A Child's Game by
John Connor
hbk out February 06
Published by Orion
at £18.99
It seems we readers demand more and more flawed heroes. There was a time
when the main character in a mystery was quite flawless – human maybe, quirky perhaps,
but essentially someone you could introduce to your parents without a qualm. Not so any
more. And John Connor's character, Karen Sharpe, must be the most flawed of the lot.
She isn't even Karen Sharpe, and she certainly doesn't want to be whoever she is.
Connor has been a barrister employed by the CPS, and apparently has met an undercover
officer whose life had been messed up by the work. So he must know what he's talking
about when he creates this stark merging of his main character's own life and that of her
undercover persona.
Stijn, a vicious South African criminal, murders a man in the most gruesome way
and sets it up as a suicide. The mysterious Francis Doyle, working for an arm of the security
services, is hunting Karen Sharpe who has gone missing. Meanwhile, Anna Hart and her
daughter Rachel are due to fly off on a holiday paid for by her lover, Nick Hanley. Only,
they end up kidnapped. And it looks like Stijn's victim is Nick Hanley, whose body is
identified by his sister Diana. DS Pete Bains, one time lover of Karen Sharpe, is on the
case of Hanley's murder. Then it emerges that Anna Hart is Karen Sharpe working under
cover trying to find out about Hanley's involvement in drugs, fraud and terrorism. The
strange thing is, Stijn is still looking for Nick Hanley.
This is a fast-paced and convoluted book, full of violent acts. But the mainspring
of the action is the mental conundrum of the main protagonist – Karen Sharpe herself.
You may find yourself irritated initially by the lack of concessions to someone coming to
the Karen Sharpe series afresh, without having read the previous novels in which she has
appeared. This is the third one, following on from Phoenix and Playroom. It takes some
time to glean information about Sharpe's troubled background, her work with the security
services in Northern Ireland, and just who Doyle works for. The added complication of
her being Anna Hart at the outset – actually being, not just acting a part – is a puzzle. But
then, Connor is maybe suggesting that is how an undercover officer can feel.
Nevertheless, ride the current and all will become clear. Well, almost. It is par for the
course that Sharpe gets bashed about quite a bit in these stories, and this one is no
exception. She suffers a violent sexual assault. She is also far more central to the action
that are an earlier generation of detectives. We enter deep into her head, and the dilemma of
her identity and feelings about her life are the core of the story. Another modern trend.
Sharpe fans will love it. Noir fans will take to the brooding atmosphere and harsh
depiction of the unflinching violence. New readers may be advised not to start here, but
read the other books first. Then read this without fail. There's a fourth on the way, and
the BBC have an option on the series.
(
Ian Morson
Author of Falconer books and short listed for 1999 Ellis Peters Historical Crime Dagger)
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A Child's Game by
John Connor
