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The Silent Room

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The Silent Room

By: Mari Hannah
Narrated by: Tim Bruce
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The Silent Room is the first tense police procedural in the thrilling Matthew Ryan series by Mari Hannah.

'Nobody understands the many faces of cops better than Mari Hannah' - Val McDermid

A security van sets off for Durham prison, a disgraced Special Branch officer in the back. It never arrives. En route it is hijacked by armed men, the prisoner sprung. Suspended from duty on suspicion of aiding and abetting the audacious escape of his former boss, Detective Sergeant Matthew Ryan is locked out of the manhunt.

Desperate to preserve his career and prove his innocence, he backs off. But when the official investigation falls apart, under surveillance and with his life in danger, Ryan goes dark, enlisting others in his quest to discover the truth.

When the trail leads to the suspicious death of a Norwegian national, Ryan uncovers an international conspiracy that has claimed the lives of many.

Continue the gripping crime series with The Death Messenger.

 Crime Crime Thrillers Fiction Genre Fiction Mystery Police Procedurals Psychological Suspense Thriller Thriller & Suspense
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Critic reviews

Nobody understands the many faces of cops better than Mari Hannah (Val McDermid)
Exciting and frightening thriller, that makes you look over your shoulder, even here in peaceful Norway - made me think of "Homeland" when I read it. (Gunnar Staalesen)
It has everything a good thriller should, compelling characters, a gripping plot and storyline, superb pacing and a strong sense of place. In addition it has heart, something many thrillers sorely lack. Mari Hannah's superb writing style is put to good use during this break from her series and I was annoyed every time I was forced to put the book down and do mundane yet necessary stuff like eat or sleep. (Yrsa Sigurðardóttir)
The Silent Room by Mari Hannah is a dark, gripping and brutal work of true quality from a writer at the very peak of her powers. (David Mark)
A tense and compelling standalone thriller from one of our foremost crime writers. This book gripped me from the opening pages and never let go. (David Jackson, author of Cry Baby)
Mari Hannah has always had two key specialities: a gift for genuinely ingenious plotting matched by a skill at choreographing suspense sequences that is the equal of more stellar names in the genre. Both characteristics are at full stretch in The Silent Room, with everyone involved (notably the warring officers in the Northumbrian police) leaping off the page. But a crime novel stands or falls on how vividly its central protagonist is conjured, and Hannah has come up with a real winner in Detective Sergeant Matt Ryan. (Barry Forshaw)
Taut storytelling and razor-sharp dialogue - not to mention Hannah's use of the Northumberland countryside - make this a novel not to be missed.
Very creepy. Read it on your commute and you'll be looking over your shoulder all the way home.
Mari has had a varied career and her partner was once a murder detective, which perhaps explains why she pulls some punches about the police force here...This story is based on actual experience, like so many crime novels. It is relatively mild, as far as language and explicit violence go, and despite or because of that it is curiously gripping and enjoyable. (Jessica Mann)
Pacey, standalone thriller . . . turns out to be an International conspiracy, with all the delicious twists and turns that entails.
Hannah knows how to keep up the pace of her narrative with an excellent mix of action scenes and engaging character . . . Best of all, she creates high drama without using psychopaths, paedophiles or lost children.
A rollercoaster of a ride involving corruption, surveillance and espionage . . . the author is a brilliant writer.
A tightly plotted, page turning read with believable characters and a good sense of time and place.
All stars
Most relevant
Struggled with the narrator on this one, unsure why, but fab story, love this author.

Fab book

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Struggled on to finish the story. Narration is OK but far too much detail to dialogue. Story Could have been half the length too much unnecessary detail in conversation.

Good story, but tedious

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The narration is excellent and the characters are good but the story does go on a bit. I was about to give up but then it got going and I enjoyed the rest.

Persevere with this book

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Yes some of the narration is slightly odd but the story so very very good. After a while you get used to the narration. The story is very very good.

Persevere

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The narrative and that the narrator could speak Norwegian or pretend he did. The whole story was convincing.

Liz

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