(Reviewed by JD Jung)
“He made you as indifferent to human suffering as the fucking moon. I’ve done my fair share of evil, but he went too far with you. You were his atom bomb, something that couldn’t be stopped once it exploded.”
Ed Dayton, the patriarch of a powerful and brutal crime family in Newcastle Upon Tyne counted on his sons to help secure his fortune. What he didn’t plan on was that one son, Daniel, would want to leave this entirely behind and move away to Scotland with no intention of further contact with his family.
What Ed also didn’t see coming was that a young psychopath with a troubled past and nothing to lose would be determined to take down his organization.
When Daniel discovers that his daughter (who, by the way, he abandoned) is in a coma, he’s prompted to come back home to see who is responsible. He is also forced to deal with the threat on the family empire.
This family definitely corrupts and perverts each other from generation to generation; will it ever stop? That is just one question I had while reading Woodcutter. There were so many surprises that it kept me glued to each page until the very end.
What I mostly appreciated about this suspense thriller was that author Shaun Baines maintained an unsentimental view of his characters. There are no saints or heroes. Daniel was still a thug in Scotland and none of that had changed. The women in the Dayton family were surely not victims, as they refused to give up their lavish lifestyles. Even friends and business associates were not innocent. After all, nothing comes without a price. Though I didn’t particularly feel for any of the characters, I enjoyed the way that their pasts and personas were gradually revealed.
I recommend Woodcutter to those with a strong stomach and those who enjoy gritty crime thrillers. I hope to read more from this debut author.
