Border Lines by L. E. Fitzpatrick

Genre: Dystopian paranormal thriller

 

Book Description

When the perfect job comes up, Charlie doesn’t think twice about taking it. This is the break he’s been looking for and nobody, not even the rest of his team, can persuade him otherwise.

The job means working for an old enemy and crossing the border into London. Both are risky, but Charlie has no idea how high the stakes really are. The team will have to confront their past, each other and a killer who is closer than they realise. But can they all make it out of the city alive?

“We all remember that kid in Piccadilly. That determined look he had on his face as he willed all those people to him. Just using his mind, he pulled them close then blew them all to pieces. It could be anyone. Your neighbour, your friend, your lover. Remain vigilant. Reachers are everywhere.”

The Running Game is the first book  and Border Lines is the second in L.E. Fitzpatrick’s Reachers series 

Excerpt 

He switched off the engine anyway and an uncertain lull settled in the car. If John wasn’t going in it meant that Rachel didn’t have to go either. She couldn’t help being tempted, it would be a lot easier than confronting Darcy.

“You can stay if you want Rach,” Charlie offered.

She shook her head, being part of the family meant taking the good and the bad. For everything good, she would have to overcome something bad. She had her new shoes, it was time now to confront Darcy.

“What are we waiting for?”

Charlie’s mobility was improving by the day. The damage from the stab wounds in his back was never going to completely heal, but he was coping with the residual pain now and learning how to use his body again. Using his crutch, he made every move look effortless. He pivoted himself out of the car and swung around to open the door for Rachel.

The rain fell in heavy sheets. They were soaked before they even reached the porch. There was a makeshift door left ajar and, inside, the remains of the old chapel battled against the elements leaking through the holes in the roof. Decaying pews were haphazardly scattered as though someone had tried to shield them from the water, but the roof was in such a state now it poured just as heavily inside as it did out.

The windows on the left side of the building had survived. Their modest stained glass darkened by the absence of the sun. The right side was long gone, unable to stand the decades of storms battering the country.

It was a chapel once belonging to the Church of England and now occupied by Catholics. The effect was a strange one. The statue of the virgin and a few indistinguishable saints were perched on nearby pews, as out of place as an atheist in the house of God. Rachel inspected them with a slight fondness. She wasn’t particularly religious, but these were symbols from her childhood.

Charlie walked passed the statues. He headed into the vestry calling Darcy’s name while Rachel walked around the dark nave trying to make out the stone saints. A large, crucified Christ hung over the altar. It was too big for the size of the church, looming over the nave and scrutinising parishioners. Rachel remembered a similar icon from her childhood, and how the nuns had got so angry with her when she happened to query Jesus’ apparent Aryan ethnicity. A smile touched her lips at the memory. She glanced up at this Jesus and was surprised to see his bare black feet. Then frowned when she noticed the cuffs of his jeans. Her eyes widened as she saw a face she hadn’t seen since she was a little girl.

“Charlie!” she screamed.

Darcy was stripped at the waist. His ribs poked out of his leathery skin, an omen of malnutrition. His arms had been tied with bloody ropes to a crude cross constructed from a broken pew. There had been no rope left for his feet so instead a belt held the eighty-year old’s legs in place. There were other marks too – burns on his chest and face, dried blood on his bruised body. How long had he been up there?

“Get John!” Charlie said.

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Karen’s Magic Review

I loved this book! The characters, who I struggled with in the first book, were perfect in this one. I understood who they were and what a Reacher was. Characters from The Running Game came over and I felt as if they were familiar friends to me. Particularly, Roxy who I really got a feel for this time, and now understood who he was.

S’haven was the poorer city on the outskirts of London and all set in the future. The border lines referred to surround London and the guards that patrol them are sometimes brutal. People literally get away with murder.

Riva, the wife of Pinky Morris, who was murdered in the first book, now has his empire. She wants to run the borders, but three people will vote against her. That’s where the brothers, Charlie and John, along with Rachel come in.

And running parallel to the story a killer on the loose, a suspected Reacher. Rachel’s ex-husband and his boss are working to find out who the killer is.

I really did love this book and I loved the world L E Fitzpatrick had created. Her storytelling was magical. I was in London and S’haven inside my imagination because of her descriptions and knowledge of the area she created. Wow! Just a brilliant read

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About the Author

L E Fitzpatrick is a writer of dark adventure stories and thrillers. Under the watchful eye of her beloved rescue Staffordshire Bull Terrier, she leaps from trains and climbs down buildings, all from the front room of a tiny cottage in the middle of the Welsh countryside.

Inspired by cult film and TV, L E Fitzpatrick’s fiction is a collection of twisted worlds and realities, broken characters, and high action. She enjoys pushing the boundaries of her imagination and creating hugely entertaining stories.

THE RUNNING GAME is the first in her paranormal thriller series, set in dystopia London under the Creativia label and now BORDER LINES is the second instalment of the Reachers series. The Running Game was read and reviewed on this site.

Books by L.E.Fitzpatrick

Running Game
Dark Waters
Anthology Dark
Safe Haven
Family
The lost Sheppard
Traitors Day
Harvest
Flames and Blood

Connect with her

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