Just how far will we go to protect those we love? Crossing the Line introduces us to Charlie Sayer. Charlie believes that he is an honest and moral man, but how far will he go to ensure that he wins what is his toughest battle yet? When an undercover operation goes badly wrong and leaves him seriously injured and his colleague fatally shot, Sayer is forced to face life outside of his beloved Police force. Unceremoniously, and in his eyes unfairly, invalided out of the Police force he loves Sayer rapidly sinks into a world of depression and alcoholism that drives away friends and places immense pressure on his family as they seek to remain together. In an effort to bring Sayer back from what seems to be inevitable and fast approaching disaster, the family relocates to southern Spain where his wife and daughter try and drag him back to normality. Then just as he seems to be regaining his sanity Sayer is forced to confront a violent chapter in his life once again, when the man who so nearly killed him seeks to finish off the job. Confronted by a man who will stop at nothing to achieve his aim Sayer must decide if he is willing to step across the line between what he has always believed in and what might be necessary to protect those he truly cares for. Crossing the Line is a story about conflicting morals and values and of the battles that we must all face within ourselves in order to achieve what we believe is just.
“Charlie Sayer – Way You Go!!! by S. D.”
Crossing the Line Very enjoyable; the first person narration successfully weaves past and present. It also gives an insight into Charlie Sayer’s mind and motivation, and while he can be a bit maudlin at times I found I really felt for the bloke. I hope there is more to come from Charlie, and his pal Ryan, although he’ll probably have to run it past the long suffering Sally first! The story gains a lot from the first person knowledge of the author of police procedure, work and hierarchy and the inevitable competition between officers and departments. There are no Hollywood heroics with people falling down and recovering ten minutes later to wipe out the bad guys in a couple of scenes; Charlie, or more correctly Mr. Harvey, tells it like it is, with all the nail biting, moral questions, fear and pain which makes for a suspenseful story line and a hero you can connect to and understand.
Only one niggle, it would have benefited from a proof reader, spelling errors and a timing error near the end rankled a bit.
Overall though a thoroughly enjoyable story that had me going to bed early to read and find out what was going to happen next as I caught myself wondering about Charlie at odd times during the day. There were some interesting twists and the final chapter came as a real surprise, Charlie is really going to have to learn to duck – faster!
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