What kind of person knows they may kill before the day is out?
Kate Arden must soon find out.
It’s London, 1999. A family tragedy breaks her heart and forces her into a new job with an elite police unit called SO19.
SO19 is all speed, power and adrenaline. There are fast cars, serious weaponry, unpredictable threats. It’s disciplined, aggressive, and highly addictive, a very long way from regular policing.
Kate is one of a tight team of firearms specialists. Their job is to protect the people from those who would steal, kill and destroy.
Including one ex-marine sniper with a grudge …
Fast-paced, gritty, and very human, The Snake looks at both sides of the ancient question – what is evil?
Philip Gladwin is a novelist, screenwriter, development executive and educator, with long experience of many different genres across TV, film and radio.
Philip has over 60 TV broadcast credits in both primetime and children’s drama. He has developed for many long running TV series, and has been commissioned to write scripts by people like Lynda La Plante, Russell T. Davies and Tony Garnett.
He is also strong at series construction, having worked on many bibles and series story documents, and has helped to create seasons of some of the UK’s most loved shows, including Casualty, New Tricks, Grange Hill, Holby City and The Bill.
The series of The Dumping Ground on which he was series script editor received two BAFTA nominations, including best Childrens’ Drama, and won a Writers Guild Award.
My thoughts: I found this a fascinating read, offering two contrasting characters, Kate, a police officer, who after the death of her sister joins SO19, the firearms unit, and tries to seek solace in her work. She’s also always looking for the man who shot her sister, wanting revenge.
And the sniper Chris, formerly a Marine, now following the orders of a voice in his head. A voice he believes to be that of a snake that bit him on his last official mission. As his grip on sanity lessens, he becomes increasingly dangerous and the police are searching for him.
Both characters are dangerous, but in different ways, Kate is tightly wound and grateful every time she doesn’t have to pull the trigger. She takes risks and pushes back against her brother-in-law who is now her teammate and constant companion in work.
Chris reacts with aggression and violence to any provocation – the neighbour’s yappy dog, his aunt’s attempts to help him, as well as the victims his inner monster demands from him. He might appear to be functioning but inside he’s barely alive.
As the two head towards the final showdown in a run down estate in Harlesden, can either of them contain their darkness enough to survive?
Intriguing and strangely beguiling, this is an unusual and powerful read.
*I was kindly gifted a copy of this book in exchange for taking part in this blog tour, but all opinions remain my own.
