Serena McKay Crime Novels Complete, Books 1-2: A Dystopian Crime Series

5 Star Review -- Dystopian Crime with a Vengence! Meet Serena McKay former police officer turned PI. Meet a cast of the extremely rich and the equally poor people. Indulge in a vision of the future that will make your hair stand on end. In August City there are four areas. One for the super-rich, one for those who are wealthy, and two for the poor and the destitute. Life is good in the rich areas and dangerous everywhere else. August City was built on the ruins of another city and the underground is a labyrinth of immense proportions. This scene-setting, which is reminiscent of certain European cities and has a literary association (think Victor Hugo), provides a picture of the dark minds that live in August city. The characters represent abusers and those who are abused. The scale of violence rises throughout the two novels. Serena must face it all to save herself and those closest to her. Chariss K Walker dissects the brutality and poverty of a city, close to its downfall. She ponders the variations of gender and the neglect that can origin in denying that humans are diverse. She takes no prisoners in these books – except her readers. Her writing style is concise, but her thinking reminded me of some of Agatha Christie’s darkest novels, ‘And Then There were None’ as well as ‘Endless Night’. Highly recommended if you aren’t faint of heart. ~~ HM Holten, Germany