Northern Ex

April 12, 2010
In this middling crime novel from British author Campbell (Blue Knight, White Cross
), 36-year-old Vince McNulty, who was bounced after 18 years with the West Yorkshire police for brutalizing a pedophile, now patronizes the Northern X chain of massage parlors he used to bust during his time on the vice squad. While enjoying a masseuse’s services in a room at one such establishment, he hears a young woman’s screams elsewhere in the house. Vince goes to the rescue of a girl who appears to be in her early teens, overpowering the brute he suspects is abusing her. When the girl disappears, the “disgraced ex-copper” teams with ex-con Don “Donkey” Flowers to track her. Vince’s inquiries overlap with Det. Constable Jimmy Tynan’s investigation into seven missing massage parlor girls. While Vince likes to replay scenes from his favorite movies and recite the lyrics from the ’60s song “The House of the Rising Sun,” he remains a stock type.