I'm really tardy to the party where this series is concerned, but in this case, better late than never for real. This is Book 1 in the series about a detective named George Elms, and includes his precinct, the areas surrounding said precinct, and those law enforcement personnel within.
This first book includes one particularly brutal case that pushes a snowball full of betrayal and lies rolling down that proverbial hill. Of course, everyone knows that hard-core criminals cannot be trusted, but you can always trust the police, and the line between them is crystal clear. Right? Unfortunately, circumstances in this particular area of the city have blurred those lines, and blindly trusting one side or the other can be a matter of life and death.
A lot of novels claim twists and turns around every corner, but some of them are still quite predictable. Bodily Harm is NOT one of those. This story takes you down paths that lead you to steep cliff edges where the ground under your feet suddenly disappears over and over again. 'Twists and turns' doesn't begin to cover Bodily Harm's storyline, but the word 'thriller' certainly does. You get to know each and every character, each and every location, and each and every event in such detail that it feels as if you are there. The fear becomes just as real to you the reader as it does to the characters.
Charlie Gallagher writes in an extremely visual style, and even with multiple characters and locations, with as much information as you are given, it never becomes difficult to follow where the writer is leading you. Before you finish the first story, you are already making sure you can get your hands on the next one. I certainly did, and as soon as I finished this one, I began reading Book 2, and just as I expected, by the second chapter, I was hooked yet again. I recommend Bodily Harm to anyone who enjoys tagging along with police detectives as they investigate crimes, but this George Elms series is so much more than that. You are taken into two worlds - the one filled with light and good and the one filled with darkness and evil. Then, you are dropped into that hazy middle and left to try to figure the right way out.
Definitely get into this series, but begin with Book 1 and go from there because you don't want to miss out on a character or an event and risk interrupting the flow. I'm going to close now - Book 2 awaits!
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