Review: Dark Heart, Heavy Soul by Keith Nixon

Genre: Crime Fiction

Description:

“All Konstantin Boryakov wants is a quiet life. In Margate. But someone is looking for him, someone who’ll do whatever they can to get the ex-KGB agent’s attention. Enter Violet, a woman with a penchant for throwing people who upset her out of windows. And Campari.

Reluctantly, Konstantin finds himself building a team to pull off a heist – breaking into a high security cash deposit facility with a hot line to the police. But he’s not to take money, what he’s after is a case, containing something apparently even more precious than the £200 million in notes that’s held behind razor wire defences.”

Author:

“Keith Nixon has been writing since he was a child. In fact, some of his friends (& his wife) say he's never really grown up. Keith is currently gainfully employed in a senior sales role meaning he gets to use his one skill, talking. Keith writes crime and historical fiction novels.”

Appraisal:

This is Keith Nixon’s fourth book featuring ex-KGB agent Konstantin Boryakov. While Konstantin is doing his best to lay low, trouble has a way of finding him. When it does then he’ll do what needs to be done, whatever that may be. All of the Konstantin books have been intense, edge-of-the-seat reads. I’ve found the character of Konstantin interesting in that in many ways he seems amoral, yet when you look deep, it’s apparent how untrue that impression is.

What set Dark Heart, Heavy Soul apart from the prior books in the series for me was that I was never sure it was going to turn out okay. Normally when you’re reading a book like this that is part of a series, while things may get tense, in the back of your mind you expect the protagonist to come out on top in the end. That he or she will survive is never really in question. But as this story unfolded, with its various twists and turns, I found myself seriously wondering whether Konstantin had finally gotten into a situation he couldn’t get out of in one piece.

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FYI:

Some adult language.

Format/Typo Issues:

No significant issues

Rating: ***** Five Stars

Reviewed by: BigAl

Approximate word count: 55-60,000 words