plot rather than tacking the second one on - I'm not really that bothered which one to be fair but it would have been a smoother, less muddled read.

I RECEIVED A FREE COPY OF THIS BOOK FROM READERS FIRST IN EXCHANGE FOR AN HONEST REVIEW.

**Review originally published November 29th, 2017**