Gus is a hard headed, but soft hearted ex journalist and alcoholic and we meet him again in this second outing from Tony Black. The owner of a pit bull terrier, that savaged and killed a little 3 year old girl, is found murdered on an Edinburgh hill by Gus, as he just happens to stumble upon him whilst he was investigating a ruckus involving some thugs torturing a dog, which then decides, after being rescued, that he’s Gus’s best friend! Gus decides to investigate the murder and finds himself being targeted by the police for the crime and to make matters worse his ex Deb is about to marry one of them.

Another cracker of a read; I again couldn’t put the book down and I read it in a very short time. The pace and action is unrelenting and we get to see more of what made Gus’s relationship with Deb’s tick. I find myself feeling like fighting along side Gus all the way when coming up against his enemies and I’m a pacifist, but the injustices and cruel beatings are hard to take, although at times Gus does seem to take them in his stride. Some of the reading was a little difficult to read because of the subject matter surrounding the fighting pit bulls, but don’t let that put you off. An excellent gripping read. ( )