Review: Sorrow Bound by David Mark (5/5)

"Philippa Longman will do anything for her family.

Roisin McAvoy will do anything for her friends.

DS Aector McAvoy will do anything for his wife.

Yet each has an unknown enemy – one that will do anything to destroy them.

Sorrow Bound is a powerful police procedural thriller about how those with the biggest hearts make the easiest targets; and how the corrosive venom of evil can dissolve the bonds between good people, until all they are bound by is grief."


Note: This is book number three in the Aector McEvoy series. The first book is entitled DARK WINTER and book two is ORIGINAL SKIN.


Before Sorrow Bound I hadn't read a David Mark book before but knew that this was part of a series. Whilst I think it's best to have read previous books first, I did really enjoy this book and I will definitely be rectifying the mistake of not having read this author before in the very near future! Just after reading the book's Prologue I knew I would love this book. In the first chapter we are introduced to Aector McEvoy. Straightaway I was intrigued. McEvoy is talking to a psychiatrist (not by choice) and immediately I wanted to know why. What's happened in the past to get him to this point? Clearly this is a man with demons and a past, I can't wait to read previous books. Aector is a very, very intriguing character. David Mark has definitely created a very unique character here. The book also has a fantastic cast of characters, especially Aector's superior Trish Pharaoh.  

David Mark does not hold back with this book. Me personally I like my crime fiction to be as gruesome as possible. However I have read reviews of other books which are particularly gruesome where people say they didn't like it. That certainly isn't the case for me. The descriptions used and the ways in which characters are killed definitely isn't for the faint hearted, very, very brutal. In a crime fiction book I ask for brutal deaths, non-stop action and a storyline which makes you want to keep reading until you reach the end. I got that with this book, and then some! We learn that there is a long running drug storyline carrying on from books one and two and I can't wait to go back and read more about that. The book was definitely gripping from start to finish. Murder, blackmail, mystery, intrigue and a bit of humour thrown into the mix. What more can you want?

I also enjoyed the setting. A lot of the crime fiction I have read recently has been either set in America or London and so it was a nice change to read one set in Hull. I don't know much about Hull other than it is going to be the City of Culture and it's where this book is set. It is clear however from reading the book that the author has captured it incredibly well. I always want the place(s) that books are set to play as much a role in the book as the actual characters and Hull definitely came alive (and died) within this book's pages.

I will definitely be purchasing books 1 and 2 very soon and will be eagerly awaiting book number 4! 

Thank you to Quercus for supplying me with a review copy via NetGalley. 

You can buy Sorrow Bound in hardback or on Kindle from Amazon

You can follow David on Twitter and find out more about him on his website

You can also find out more about Quercus on their website