Sometimes a little violence is a good thing
You can't go on the kind of spree ex-cop Tom Bishop did and not face consequences.
After three years of rotting in a cell, Bishop is busted out of prison in the dead of night and thrown into the middle of a police war where the stakes are high and personal.
Now, the very man who put him away calls on his help. But what starts out as a simple rescue mission escalates into an adrenaline-fuelled, action packed thrill-ride as Bishop plunges into a web of conspiracy that threatens to destroy his soul, but may provide the truth about his past.
Out of Exile, Luke Preston
OUT OF EXILE is the second Tom Bishop book from local author Luke Preston.
Let's focus on that. The second book.
It follows on from DARK CITY BLUE, taking the dangerous, damaged and deeply conflicted ex-cop Tom Bishop back, ever so slightly, onto the side of the angels.
In two books Preston has ripped Tom Bishop's life, family and sanity apart, taken him down as low as an ex-cop in jail could possibly go. And then set him up in a no win situation blurring law and order and justice to the point where picking the good from the bad and the winners from the losers is no easy task. Even with Bishop's fundamental desire to do the right thing.
Dark and about as noir as the streets of Australia could ever be envisioned, OUT OF EXILE delivers a strong message in an utterly uncompromising style. Broken out of prison for the express purpose of outing corrupt police, Bishop must side with the wrong in order to achieve the right. It's a difficult position for anybody to be placed in. Make that person a man with little left to lose and a lot to regret, it is impossible not to entertain the possibility that Bishop will ignore the desire.
But back to the second book thing. Both books are action packed, violent and beautifully written. Economical with words, the reader is never in doubt about motivations and constantly wondering about outcomes. There is plenty of follow through from the first book in this one, with many of the characters still breathing returning and events carrying forward in the minds and actions of the main players. Whilst it might be possible to read OUT OF EXILE on its own, I'm not sure I'd recommend it. Whilst there's enough detail in the second book to give you an idea of what's gone before, DARK CITY BLUE fleshes it all out, and besides, why deny yourself the chance.
Why the constant references to two books? OUT OF EXILE very nearly became a single sitting read. And when I was really struggling to put it down, I realised that part of the reason was the way it was moving forward so rapidly. The other reason was I really cared what happened to Tom Bishop. In two noir style action books, creating a reader / character connection like that's quite an achievement.