The Witness: An utterly gripping crime thriller

by John Ryder

“I need you to find and protect my daughter. I can’t even tell you where she is. All I can say is that I’ve been told she’ll be dead by noon tomorrow.”

Kyle Roche is a man who people hire to fix problems. But this time he’s been hired to protect a woman who doesn’t officially exist anymore. And he’s the only man who can find her and keep her safe in less than twenty-four hours…

The daughter’s name is Savannah Nicholls. She had to go into Witness Protection because of a tragic mistake. She moved to the small town of Pagosa Springs nine days ago but even hidden as she is, she’s in mortal danger. Savannah’s mother says her daughter is just a nice girl, from a good family, that she’s never gotten in trouble in her life.

But she also says someone knows where she is. And they want to kill her. Within minutes of making contact with Savannah, as Roche feels a bullet whistle by his ear, he knows instinctively that she’s right.

But who is after Savannah? And how can Roche protect her when he isn’t allowed to know anything about who she is—or who her enemies are?

• ISBN10: 1800192908
• ISBN13: 9781800192904
• Publish Date: 19 July 2021
• Publish Status: Active
• Publish Country: GB
• Imprint: Bookouture
• Format: Paperback (US Trade)
• Pages: 318
• Language: English

Reviews

[Emma (SCR)]

This review was originally posted on Star Crossed Reviews I received this book for free from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review. Thank you to Bookouture for my copy of this book via netgalley and for letting me take part in this tour. I am a huge fan of John Ryder so I was very excited to read this new standalone book.

The Witness follows Roche and Savannah as they try to work out who is leaking information from the Witness protection programme.

Roche is a private eye. I really liked him. He had good morals but would cross the lines he needed to. He wouldn’t harm innocents unless he has no other option. I would actually love to see a series with Roche as the lead. I would easily read book after book following him on his cases.

Savannah is a witness to a crime and has needed to be put into protection due to a threat on her life. Savannah is very smart but sometimes she lacks street skills which is likely due to her upbringing. I have to say on many occasions Savannah was an irritating character. She never listened to Roche and constantly put herself in danger. She is a complex character too.

This book is full of action and mystery which will keep crime fans entertained long into the night. John does well to keep you both hooked and on edge. There were times when I wasn’t sure what was going to happen and how the story would turn out. I was definitely kept guessing until the very end.

As I said I would love this to turn into a series but even if it doesn’t I can’t wait to see what John brings next!

[Jeff Sexton]

Solid Action Thriller. If you haven't been reading John Ryder... you need to be. This is just the second time I've read a book from him, and he has clearly established a pattern of solid action thrillers with heroes who are conflicted and yet have solid and even innovative ideas on how to do their jobs. The house scene early was truly brilliant in what Ryder has Roche do to prepare the scene, and a few other actions late were nearly as good - if a *touch* more typical.

Indeed, the one flaw - which again I'm chalking up to "maybe British people don't know their way around guns as well as Americans do" and even "most Americans also think this, but it is a myth" - is one point where even as Ryder uses the correct terminology - "suppressor" rather than "silencer" - he still gets the actual effects more Hollywood than real-world. Without giving a whole hell of a lot away, Roche is across the street when a suppressed shot goes off inside a building. *Roche doesn't hear the shot.* In *reality*... everyone within at least a quarter mile is hearing that shot, even with it occurring indoors and even if they are indoors themselves.

Still, this was the only actual flaw in the writing and story here, with everything else being more "no one is perfect and this actually makes the story seem even more real" level. Truly an excellent action thriller, and one you won't want to miss. Hell, even as this book is (currently?) listed as a standalone... let me say right here right now that I for one would like to come back to this world. :D Very much recommended.