Plain Dealing

The Ryder Quartet Volume 3

Fiction - Thriller - General
227 Pages
Reviewed on 04/18/2016
Buy on Amazon

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Author Biography

After working as an actor, director and teacher in theatre, film and television, Ian Patrick turned to an academic career, publishing scholarly essays in a range of international academic journals. He believes that his years as an actor, director and scholar play a modest part in his writing. 'My fiction is based to the best of my ability on research and field work. I have to believe every word my fictive characters say, every action they undertake,' he says. Which explains why he has accompanied detectives to the front line, interviewed forensics investigators, and spent many hours scouring actual locations for his crime scenes: many of them based on actual events.

'I endeavour to make my fiction plausible and authentic. This requires exhaustive work and detailed research. It takes me up to a year of full-time work to write an eighty thousand word crime thriller. In my view, although it is clearly desirable to arrive at one's destination by bringing a work to publication, it is the journey that is the really exciting and enjoyable part of writing. I can only hope that readers will also enjoy the journey of discovering my characters and their foibles, their actions and their experiences. I hope, too, that they will inform me about and forgive me for any lapses in my work or any errors of detail.'

    Book Review

Reviewed by Tracy Slowiak for Readers' Favorite

In a thrilling and adventurous read by author Ian Patrick, Plain Dealing: The Ryder Quartet, Book Three, readers will again be treated to a murder story and a police procedural that they won't be able to put down once they start reading. Follow the story of police executions in Durban, South Africa, when six officers killed four criminals after a particularly heinous crime. What they didn't realize was that there was a witness to their actions, and that witness could end their careers, and possibly their lives as they know it. Digging deeply into the tactics, ethics, psychology and criminality of these officers, the story is fascinating both in its story and the depth of the research that underlies it.

I very much enjoyed Plain Dealing: The Ryder Quartet, Book Three. Author Ian Patrick has done a fantastic job in creating characters that his readers will be fascinated by, and will continue to think about long after the last page is finished. If that isn't a hallmark of a great author, I'm not sure what is. Any reader who loves mysteries, thrillers, action adventures or stories about police officers, both the good and the bad, should definitely read Plain Dealing: The Ryder Quartet, Book Three. I am pleased to recommend this book to any such reader, or any reader just looking for a great work of fiction in general. I look forward to reading more from the very talented author, Ian Patrick, just as soon as I can!

Maria Beltran

Plain Dealing: The Ryder Quartet is the third installment in a series written by Ian Patrick. This is a fiction thriller novel set in contemporary South Africa. As midnight sets in, seven cops led by Detective Mashego are pursuing four criminals, who have raped and mutilated a young woman at the beach. A couple of minutes later, the four rapists are dead. The next day, a newspaper reporter gets a call from Skhura Thabethe, a shady character, who claims he has witnessed the shooting and he incriminates Detective Jeremy Ryder. But this is just the tip of the iceberg because what follows is a tale of policemen who have to make difficult moral choices as they are confronted with criminal acts that happen right on their very doorsteps.

Action filled and fast paced, Plain Dealing: The Ryder Quartet by Ian Patrick is a chilling story that strikes a disturbing chord in all of us. Jeremy Ryder, the main protagonist, is a detective with an unblemished reputation. Incriminated in a police shooting, he gets involved in a chain of events that exposes the stark reality of dealing with the ruthlessness and brutality of criminals in South Africa. Determined to get to the bottom of things, he finds out that Detective Mashego has a compelling personal reason for behaving the way he does. This is a novel where the line between good and evil is blurred and policemen have to make hard choices while they do their job. What makes this story alarming is that it could be happening now in some cities where criminality is a daily occurrence.

Kobus

I liked this as much as you did. Great drama and excitement and lovely characters. Having police experience myself I identified all the way with the book. It is very accurate and incredibly well researched. Mainly, though, it is a thrill all the way.

Dianne Coultridge

I haven't read the book but I heard the audiobook. Brilliant. Absolute thriller.

Ronald Gumede

Great thriller. A police reading group raved about this: one of the best police thrillers we had read. See my own review at: http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/1358832015

Mervyn Goodall

I came across this from a recommendation by a retired policeman. Good grief. It is so good. A really exciting thrill-a-minute ride. I believe (from the book's preface) that the author accompanied cops on their drugs busts, and he records lots of real everyday events. It feels that way in reading the book. Excellent. I recommend this most highly.