Review Tour + #Giveaway: The Black Hand by Jonathan Dunne @GoddessFish

The Black Hand

by Jonathan Dunne

GENRE: Crime/Mystery

BLURB:

In the aftermath of Ireland’s most deadly gang war, Dublin’s ruling family has scattered to the wind.

Into the void steps a criminal genius known only as The Black Hand. His organisation’s powerful grip is ruthless, bloody and barbaric.

With Europe’s biggest crime in play, The Devil needs a distraction. And The Black Hand needs Jacob Boylan to return to Irish shores. He will stop at nothing to provoke Dublin’s most lethal criminal out of hiding.

But has the wily genius misstepped? As all eyes are on Jacob, the Dublin exile carefully plans a gangland wipeout, for he is nobody’s pawn.

Excerpt:

Essex had the unique capability of keeping London at bay. Many of London’s middle classes wanted a respite from the hustle of their working lives, and Essex with its sprawling coastline and quaint villages was the perfect retreat. The train station at Basildon added to the attraction for London’s blue-collar workers. Over seventy percent of Essex was rural, which suited Jacob. He disappeared into respectability and showed no appetite to leave anytime soon.

Jacob Boylan was thirty-seven years old. He was a little less than six feet tall, with dirty blond hair, and dark green eyes. He had a small scar on his chin, just above a deep purple birthmark. His knuckles were badly callused, and his hands were criss-crossed with ugly scars. Jacob retained a good bulk of his weight and carried it in the right proportions.

He’d arrived in Essex two years ago after a hasty robbery. It was a period of overdue sobriety. There were no supports, no interventions, and no friends who plucked him from the gutter. He’d simply reached a decision. The pain was no longer numbed with alcohol, so he decided to cope without it. If he was to suffer, he would do so in relative comfort.

For close to two years, Jacob had begged on the streets and survived on the generosity of soup kitchens. Intermittently, he encountered volunteers who patrolled the pavements with a hot meal and a warm smile.

It had been five years since Jacob had lost his daughter in a gun attack in Dublin. An attack that was meant for him. They missed. But they didn’t. Jacob fell away as the world crumbled under his feet. Revenge had been exacted, but the hole in his heart was too big to fill. Jacob drank himself into oblivion. After four suicide attempts, he could no longer cope with the pain in his wife’s eyes. He left Dublin and embraced the despair of London’s destitute.

Jack Daniels had a way of numbing the pain. The Tennessee whiskey erased the images that haunted him. But, of late, his daughter had begun to invade his dreams. He could see and touch the blood-matted blonde hair. Hannah was stern. He felt her hand on his cheek and wanted to die. Living was too hard. And they spoke.

I need to be with you.

Not yet.

Stay with me, he begged.

Always, she replied. Give me Daddy back…monster!

My Review:

A crime lord Harry Nolan kills underground criminal Jacob Boylan's brother Jimmy.  Which brings Jacob out of hiding when he goes after Nolan to make him pay by killing off his men along the way to Nolan himself. Jacob is very good at what he does and knows how to stay hidden. He plans jobs well and stays on his toes with any given situation.

The Black Hand tells the stories of several different people whose lives or stories are connect in some way or other. I like reading stories with lots of characters and trying to see how they all fit. I like getting each characters take on things to see how they view what is happening.

The Black Hand is a hard boiled crime Novel that has lots of twists and plenty of action that keeps the pages turning. It reminds me of a lot of the detective TV shows that came on in the eighties in some ways.

If you are into crime novels with lots of action then The Black Hand is the book for you. Give it a try.

AUTHOR Bio and Links:

Jonathan Dunne is a native of Dublin's north inner city. The Black Hand is his second novel in the crime genre. The Takeover - his first crime novel went on to wide acclaim and regularly featured in Amazon's bestseller lists.


He is also an avid MMA journalist who has penned articles for some of Ireland's biggest publications. He holds a Degree from the Dublin Institute of Technology and is a strong advocate of lifelong learning and education. After returning to complete his leaving certificate as an adult in Jonathan has went on to have four novels published.

Facebook ~ Amazon ~ Website

The book is on sale for $0.99.

Giveaway:

$20 Amazon/BN GC

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