Death Rains Down by Kevin McManus – Review

• Title: Death Rains Down (Ray Logue #1)
• Author: Kevin McManus
• Publisher: SpellBound Books Ltd. on April 8, 2021
• Genre: Crime Procedural
• Pages: 206
• Formats Available: Digital
• Rating: 4/5

Trigger Warnings: Murder, Graphic Violence

Many thanks to Kevin McManus and Zooloo’s Book Tours for providing me with a digital copy of Death Rains Down with a request for an honest review.

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Death Rains Down Blurb

Introducing Detective Ray Logue. A renegade, hard living & damaged cop. Full of Irish charm & the best detective in Port Ard.

Detective Ray Logue has become something of a maverick in Jim Mulcahy’s police department, having never quite gotten over the death of his wife 12 years earlier.

Now a hard-drinking loner and occasional loose cannon, Logue is a thorn in Mulcahy’s side, who occasionally crosses the fine line of taking the law into his own hands to see justice served.

As the body count starts to rise, Logue suspects he may have stumbled into a dangerous web of lies and cover-ups, stretching from his own department all the way to the very top of the political spectrum.

From the law-enforcers to the law-makers, from respectable businessmen to Russian mobsters – a sinister hand is exercising an iron grip across the whole social order and it will destroy anyone who dares get in its way.

Provided by Zooloo’s Book Tours for Tour Use

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My Review

Death Rains Down takes readers on a thrilling adventure ride. Kevin McManus puts his all into Detective Ray Logue. I thoroughly enjoyed the journey Kevin took me on, and there is a whole lot of action in a short time. This novel is a perfect burst of adrenaline on a rainy afternoon.

Detective Ray Logue loves his job. Though, his superiors don’t always love him. When the beautiful Anna turns up dead, Ray puts his detective gloves on and takes charge of the situation. He knows something stinks about this investigation. And when more bodies keep turning up, he has only one choice. Ray must put his job on the line to get the answers he needs. But will he get his man in the end?

Ray is the kind of character that I don’t want to like but always do. He is a hard boozing jerk that seems to look only after number one. However, under all that swagger and drunkenness, Ray has a tender heart that beats only for his dead wife. I love how he takes charge. Ray knows he isn’t the best kind of man, and that’s why he puts so much focus into his job. As the story moves forward, he takes a big step to move his personal life along.

Ireland is one of those places that I need to visit one day. The beauty of the country never ceases to take my breath away. Even with all the death, the setting of Death Rains Down is gorgeous. You have the beautiful sea all around, and the rural areas are just as pleasing. I am adding Port Ard as one of those places I wish to see sometime in my life.

The thing that bothered me about this book is that I thought the author was American. The reason being, the author interchanges words that I don’t see flowing with the Irish narrative. When I learned that Kevin is Irish, I became even more confused. It never occurred to me that the Irish folks would interchange a**hole with arsehole or f*ck with feck. I always assumed that Irish speakers used one form over the other at all times. But, with this book, I learned something new. The usage did make me wonder, so it took me out of the flow as I pondered this strange phenomenon. This has nothing to do with the author or his writing, only my personal weirdness.

I am happy to award Death Rains Down 4 out of 5 stars. I wish the story had more background information about Ray. But, this lack gives me something to look forward to in the next novel. I recommend this book to those of you who like their police procedurals with a bit of gusto. The exhilaration from all the action leaves you breathless.

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About the Author – Kevin McManus

Kevin McManus is an Irish author. He primarily writes Crime Fiction novels but also delves into writing poetry and short stories. He lives in County Leitrim in Western Ireland with his wife Mary and their dog Jack. He works by day as a secondary school teacher. Kevin has produced a series of novels featuring an Irish Detective called Ray Logue and a series based around a New York Detective called John Morrigan. His debut novel published in 2016 was “The Whole of the Moon”. In a previous incarnation, Kevin was a bass guitarist in several rock bands for over twenty years. Kevin is a supporter of Aston Villa FC which has caused him to age prematurely. 

Author Contact Links: Facebook | Twitter | Amazon

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