Hope to Die

DS Nathan Cody, Book 2

By: David Jackson

Narrated by: Jonathan Keeble

Length: 9 hrs and 31 mins

Publisher's summary

When the victim seems perfect, is it the perfect crime? The gripping new serial killer thriller from the runaway best-selling author of Cry Baby.

On a bitterly cold winter's night, Liverpool is left stunned by a brutal murder in the grounds of the city's Anglican Cathedral. A killer is on the loose, driven by a chilling rage.

Put on the case, DS Nathan Cody is quickly stumped. Wherever he digs, the victim seems to be almost angelic - no one has a bad word to say, let alone a motive for such a violent murder.

And Cody has other things on his mind, too. The ghosts of his past are coming ever closer, and - still bearing the physical and mental scars - it's all he can do to hold on to his sanity.

And then the killer strikes again....

©2017 David Jackson (P)2017 Audible, Ltd

4

This turned out to be the thinking
detective vs the thinking suspect.
Lots of other stuff going on but
the author keeps us focused on
outsmarting the criminal. This
volume follows the first in series
volume I just read. I think reading these two in order is a big
help in making vol 2 such a really
good listen. Now I'm impatient for vol. 3. This work is good and it has the potential to be really, really good. Good author and
fine narrator. :-)

Had Us Guessing Until the Very End

Ok, what’s next for DS Nathan Cody? Enjoyed second book even more than the first. Great job, David Jackson, and congratulations to Jonathan Keeble for bringing it all to life.

Almost but not quite?

I think the narrator was what spoiled this for me—His interpretation was distracting , somehow made the characters seem unnecessarily corny—maybe best read in print!

Couldn't stop listening!

Another well written book. Nail biting from start to finish. Can't wait for book 3 in the series.

A good solid follow up to the first one

Jackson is very good at writing tension. This book is not as good as the first but I like the story much better. The characters are well written, especially Cody, you really care for them and feel their emotions.

great series

If you love a good copper caper with interesting characters, this is a good British series.

Drags in the Middle

The first DS Nathan Code book was a winner as far as I was concerned. There was horror and a touch of humor and the relationships between the characters was intriguing. However, DS Cody's second outing is not nearly as interesting.

It began with a brutal murder on the grounds of a Cathedral in Liverpool. Is it a one off or part of a future series? Did the killer know the victim or pick her out at random? And the more that Cody learns about the victim, the less likely it seems that someone would choose her as a murder victim.

Then things slow down and get far less interesting..Too much time is spent on the relationship between Cody and his former girlfiend who appears to be getting on with her life. However she still seems to be hung up on Cody. Then there is her fiance who is handsome, well off and devoted. Add to that some unlikely suspects and Cody's boss whose attitude toward Cody has not been explained. But the excitement and the sense of threat that filled A Tapping at My Door is missing. There was one scene in Tapping in a pub where Cody and his partner had to face off against some dangerous thugs that hated cops that I thought was nothing short of brilliant. There are no moments like that in this book.

Things do pick up at the end but it's too late to save the book in my opinion. I'll read the next one but I will be more wary about picking it up.

Great book and awesome narration..

I love the storyline of these books but I just hate the ongoing story about the clowns and phone calls to Nathan Cody. I’m good with the serial killer so I don’t need to read about the hero’s failing mental health. At only 42% I was wondering if I was even going to finish this book. If it weren’t for the narration I probably wouldn’t have. I knew, however, if this was still a problem at the end of this book I wouldn’t be reading any more from this author.

At 71% we finished with another long episode of Cody and the clowns. They keep scaring him witless and he can’t even concentrate at work. He’s even alienated Megan. She didn’t want a thing to do with him.

I mean, really? Who wants a hero with mental problems? First in A Tapping at My Door and now it continues in this book, with no end in sight? As much as I enjoyed the serial killer stories in these two books I’m completely done. I’ll make up my own ending, rather than think about Cody being on the verge of insanity in every book, and not knowing when the next part of the story is going to be published.

I’m rating this book on the serial killer part ONLY. The latter part of this review was my own personal rant about the lousy way this was written, as far as Cody was concerned.

The story was very good and very exciting and I love that you have no idea who the killer is until near the end. And throughout the book I felt so sorry for him. It was so hard to read his story and I could see why his head was so screwed up. What a dysfunctional family that was.

He killed three women, all the while killing one woman in particular, but never having the nerve to kill THAT one. The solving of the case was taken away from with Cody’s mental problems.

As to the narration: Phenomenal. Jonathan Keeble gets better with every book he reads. His emotions are just incredible.

Love this series

Not your run of the mill murder mystery/crime drama. I love how the author infuses humor, detective work, a little romance and an edge of your seat murder mystery. A combo that really keeps me in its clutch!

A different kind of detective.

First off, great series, clever story lines, believable characters, really well narrated. Read the first book first.

The kicker, though, is Nathan Cody, the main character. Complex, flawed, vulnerable in ways that set his character apart and thoroughly decent.

The author has established a line of tension around Cody’s circumstances unrelated to the cases that make up each book which leaves one always wanting more.

Well worth the read.