I chose to read and review Take Back by Tim Wickenden because I know him on X.com as @TimWickenden1.
It opens with a funeral on Monday, 27th March, 1961. A boy nicknamed Siggy of Salbelweg died too soon before entering manhood. Detective Bastian thought Siggy was forever silenced to prevent him from spilling the beans on others. The narrative then flashes back to the time before Siggy was killed. It explains how Siggy was a fake informant, and the detectives were baited with lies said by Siggy.
Chapter 2’s narrative speaks on sexism across the department. Male detectives disregard their female counterpart and treat them like sex objects. Unfortunately for them, Otti is well trained in unarmed combat and she manages to serve some bruises to misbehaving men.
Chapter 3 presents another dead body. This time its a woman. She was middle aged, but oddly dressed in clothing reminiscent of WWII. She wasn’t poor as her nails were manicured. Later, the detectives find out she died of cancer and her corpse was likely stolen from a morgue, dressed up in clothes from the era of the second world war and then dumped in an area where the secretive gang knew she would be found. While the detectives examine the deceased, a sniper shoots from a distance, blowing off the head of the corpse. The detectives have been set up. To add irony, the rifle that fired the shot was found and it belonged to Bastian, one of the detectives on this case. Can you imagine a stalker stealing your weapon, and firing it at you while you’re at a crime scene? I would have been creeped out.
Bastian snoops around, looking for eye witnesses. It is now that we learn how he met Siggy, Alric Laub, and an old woman. The lady confirms there is no such boy named Siggy in Salbelweg, where she lives.
This novel is a thriller and the action flies quickly.
I paused my reading at Chapter 7. I’ll continue updating this post later.
Rating: 5/ 5 stars.
