Are you ready for a nail-biting journey which you will not want to put down? If so, let me introduce you to Deep Dirty Truth by Steph Broadribb…
The plot:
A price on her head. A secret worth dying for. Just 48 hours to expose the truth. (DUN DUN DUUNNNN.)
Single-mother bounty hunter Lori Anderson has finally got her family back together, but her new-found happiness is shattered when she’s snatched by the Miami Mob – and they want her dead.
Rather than a bullet, they offer her a job: find and bring back the Mob’s “numbers man” being held in FBI custody within 48 hours. Fail? Her family dies. Succeed? Wipe the slate clean and the price on her head.
The race is on, but only the winner gets out alive…
Deep Dirty Truth will seriously keep you on the edge of your seat
Let’s start at the beginning: this book is the third in the Lori Anderson series. I haven’t read the previous two (although they are now on my Amazon wish list), so it can be read as a stand-alone. It does reference major parts from book 1 (Deep Down Dead) or book 2 (Deep Blue Trouble), which I’m not too sure having not read them, so I’d recommend starting with the first to get the full experience.
I’m v v v v impressed with the crime-y side of this book, and how it all planned out. I was quite dubious at the beginning, thinking A) oh well she’s not going to die because she’s the protagonist, and then B) what’s going to happen next? You’ll forget these questions within a few pages. Trust me.
I loved the protagonist – her short sentences and persona really work for me, and I definitely want her as my pal. The story is well thought-through and fast-paced and you can’t tell what’s going to happen next until it hits you in the face. I’m 10/10 down for that. I’m seriously not even surprised the series has made the shortlist for three major awards.
I do bite my nails, but heck, I’m surprised I even had any by the end of reading this (I’m suing because my cuticles were bleeding at one point). It’s just super tense and one of the better crime fictions I’ve read. It’s not one that will make you gasp, but Deep Dirty Truth will seriously keep you on the edge of your seat.
There were a few questions near the end, especially within the last 10 pages, but it was well executed, although it did feel a little rushed. It felt a little like those last few minutes of a movie which is just too cliché. But then again, I rushed through the whole book because it was so fab, so who am I to complain?
The only thing I wasn’t a fan of, and if you’ve read a few of my other reviews, you won’t find this as a surprise, but most of the chapters are with Lori as the highlight, but every now and again, this does jump to JT and what’s happening with these characters. Whilst this is well done and it’s nice to have a change and adds to the tension, I just don’t think the chapters were well split. Probably about 85% is with Lori, which I get, being the protagonist and all, but the odd paragraph with JT (the partner) and Dakota (the daughter) felt too few and too far apart for me. They also weren’t clearly separated, and whilst it only takes a few lines to establish what you’re reading, the tone is too similar and not distinguished enough for me. But I know that’s a personal thing to every reader, so don’t let that put you off.
Think: modern-day Lara Croft but without Lori knowing she’s Lara Croft. You get me?
Deep Dirty Truth, Steph Broadribb, RRP £8.99 (paperback); Book Depository
Pages: 277
Genre: Crime Fiction
Publisher: Orenda Books
