-| Reviewing… The Gingerbread Houses by Benedict J. Jones |-

So, as you can tell from above I’m reviewing The Gingerbread Houses by Benedict J. Jones.
Before we get started I just wanted to say a quick thank you to Henry from Crime Wave Press for providing me with a copy to read and review.

Now we can begin…

SUFFER THE LITTLE CHILDREN…
A dark secret lies at the heart of the British government; a secret so appalling that they will kill to protect it.
Charlie Bars is back in London and has taken on a missing persons case. Easy money –or so he thinks. The man he is looking for is inextricably linked to the evil perpetrated in the Gingerbread Houses and as Charlie’s search progresses, he finds himself drawn into the seedy underbelly of the capital; a world of abuse, exploitation and deviancy that threatens to destroy his soul.
Others are looking for the missing man too and hunter soon becomes hunted as Charlie finds himself the target of an insane torturer haunted by the ghosts of his military past.
As he descends into the darkest depths of human depravity, Charlie desperately tries to stay out of prison, on the right side of his morality and, most importantly, alive as he seeks to uncover the buried secrets of the Gingerbread Houses.
-Goodreads-

So this is the 3rd book in the Charlie Bars series and unfortunately I haven’t actually read the first 2 (is this even a surprise anymore?). While it can absolutely be read as a standalone I did feel at a slight disadvantage without the development of the characters within the first two instalments. Charlie as a character I found to be so relatable with his flaws, he’s an ex-con turned PI which gives this book a subtle edge compared to others in this genre.
You can’t help but feel for him as he has such good intentions and he really doesn’t want to end up back in prison but he keeps finding himself in sticky situations.

Unfortunately there was one really annoying factor in this book for me, no one drank anything, they all took a bite out of their drink. Now this might sound like I’m being picky, but this was constantly used throughout the book and it actually took me out of the story as everytime I read this I found myself rolling my eyes.

The plot of this book is fab and sadly very relevant as we live in a world where child abuse and exploitation does happen under our nose. I can’t go into more detail than what is in the synopsis as this is a crime thriller so obviously it’s best not to know too much. It’s definitely not a light read, there are a lot of dark topics which the author handles very well.

The Gingerbread Houses is a gritty eye-opening read and is very deserving of 3 and a half cups of coffee out of 5!