Paramedics

Since finishing THE DARKEST HOUR I've been trying to think of another author who uses such an unusual protagonist's viewpoint of violent crime.  I can't, which simply could be my aging brain, or it could be that Howell is looking at violence from an angle that not many have first hand experience of.

THE DARKEST HOUR is Katherine Howell's second book - the first - FRANTIC - was a tremendous debut and she's followed up with another tight, taut and suspenseful book, using parallel viewpoints which almost become plotlines in their own right.  THE DARKEST HOUR reintroduces Detective Ella Marconi who shares the limelight this time with paramedic Lauren Yates.  Lauren is the ambulance officer called to a series of violent deaths that Marconi is investigating.  Unfortunately for Marconi, Lauren Yates knows a lot more about the killer than she's prepared to divulge - frightened for her family and herself by the violent and menacing Thomas Werner.

Less of a mystery as the killer is clearly identified at the start of the books, THE DARKEST HOUR is a thriller in styling, as Marconi tries to identify the killer, that Lauren is only too aware of.  Both women find themselves personally threatened and frightened, although unaware of each other's position.  Lauren's life is further complicated by her relationship with her working partner - Joe - and the affect this is having on his fiancé.

Whilst it is undoubtedly the difference in viewpoint that make THE DARKEST HOUR (and FRANTIC before it) such fascinating books, there needs to be more to it than just that.  And there is.  THE DARKEST HOUR provides an overwhelming sense of menace, interwoven with a real sense of the life, in particular, of a paramedic.  The complications of potential romance with a work colleague, the exhaustion of a bruising work schedule, the difficulty in talking about the awful things that are seen on a day to day basis, are all very starkly drawn in THE DARKEST HOUR and they really serve to make, in particular, Lauren feel very real.  That's not to say that Ella is not a well developed character in her own right - with the problem of what to do with elderly and ailing parents, and the pressure that comes with being a daughter in those circumstances.

THE DARKEST HOUR is definitely up to the same standard as the first book and it's very pleasing to know that Katherine Howell is currently working on a third novel.

Whenever an author’s debut book is as top notch as FRANTIC was – I always panic when I pick up their second.  The expectations are always high; the reality is that sometimes those expectations don’t follow through.

Well, Katherine Howell has managed to do it again with her follow up book THE DARKEST HOUR.  The investigating officer, Detective Ella Marconi, is the same as in FRANTIC, however this time the story revolves around a different main character, Lauren.  Lauren and Joe are paramedics working in Sydney.  The book opens in a cold winter’s night with Lauren on her own at the scene of a horrific car smash where she declares the driver dead.  On her return to the ambulance station she sees a man collapse in a gutter while a second one runs off.  As she goes to his assistance she sees someone else, someone she recognises – Miles Warner, her sister’s ex-partner and father of her niece.  He threatens to hurt Lauren and her family if she lets on that she has seen him.  Despite the fact she knows she is breaking the law, Lauren stays silent to protect her sister and niece.  A few months later as Joe and Lauren rush to hospital in a vain attempt to save a stabbing victim and he names Miles Warner as his assailant, and this time Lauren can’t cover it up.

Ella Marconi is the investigative officer, struggling to prove herself in her recent promotion in homicide while keep her doting and inquisitive Italian family at bay.  Lauren has made a poor decision and eventually comes clean with Ella. Ella now has to find Warner, prove he did it and protect Lauren and her family.

Unlike Lauren and Ella, the reader knows where Miles Warner is and what he is up to which means THE DARKEST HOUR is a real page turner as the suspense builds up steadily and unrelentingly.

Author Katherine Howell has used her experience as paramedic to write another superb story.  The procedures and dialogue just roll out naturally and as the reader I could “hear” the tense, rapid and concise radio exchanges as if I was really there in the ambulance as it hurtled from one emergency to another.  THE DARKEST HOUR is a quality thriller, cleverly blending on the edge of your seat action with the personal lives of the main characters.  Both women are as tough as they need to be professionally.   However, they each have their own vulnerabilities which Howell reveals to demonstrate their humanity, and makes them more real.

Katherine Howell writes a damn good story – her plot is faultless, tension and suspense balanced with small havens of down time for both the characters and reader.

Wow - what a great debut thriller - this was a real page turner for me the suspense was unrelenting.

Sophie Phillips is a paramedic in Sydney, Australia. Not only is her work high stress with a non-stop pace - but her home life is just as busy with a baby boy and policeman husband, Chris

The book opens right in the middle of the action - a bank robbery, the seventh in a series, has occurred and a guard is down. Sophie and her partner Mick are called to attend but are unable to save the guard. Almost immediately they are called to the emergency birth of a child - only to have the mother and baby die. Not a good day. There is not much support at home either, Chris and Sophie are having problems, and Sophie is riddled with guilt because she has had a one-night stand with her husband's partner, Angus.

The next day everything changes - the police receive an anonymous tip off that point the bank robberies at corrupt police, Chris is critically shot on his front doorstep and baby Lachlan is kidnapped. While Chris is in hospital fighting for his life, and now suspected of being linked to the bank robberies, the police search for the baby swings into action.

Sophie's distress causes her to to frantically search for her son - going against police advice. Her anguish is heartbreakingly real. Sophie thinks she knows who has her baby and is determined to bring them to justice herself, because she doesn't think the police are trying hard enough. Meanwhile Chris, recuperating in hospital, thinks that it is something he has done that has caused the baby to disappear - can he do something to get his baby back?

Detective Ella Marconi is assigned the case - trying to link all the pieces of the puzzle together - and stop Sophie from hindering in the investigation.

Is there nothing a mother under the pump won't do to get her child back?

There are a few threads to the story but it is all go, go go!   The book picks you up and doesn't let you go until the explosive end when all the red herrings melt away and the truth comes out. Author, Katherine Howell, was a worthy nominee for the 2008 Ned Kelly award for best first novel. She has got the strong pull of motherhood to the T - and I very much related to Sophie and understood her reactions - takes a lot of talent to provoke such sympathy from me for a character in a book.

It is excellent reading, and I am looking forwards to getting my hands on the next book THE DARKEST HOUR which has been released - and a third is not too far away. Katherine Howell is an author to look out for.

Howell is a paramedic herself and writes with great credibility about Sophie’s working day. In fact, she writes so well about the working life of a paramedic that I found myself wishing that Howell had room in the plot for more of that aspect of Sophie’s life. I found it truly fascinating. 

Howell also has a deft touch with describing Sydney.  It helps that Sophie is stationed at The Rocks, right in the middle of the main tourist area of the city.   Anyone who has visited Sydney will immediately recognise some of the locations.

FRANTIC is Katherine Howell’s first published novel and one that shows great promise.  The action starts on page one and maintains its momentum until the very last paragraph.  Sophie’s tactics aren’t always very well thought out, but that also reflects her state of mind.  I did find some of her actions a bit over the top and there was no resolution in regard to consequences of some of her more outrageous behaviour.  It is a minor quibble though and I look forward to Howell’s next book, in which I hope she will make more use of her insider knowledge of life as a paramedic.