Far from the Tree by Rob Parker

Twenty-seven bodies, vacuum-packed, buried in a woodland trench. Some have been there for years, some for just days.
When DI Brendan Foley recognises one of the Warrington 27, he knows this case is about to shake his world.
Detective Sergeant Iona Madison is a skilled boxer and a vital support for Foley. Theirs is a newly established police force, and loyalties are about to be tested to the extreme.
Pressure mounts as news of the mass grave is plastered over the news. Brendan knows they can’t crack this case alone, but he’s not letting a rival force take over.
Their investigations lead them into the murky underworlds of Manchester and Liverpool, where one more murder means little to drug-dealing gangs, desperate to control their power bases.
But as Madison steps into the ring for the fight of her life, the criminals come to them. It’s no coincidence that the corpses have been buried in Foley’s hometown. The question is, why?

Author Rob Parker

Rob Parker lives in a village near Manchester, UK. A married father of three, Rob is also the author of the Ben Bracken books A Wanted Man, Morte Point, The Penny Black, Till Morning Is Nigh and the standalone post-Brexit country-noir Crook’s Hollow. He writes full time, as well as organising and attending various author events across the UK - while boxing regularly for charity. 

One of my favourite things is a good, well crafted crime thriller - and despite the amount of them on the shelves of bookshops across the country, ones that truly grip whilst also building character and avoiding cliches are really rather hard to come by. So it was with great delight that I listened to the Audible book of Rob Parker's 'Far from the Tree' - a story that I found myself unable to press pause on, so wrapped up was I in the grim yet real world that Parker has created. 

No good crime thriller is without a successful duo at the heart of it - and 'Far from the Tree' is no exception. Brendan Foley and Iona Madison work brilliantly together as foils for the listener, and whilst they do tick some of the crime cliches (troubled backgrounds, skeletons in closets etc.) it doesn't matter here, as the author brings these characters to life with such vivid work that the cliches instead become key aspects of both character and plot, and at no point feel unrealistic. These are real, working policemen who I could see on the job in the real world - and it is absolutely to Parker's credit that no suspension of belief is required at any point. 

I won't go into the plot too much - as the twists are frequent, brilliant, and at times rather breathtaking. Suffice it to say, this is a dark, brooding read (as any book that starts with the discovery of 27 corpses is rather likely to be), and plunges the reader deep into the criminal underbelly of the North West, but the author has care to ensure that it is a balanced read also - the violence isn't of the gratuitous kind that often stalks books of this nature, and the deaths are handled with sensitivity and care - with the deceased being handled as people who had lives and backstories rather than just tools for plot development. I've seen this described as suitable for fans of both Ian Rankin and the tv show Line of Duty, and that's exactly how I would pitch it - the world and character building of Rankin combined with the breathtaking twists that Line of Duty is so known for. 

I would be remiss not to mention Warren Brown's excellent narration too - Warren Brown is best known for leading roles in shows such as 'Luther' and 'Strike Back', although he's firmly embedded in my head as the evil (and impaled) Andy Holt from Hollyoaks. He's excellent here - being from Warrington his accent is (unsurprisingly!) spot on, and whilst I already rated him as an excellent actor, he excels himself here - spending multiple hours with just one voice can be difficult if the narrator is poor, but Brown is an excellent guide to the dark and shadowy corners of the world that Rob Parker has skilfully created. 

Many thanks to Amber at Midas PR for a copy of the Audio Book in exchange for an honest review