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When assistant prison governor Matthew Daniels' pregnant wife Charlotte is abducted one lunchtime, his life is thrown into disarray. His first wife Rachel had committed suicide some years before and the cloud of suspicion that hung over him for months and strained his relationship with their daughter Em whilst the police slowly deliberated over the case is uppermost in his mind. The initial reluctance of the police to move quickly, and the intervention of the kidnappers to persuade them not to act at all, means that an increasingly desperate Matthew decides he needs help from an ex-con he met whilst working at the Ville. Monk is no ordinary ex-con, though. Trained in the martial arts he is a very spiritual and mystical man, but one not averse to murder, and he has some powerful friends in the criminal world whose help he enlists. Matthew is caught in an impossible situation -- he feels compromised and unable to control events, scared of those who insist they are helping him, and what repercussions that will have for his future, but convinced they are the only way that he will ever see Charlotte again. REDEMPTION is a powerful and emotional tale. The clock is ticking, but slowly and painfully. Matthew Daniels agonises as he has to wait for news from first the kidnappers, and then Monk, whilst Charlotte waits in her cell, both of them convinced that the kidnapper must be someone connected with the prison past or present, but ultimately drawing different conclusions as to who that might be. As they reflect on their lives and their predicament, and how they might individually resolve the crisis, the reader cannot fail to empathise with them, and it is this depth of characterisation which makes the story so compelling. REDEMPTION is essentially a thriller told from multiple viewpoints. The reader is given an insight into the mind of Monk and, briefly, the abductor too, but just enough to provide a few clues. It is a very well-paced tale, which dispenses just the right amount of information at the right time, and holds a cleverly orchestrated surprise in store for the end. I was impressed, and look forward to reading more from Richard Burke.
Reviewed by Bridget Bolton, April 2006
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Contact: Yvonne Klein (ymk@reviewingtheevidence.com)
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