Eye of the Hawk (Ted Chester, #1)

by Neal Sutton

[Kevin Cannon]

British police officer Ted Chester, whilst on a two year assignment in Amsterdam, is on the trail of an organised crime group responsible for the kidnap and trafficking of young women across Europe.

Aided by his Dutch team, Ted’s quest for justice takes him on a frantic chase through the continent to Romania and all points in between.

Told from the viewpoints of both Ted and one of the abductees Mabel, this two-fold approach allows a glimpse into the processes followed by the law enforcement agencies and the frightening conditions endured by victims of the criminal gangs.

Ted needs to catch those responsible whilst also protecting his undercover source and ensuring that the missing girls are returned safely to their families. A difficult enough task that is only made harder when the presence of a mole in his department is detected.

I love the concept of an investigation team able to cross country borders and use the resources from the cities they pass through. I would’ve liked to see more character development for the main members of Ted’s team so that they don’t just seem like a list of names in the squad. A bit of background ramps up the emotional response when characters that you have become familiar with get involved in dangerous situations rather than giving the reader the impression that they are the new guy in the Star Trek landing party that is the first to get bumped off.

Some background is drip fed throughout the book about Ted regarding his family and career and I assume this will be built on as the series progresses.

I found that the story held my attention throughout and kept my interest as I wanted to know the eventual outcome. The premise for the series and the character of Ted show promise for further titles in the series.

In summary, I felt this was a great concept with a fast moving plot that was only let down by the minimal amount of characterization for the main players that limited the emotional impact as the situation unfolded. Some tightening of the dialog and reduction on the repetition on certain key words particularly at the beginning would improve the overall reading experience but this is still definitely worth a read.