Reviews for Cut Out

'Crooked soldiers, cheating journalists, heroin smuggling, imaginative killing sprees and more bed-hopping than an EastEnders omnibus. Lennon's latest offering has it all. There are more than enough twists and turns to keep any hardened thriller aficionado interested - even Mystic Meg couldn't predict who'll be alive or dead by the 308th page. The reviewer of this book was devouring every page while sprawled out on the beach - which is the perfect place to read it.'

  - The News of The World

Reviews for Steel Witches

'The thrilling climax of the story is set amidst a terrifyingly violent storm. This Hardyesque link between atmospheric conditions and the story brilliantly enhances the tension as it races to its end. Lennon has created a very fine piece of work...well-written and gripping...the ending is excellent and has the bonus of a delightfully unexpected twist. An extremely enjoyable book. It's a fairly easy read, very cleverly written and is an ideal book to lose oneself in.'

 - Euro Crime                                                See the full review here

'The undoubted strengths of this book are Lennon's storytelling and his ability to ramp up the atmosphere. Corn Dolls took place during a blazing hot summer. This time out it's storms and flooding, which make for a truly tense ending. If you're a fan of Jim Kelly, give Lennon's books a try. Steel Witches provides an unusual and exciting slant on what could have been a bog-standard PI yarn.'

 - Reviewing The Evidence                       See the full review here

'Lennon has found an effective way of switching between three different periods, and the connections he reveals between the different ages are credibly genetic rather than a result of some kind of spooky possession. This novel offers an intelligent and well-written examination of prejudice and paranoia, misogyny, jealousy and fear. The main character, Tom Fletcher, is appealing, and the narrator of the historical sections is ultimately revealed to be a figure of real tragedy.'

 - Natasha Cooper in the Times Literary Supplement 16/3/08

'In Steel Witches, Patrick Lennon's hero Tom Fletcher is a former policeman now struggling to make a living as a private investigator in his native Cambridgeshire, deeply disillusioned with the force he belonged to. He is also troubled by his own family, not least when the father he hasn't heard from in 18 years suddenly calls up and tells him “we have to kill” an unknown man, who turned out to be an American ex-serviceman tied up with a high-profile defence firm. Fletcher finds the man's body and discovers that a bright girl physicist who moonlights as a call girl has gone missing, and had a picture of him as a child on her desk.

 A few of the author's inventions - fictional place names and colleges - jar, but beyond that this is a richly imaginative follow-up to Lennon's debut novel Corn Dolls that could just possibly turn Tom Fletcher into another Morse.'

'Lennon plays on age-old fears about witchcraft and persecution and spins marvellous depictions of the Fenlands and the spooky airbases, old and new, that pepper the Fens. As the country is thrown into the grip of a ferocious winter storm, with freezing weather giving way to floods and a 'psychlone' on the way, this conspiracy thriller builds to a terrific climax. There is a breadth to the story that is captivating, as well as some finely drawn characters and lovely language - but the star must be the fantastic landscape as it is battered by the biggest storm in centuries.'

 - Cath Staincliffe, series creator of TV Blue Murder, writing in Tangled Web. www.twbooks.co.uk

Reviews for Corn Dolls

'A great read that mixes politics, resentment and revenge. Highly recommended.' The Bookseller.

'If you're a fan of Jim Kelly's Fenland series, you shouldn't miss Corn Dolls. It's a fabulous first novel, a thoroughly gripping page turner.'

Reviewing the Evidence www.reviewingtheevidence.com

'A brutal murder in a picturesque English village brings buried secrets into the open - so far so traditional. The charm of this assured debut novel lies in the neat new twist its author adds to the familiar pleasures of the English crime novel. Lennon has an instinctive understanding of the deep impression left by historical events on the people and places they touch, and he uses it here to creat a multilayered and deeply satisfying plot. He also has a fine eye for the more sinsiter aspects of the rural landscape, which allows him to exploit to great effect the unique character of the Fenland setting. As with many of the best authors in the English tradition of crime writing, Lennon has a considerable talent for characterisation. In Tom Fletcher, he has created an engaging series character with a genuine emotional life shaped and shadowed by past traumas rather than a collection of implausible quirks. The publicity material for this novel draws favourable comparisions between Patrick Lennon and authors such as Mark Billingham and Mo Hayder. If his work continues to match the high standard set by Corn Dolls, such high praise will prove to be more than justified.'

Adam Colclough writing in Shots magazine  www.shotsmag.co.uk

'A sharp plot and an explosive finish.'  Tangled Web

'A terrific read, I loved this one - a tale of many twists and turns. Tom Fletcher is a great character at the start of what should be a splendid series.'    Sarah Broadhurst, lovereading.co.uk

'A fascinating range of plausibly flawed individuals, all with stories to tell or conceal. Not just an excellent first novel - it's an excellent novel full stop.' Judith Cutler, author of Cold Pursuit and The Keeper of Secrets