THE SILENT ROOM

British Special Branch officers Jack Fenwick and Matthew Ryan are brought together and torn apart by their shared experience of grief over their losses—Fenwick of his brother, Ryan of his father—in Hannah’s (Gallows Drop, 2016, etc.) stand-alone European police-procedural thriller.

Fenwick, who has been accused of misconduct related to illegal arms dealing, mysteriously disappears when carjackers force a prison transfer van in which he is being held to stop on a deserted road. His loyal subordinate and close friend Ryan is determined to clear Fenwick’s name and find out whether he was kidnapped or helped to escape. When Eloise O'Neill and her partner, John Maguire, two other officers, exclude Ryan from their official investigation, Ryan goes off the books, risking his career to investigate and honor a promise he made to Fenwick's wife, Hilary. Ryan is helped by his blind twin sister, Caroline, retired investigator Grace Ellis, and shadowy former MI5 operative Frank Newman. The story slows after a power-packed opening as Ryan spends a lot of time driving from point A to point B, sometimes tailed by persons unknown. The pace then picks up after Fenwick's fate is discovered and Ryan and O'Neill try to overcome their mutual suspicions to team up and investigate a secret case Fenwick was working on when he vanished.

Though the villains remain little more than sketches and two romantic subplots never really sizzle, the disappearance and investigation are credible and convincing, and the high-octane ending packs plenty of firepower.