Falling Glass, by Adrian McKinty (Serpent's Tail, £11.99)
The latest novel from Ireland's more accessible answer to James Ellroy has as its central character an old associate of Michael Forsythe, antihero of McKinty's wonderful Dead trilogy. Killian, of Pavee (Traveller) stock, has been thwarted in his attempts to go straight by the demise of the Celtic Tiger and returned to his previous living as an enforcer. Tasked with finding the drug-addicted ex-wife of an Irish airline magnate who has gone into hiding with their two children, Killian soon realises that her disappearance is about a lot more than denying access. His conscience awakened, he takes her to hide among the Travellers. This is another winner, with pathos, insight, sardonic humour and lyrical descriptions that counterpoint the red-hot action sequences to superb effect.
Smokeheads, by Doug Johnstone (Faber, £12.99)
Written in spare, no-frills prose, Johnstone's third novel is the tale of Adam, a thirtysomething whisky-anorak, who takes three friends to Islay for a weekend of malts, coke and fun which goes horrifically wrong. After a slowish start, things spin rapidly out of control when an altercation results in a car crash, and the survivors seek help at what turns out to be an illegal still, run by the island's skeleton police force. Adam and his friends have cartoonish powers of recovery and they need them, given the levels of mayhem that ensue in this dark and bitter comedy. It will have you laughing and wincing in equal measure as thanks to the passion with which Johnstone writes about his main subject you are left punch-drunk by the whisky fumes that rise from the page.
Long Reach, by Peter Cocks (Walker, £6.99)
This high-octane thriller is aimed at young adults, but it's written with a sophistication that puts it far above most entry-level stuff and makes it just as enthralling to adults. The 17-year-old protagonist has to embark on a steep and brutal learning curve when, after the death of his undercover-agent elder brother, he is recruited to infiltrate the Kellys, a south London crime family, by befriending teenage Sophie. Tom Kelly, a full-on Martina Cole-style villain with a crocodile smile and a criminal empire that takes in everything from drugs to art fraud, takes a liking to his daughter's boyfriend now renamed Eddie Savage and offers him a place in the firm. With strong characterisation, an intricate plot and enough tension to get the most jaded reader sweating, this is a compelling read. What makes it outstanding, however, is Eddie himself: resourceful but conflicted, cocky but unsure of his abilities. We're promised more of him, as this is the start of a series. Bring it on.
Don't Look Back, by Laura Lippman (Avon, £6.99)
Lippman has long excelled at believable psychological suspense, and her latest novel is no exception. Eliza Benedict, a 38-year-old mother of two living in suburban Washington DC, receives a letter from Walter Bowman, who kidnapped her when she was 15. He is on death row for killing other teenage girls, and she is his only living victim. Bowman, desperate to avoid execution, clearly wants something from her, but what it is she isn't sure. Passive, confused Eliza isn't sure what she wants either, and is torn between a desire for closure and a wish to protect herself and her family. In a narrative split between the present day and the summer of 1985, when Eliza was kidnapped, there are no dramatic setpieces. Instead, the tension builds subtly, as Lippman anatomises the emotions of a woman who has repressed her past, only to have it explode, like a demonic jack-in-the-box, into the light.
Laura Wilson's latest novel is A Capital Crime (Quercus).
