Crime and Publishing

For me, Shep was the stand-out character in this novel. He reminded me a lot of Dennis Lehane’s brilliantly psychotic Bubba Rogowski, and certainly the relationship between Shep and Mike has the same ying and yang quality that made Bubba and Patrick Kenzie such a compelling and dynamic duo. That being said, I did have to repeatedly remind myself of Shep’s violent and criminal streak. This wasn’t through any fault of Hurwitz or his skills as an author, but more because I have a friend called Shep and he is not what you’d call particularly threatening [certainly not in a physical sense!]. 

You’re Next is very much from the Harlan Coben / Linwood Barclay school of suspense fiction. The plotting is expertly constructed and labyrinthinely layered [quite a tongue-twisting phrase, I know!], and there is tension by the bucket load.  I have to admit that I did slightly roll my eyes when I started the book and realized that it was going to be about a rather generic everyman whose family was being threatened by mysterious bad men from his past [it is, after all, rather a common suspense fiction plot trope!]. But the characterisation throughout the novel, especially that of both Shep and Mike, is so good that it more than makes up for the somewhat clichéd nature of the central storyline.

This is a hugely enjoyable page-turner that whips along at a fair old pace, even if it does – on occasion – stretch credibility and believability to breaking point.