Ragdoll

January 16, 2017
Set in London, Cole’s strong first novel—a gritty fusion of police procedural, mystery, and thriller—follows emotionally unstable detective William “Wolf” Fawkes as he attempts to track down a killer who dismembers his victims and stitches various body parts back together to create a nightmarish single “ragdoll.” As a team of overworked investigators diligently searches for clues, it becomes apparent that all the victims are somehow connected to a highly controversial case in Fawkes’s past, one that involved freeing a man suspected of being London’s most prolific serial killer (27 teenage prostitutes killed in 27 days). When the press receives a list of the killer’s future victims and the exact dates of their deaths, Fawkes—whose name is last on the list—realizes that he has just a few weeks to find the deranged psychopath and save himself. Cole uses the rising tension and the mystery of the killer’s true identity to create a page-turning narrative, though the final payoff seems a bit underwhelming after such a powerful setup. Agents: Esther Newberg and Zoe Sandler, ICM.

January 15, 2017
A serial killer with a gruesome M.O. taunts an already damaged London detective.If there's one thing that takes the wind out of fictional serial killers' sails it's when they deliver exactly what they threaten. Especially when this involves a kill list, such as the one in Cole's predictable debut, which earns high marks not for originality but for the number of cliches utilized. DS William Oliver Layton-Fawkes (no wonder he goes by Wolf) is only just back on the job after a demotion and a stint in a mental hospital following a violent blowup in court, where, after a verdict didn't go his way, he beat the newly vindicated man nearly to death. Turns out that Naguib Khalid, whom Wolf was positive was "The Cremation Killer," was bad news after all, as he went on to set a child on fire (the squeamish should not read this book; Cole seems to delight in being gruesome without the benefit of furthering any salient plot points). Wolf's new case isn't any less grim: in an empty apartment, a strange corpse is discovered with the singular distinction of being one body comprised of pieces of six victims sewn together like a psychotic poppet. Wolf and his former partner, DS Emily Baxter, in charge of training the team's new guy--who seems to be the only one capable of real police work--determine that the chopped bits are all related to Wolf's previous case. And the killer isn't done: a list is delivered containing six names and six dates, presumably the so-called Ragdoll Killer's next victims. And Wolf's is the last name on the list.Unnecessary blood and guts can only go so far to obscure the fact that this is a well-trod plot lacking in any real twists or substantive character development.

COPYRIGHT(2017) Kirkus Reviews, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

November 15, 2016
Cole's rag doll is a cadaver stitched together from the body parts of six different victims, and contentious detective William Fawkes, aka the Wolf, is tasked with finding the madman responsible. Soon he learns that he's a new rag doll candidate. A London Book Fair hit already sold to 25 countries.

Copyright 2016 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

February 15, 2017
Four years ago, DS William Oliver Layton-Fawkes (known to the London public as Wolf) hunted serial killer Naguib Khalid. When the defense's mind-bending assault on Wolf's case resulted in Khalid's acquittal, Wolf brutally attacked Khalid, intent on preventing more deaths. The assault landed Wolf in a psych ward, but the Met Police brings him back on the job after Khalid is caught killing another victim. Now, Wolf is hunting the Ragdoll, a cunning killer who has merged parts from six victims into a Frankensteinian corpse. As detectives scramble to identify the six victims, the killer announces his next targets' names and times of death, including Wolf as his grand finale. When Wolf fails to protect the first victim on the killer's list, London's mayor, he's confronted with his team's distrust and his own self-doubt. Ragdoll's inventive ability to sidestep his preys' protection and the thoughtful evolution of Wolf's character make for a smart, psychologically complex read. Think Luther (BBC) meets Harry Bosch, and toss in some dark, old-country folklore for good measure.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2017, American Library Association.)