LoveReading Says
A really smart, readable, and pacy novel that not only thrills, it also encourages thoughts to explore beyond the obvious. Investigate Journalist Casey works to expose the horrors that take place in the factories behind the clothes trade. Holly Watt’s debut and start to this series, To The Lions won the CWA Ian Fleming Steel Dagger in 2019.
Dead Line is the second book and continues the winning format. What I really enjoy about these novels is the knowledge that the author is an award-winning investigative journalist, she knows her stuff. There is an immediate relevance to what you are reading, you could look up from the page at the world around you and see these stories taking place right now.
Casey is a tenacious and fabulous main character with depth. This is a book that can make you flinch and feel uncomfortable, it’s also balanced with fabulous storytelling that is full of pace and attitude. One of my Liz Robinson Picks of the Month, Dead Line is an intelligent and convincing action-packed thriller.
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The Dead Line Synopsis
THE TIMES THRILLER OF THE MONTH
A
SUNDAY TIMES THRILLER OF THE YEAR
'Vivid and packed with journalistic lore ... Mixing pulsating derring-do with painstaking detective work' Sunday Times A Bangladeshi camp. A British ambassador.
A Harley Street doctor. Investigative journalist Casey Benedict is used to working on stories that will take her from the bottom to the top of society - stories with a huge human cost. And her latest case is no different.
A frantic message is found hidden in clothes manufactured for the British high street. They take the girls… Casey and her team at the Post know they are on the brink of a major exposé but identifying the factories in which the clothes have been made is one challenge, following the trail of those taken is another. Their attempts to find the girls will take Casey from her London newsroom across the world and into the very heart of families who will be destroyed if what she uncovers is ever revealed.
The Hunt and the Kill, the third in the Casey Benedict series, is out in July 2021. Available for pre-order now.
About This Edition
Holly Watt Press Reviews
Casey is fierce, obsessive and brilliant. Watt, herself an investigative journalist, provides a daunting insight into what the job entails as Casey blackmails and tricks her way to the truth -- Alison Flood - Observer, Thrillers of the Month
No second album syndrome for Watt; her follow-up to her debut is just as vivid and packed with journalistic lore, and just as adroit in mixing pulsating derring-do with painstaking detective work - Sunday Times
Utterly convincing ... Watt is also an expert at ratcheting up the suspense ... A superbly crafted sequel in what one hopes will be a long running series - The Times, Thriller of the Month
Heart-stoppingly exciting - i
A compelling thriller that also raises real-world questions about the cost of human lives and what it means to be responsible for one another - Stylist
More than lives up to its promise ... With plenty of action and lots of suspense, The Dead Line is hard-hitting, authentic and, sadly, all too relevant -- Laura Wilson - Guardian, Thrillers of the Month
Holly Watt's first novel, To the Lions, won the CWA Ian Fleming Steel Dagger and this, her second, is even better ... This novel has something for everyone - Literary Review
A rip-roarer of a thriller that sucked me in and wouldn't let go until the finish. Like To the Lions, The Dead Line confronts some of the worst of human nature head on, but also finds hope in the complex heroes who stand against it. In Casey Benedict, we have a brilliant creation who is as relentless in her pursuit of the truth as a helpless group of victims demands. I find myself wishing there were more Caseys in the world -- Gytha Lodge, Sunday Times bestselling author of She Lies in Wait Terrific, hair-raising and profoundly disturbing - Saga
Holly Watt is a master storyteller ... A dynamic, globetrotting thriller with a strong, compassionate heart -- Stephen Mack Jones Superbly entertaining ... This promises to be an outstanding series -- Praise for 'To The Lions' - Telegraph
A first-rate Fleet Street novel ... equally good on the spy-like ploys used by undercover hacks as it is on tensions and teamwork in the newsroom -- Praise for 'To The Lions' - Sunday Times
Sensational! I loved it. Superbly plotted, and what a brilliant series lead! A sure hit -- Praise for 'To The Lions', Clare Mackintosh This fast-paced thriller follows journalist Casey Benedict on a dark trail of murder, political corruption and lies in a well-told tale that grabs you from the very first page -- Praise for 'To The Lions' - i
