Machine City

A Thriller (Detective Barnes, Book 2)

By: Scott J. Holliday

Narrated by: J D Jackson

In this unputdownable thriller set in the new future, a detective enters the mind of a killer to find a missing child.

To ex-detective John Barnes, the machine is a dangerous and abhorrent addiction. The criminal thoughts it embedded in his brain helped him stop a serial killer, but they left him dazed - with pounding, murderous impulses. Having turned in his badge to salvage what’s left of his psyche, Barnes must return to the darkness at the request of his former partner. A little girl has gone missing. So has Adrian Flaherty, the detective in the kidnapper’s shadow.

And only Barnes can hear the clues.

But the trail is more dizzying and more personal than he feared. The voices are revealing a secret only Flaherty could have known. They’re also telling Barnes that he doesn’t have long to live. To find the girl, he must listen closely. Because the clock is ticking…and Barnes’s mind is going fast.

©2018 Scott J. Holliday (P)2018 Brilliance Publishing, Inc., all rights reserved.

Not what you think

The genius of the the world this story exists in is anything can change the narrative. This is true of most thrillers and authors tend to exploit that. Holliday takes you on a different ride and keeps you in the dark until well in the third act. A great choice given the narrative of the first book. There are a lot of open wounds for the lead characters and that makes for compelling drama. Holliday got me with this one and I am pleased that he did the story is better for it.

Better than the first

I enjoyed Machine City a lot more than Punishment. Though I feel like you have to read Punishment first or you will be missing a lot of information.
The story was interesting and kept me wanting to know what was going to happen next.