Criminal minds
Jon Coates reviews two hard-hitting debut thrillers
Winter Counts
(Simon & Schuster, £14.99) Virgil Wounded Horse is an enforcer on the Rosebud Native American Reservation in South Dakota. Families pay him to punish wife beaters and sex abusers because the US legal system leaves the poorly resourced tribal police force to handle such crimes.
Then someone starts smuggling heroin on to the reservation. When a tribal council leader asks Virgil to stop them, he follows a lead to Denver and discovers that a Mexican drug cartel has formed an alliance with a local small-time marijuana dealer to extend its reach.
But Virgil’s vigilantism becomes personal when his nephew overdoses. And as he investigates the drug supply chain with ex-girlfriend Marie, they also uncover corruption behind a tribal council initiative aimed at improving the residents’ diets.
Faced with powerful enemies on all sides, Virgil will risk his life as he tries to expose the people lining their own pockets and stop heroin being sold to children.
Winter Counts is a highly accomplished debut from a citizen of the Sicangu Lakota Nation who takes an unflinchingly honest look at the plight of his people on reservations in modern America.
Enthralling from the first page to the last, and with a deeply moving and memorable finale, this is not only a heartfelt and harrowing tour de force of a novel but one of the best thrillers of the year.
Cold Justice
by Ant Middleton
(Sphere, £20) Former Special Boat Service team leader Mallory has been struggling to adapt to civilian life since an operation in Afghanistan six months ago left two of his men dead and another, Donno, in a coma.
Mallory has blamed himself for the failed operation ever since he left the service and now he’s between jobs as he struggles to come to terms with what happened. He vents his anger by taking on groups of men in pub fights in Birmingham, where Donno is in hospital. When Donno’s mother Susan asks Mallory for help in finding her slacker son, Scott, who has gone missing in South Africa, he doesn’t think he’s in the right frame of mind to help. But since he blames himself for Donno’s injuries, he feels he owes her something. He asks his contacts in the region to make a few enquiries and, when these prove fruitless, he decides to fly to South Africa himself, while Susan remains with Donno. Mallory’s investigation pits him against street thugs, corrupt police and mercenaries working for a private military company with a global reach. But he suddenly has a purpose and he won’t stop until Scott is reunited with his mother and brother. This is an impressive debut thriller from the former SBS, Marines and Paras soldier and frontman for Channel 4 show SAS: Who Dares Wins. It’s an authentic white-knuckle ride so immersive that it will leave readers gasping for breath. Mallory is an unstoppable killing machine who makes for a compelling, if flawed, hero and this new series from Ant Middleton is sure to make a huge impact on bestseller lists.