"Full of intriguing suspense and incredibly pacy action, this fabulous crime thriller and LoveReading Star Book is set in Sydney. "
A smart, fast-moving, and riveting crime thriller, make sure you set aside plenty of reading time as I didn’t want to put Trust down. Martin races to help girlfriend Mandy after checking his voicemail and hearing her scream before the call cuts off. Trust is the third in the Martin Scarsden series, the first and Chris Hammer’s debut Scrublands won the Crime Writers’ Association John Creasy New Blood Dagger in 2019. So far, each book has seen a different setting, starting in the Australian interior followed by a small coastal town with Silver, and now we enter Sydney. While a couple of previous characters crop up, Martin and Mandy are the main draw. You could potentially head straight into this and read it successfully as a standalone but for the best experience I really do recommend that you start with Scrublands. I feel as though a lot of unanswered questions from Martin and Mandy’s past are thoroughly and successfully covered here. The author’s background as a journalist can be felt as the corruption of power and privilege is examined in the most punchy way. This is a series you can really get your teeth into, intelligent and challenging, yet as readable as can be, I really do hope there is more to come. Trust is a fabulously suspense filled, powerful and pacy read that we just had to include as a LoveReading Star Book.
| Primary Genre | Crime and Mystery |
| Other Genres: | |
| Recommendations: |
How do you find the truth when you don't know who to trust or if they will trust you? A tale of betrayal, conspiracy and suspicion.
This story of betrayal, conspiracy and suspicion takes various twists and turns in a way that means you don't know who to trust. It follows two main characters, Mandy and Martin, who try to find the link between their past and present in a who-done-it adventure.
Mandy's past seems to catching up with her and her partner Martin, a crime journalist, gets caught up in helping her uncover a web of deceit. Without giving anything away, the crimes go beyond what they imagine and before they know it their lives appear to be in danger.
I enjoyed the unravelling of this story and the different characters.... Read Full Review
Hammer is a very good author and I look forward to reading more of his work.
Trust is the third book by Chris Hammer featuring the journalist Martin Scarsden and his partner Mandalay (Mandy).
The first two, Scrublands and Silver, are set in small towns in rural Australia, Trust is set in Sydney. As a result I found that it loses a lot of the atmosphere of an oppressively hot, contained setting, which is what makes the books so different. I kept having to remind myself that it was Sydney and not London, as a lot of the place names I associate with the latter, e.g. Hyde Park.
Martin and Mandy find themselves, unintentionally, in Sydney, having left their home town of Port Silver, and get caught up in kidnapping and murder. They are in the centre of some rather nasty events involving secret societies and fraud.... Read Full Review
Martin Scarsden is shocked by a voice message from his girlfriend Mandy containing only a scream, then the line goes dead. To say more would give away plot details so I will say only that you should be prepared to lose hours once you start reading!
Journalist Martin Scarsden is shocked to receive a voice message from his girlfriend Mandy containing only a scream, then the line goes dead. What follows is a fast paced thriller as Martin and Mandy confront the secrets from her past and learn that trust is key to establishing the facts about what really happened, and to secure their future together. A cast of well developed supporting characters and many plot twists and turns leave you wondering who the bad guys really are and what to believe. To say more would give away plot details so I will say no more. But be prepared to lose hours once you start reading.
Set in Sydney, Australia, this is Chris Hammer’s third book featuring Martin Scarsden and once again it is a gripping page turner.... Read Full Review
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