Review: The Fourth Sacrifice

The Fourth Sacrifice by Peter May
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

The Fourth Sacrifice is the second of Peter May’s China Thrillers. Upon finishing The Firemaker, the first, I concluded it was another series I would need to follow. After finishing this one, I’m more than a little bit excited to get my hands on the rest of the series. I’m well and truly addicted, pulled into the series and desperate to see where things will go.

You see, Peter May has been a favourite author since I picked up his Lewis trilogy. The Lewis trilogy will always be my favourite of his books, I have yet to find another that reaches the high of The Blackhouse, but they have all been consistently great reads. He is one of those authors I will always pick up, as I know I’m going to get something good. The same is true of this one: The Fourth Sacrifice is a great read.

As with the first book, we’re offered up a great mystery set in China. It is your classic detective story, only difference being the setting. Rather than dealing with the west, we are based in the east. Anyone who has picked up a Peter May book will know that he is more than capable of bring any place alive. He is great when it comes to the description of a location, even if you have never been there you can easily imagine it through his words. In this one, the end of the century China is easily brought to life, allowing us to imagine what it was like.

Truthfully, I think I enjoyed this one a little bit more than the first.

As with the first book, certain things were predictable. I feel as though this is merely an aspect of Peter May’s early work, before he reached the high he gave us with the Lewis trilogy. This isn’t a bad thing; it simply means there isn’t a massive shock when the bad guy is revealed. You still have the twists and turns, the subterfuge and red herrings, but if you read a lot of crime thrillers you’re going to work things out. There are some specifics that guess work will fail to give, but certain aspects will be clear. Nevertheless, the story is still a great one. There are plenty of connections that you are trying to make, your mind constantly working to unravel every aspect of the story.

Moreover, I came to enjoy the characters more in this one. I enjoyed them in the first, but I couldn’t help but feel as though certain aspects seemed a little bit on the forced side. With this one, we delve even deeper in the personal lives of the two main characters, watching the events unfold, seeing how their interaction differs to the first book. For me, I found it to be a lot more fun that the first one. There was more of the battling of views that I enjoyed so much in the first one, along with a fun mix of emotions brought on from the events of the first book. All in all, it worked to ensure I enjoyed the characters even more – and whilst I have an idea of where things will go, I cannot wait to watch the specifics play out in future books.

As I’ve already mentioned, I’m so ready to carry on with this series. It’s proving to be a lot of fun, and I cannot wait to see where everything goes. I doubt it will knock the Lewis trilogy off the spot of my favourite Peter May work, but the series is certainly crawling slowly up my list of favourite Peter May books.

As a final note, I would like to say the biggest thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for allowing me to enjoy this one.

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