Snapshot (Tony Winter #2) by Craig Robertson
Genre: Psychological Thriller, Mystery, Crime Fiction
Read: 2nd June 2018
Purchase: Amazon
★★★ 3 stars
After reading "Random" (which I absolutely loved so much I wrote Craig Robertson to tell him), I had high hopes for "Snapshot". However, I found it very hard to get into. I'm not sure I liked Tony Winter, and I really don't much like Rachel Narey. Addy, however, I did like. And it is hard to read a series when you don't like the main characters.
The fact Tony Winter is a police photographer and not a detective is a different perspective. However, he has this macabre fascination with dead bodies that just isn't normal. It is almost creepy. He wants to be assigned the BIG cases with the most gruesome deaths so he can capture those moments, and he details it for the reader. He is incredibly eager to be involved in the team investigating the sniper shootings around Glasgow.
DS Rachel Narey is one of those "don't call me, I'll call you when I want you" kind of people. I found her annoying at times, when she thought Tony was trying to edge into the investigation. She is ambitious, which is probably another reason I didn't like her, as I'm not a fan of ambitious women. Maybe I have to read something else with these two in to see how I feel about them because I wasn't enamoured by them in this book. And I can't remember much of "Random" now - which Rachel Narey featured in - I just remembered I loved the book being from a different perspective I had read at that time.
I have to agree with another reviewer that the surprise was in who was behind the murders, not because of who he was but because his character was so weak. He wasn't really one of the main players. He wasn't one you would think of when reviewing the story. It felt like he was just thrown in. Maybe if there had been some more back story to this guy then it would be have been better. I wasn't surprised at all by it being an insider - I had worked that much out for myself long before Winter did - his character just needed more building throughout the course of the book, I feel.
Overall, "Snapshot" is a thrilling read. I did eventually get hooked but it took me a long time to do so...and I normally don't continue with books that take so long to get into. I think my biggest issue with the book was not the characters, but the topic - drug lords. They are everywhere and I am just not interested in them. I prefer something darker or random.
I was disappointed in this book especially the thrilling "Random", but it sufficed as readable. It is a macabre and dark story and definitely NOT for the fainthearted. If you don't like excessive blood and gruesome visceral detail of violent death then this book is not for you.
