My husband  works in the hospitality sector – or to be more precise publishes an Irish Hospitality trade magazine. Although in the past he’s held  a number of roles in the hospitality field, from reservations team member for a chain of five star London hotels to reservations account manager with the second largest car hire company in the world and as an account manager with one of the leading car-hire websites. In his spare time, as you may already have seen from being a regular visitor, he writes and edits this site. So, as they often say, there’s a book inside all of us and I have no doubt he will write one in the future. But till then we’ll  have to be contented with  some one else in the hospitality industry making it as a successful writer.  That person is Carter Wilson and this month’s book is his third novel “The Comfort of Black” published by Oceanview Publishing (www.oceanviewpub.com) .

Hannah and her tech start up owner husband, Dallin have it all. They live in Seattle, in an Condo overlooking the city. They are on the verge of taking the next step in their marriage by starting a family but over the recent months Dallin has become distant and then one night in his sleep he starts talking aggressively to another woman. A couple of days later when Hannah Confronts him about it he attacks her. She manages to escape to the safety of her sisters house but when she agrees to meet him on neutral ground to talk things over, Dalinn tries to have her kidnapped. Only the intervention of a mild mannered stranger she met in a coffee shop moments before the abduction thwarts Dalinn’s plan. Who is Black Morrow? what is Dallin up to and what does it have to do with her past? The past that she and her sister had thought they’d left behind?

We are initially introduced the Hannah, The Comfort of Black’s main character by visiting a traumatic event in her childhood. I found this captured my interest immediately and built some empathy for a character who, if I wasn’t aware of her background, I would have had little initial enthusiasm for. I must admit I found a couple of the character names preposterous. Maybe that’s my northern English roots rebelling. Or maybe it was part of Wilson’s design , to delineate so clearly between the working class folk of Kansas and the Hollywood like glamour of Dallin and Black Morrow. I mean, surely his surname could have been Black! However, Hannah’s back story and the immediate sense of secrets and mystery prevented me from dropping the book with snort of derision.  Hannah finds her life with successful technology entrepreneur, Dallin isn’t all as happy and contented as she thought. Already concerned that he has grown distant she is horrified when he reveals a startling dark side whist talking in his sleep. Hannah decides to investigate. Is the man she married who she thinks he is? As she tries to find the truth, her whole life is turned upside down and abduction, violence and even murder ensue. Who can Hannah trust?  Who is the architect of her nightmare situation?

Carter Wilson (www.carterwilson.com) was born in New Mexico and grew up In LA. He studied at Cornell and is now a consultant and lecturer in the hospitality industry. His other books are Final Crossing (2012), The Boy In The Woods (2014) and his latest, Revelation, just published at the end of 2016. One wonders if this rather dull sounding persona is merely a blind for an exciting double life as a spy or mercenary because he certainly seems to be extremely familiar with a murky underworld of fixers and criminals. As for my husband, the jury is still out…

Whilst all his books are thrillers, Carter cannot be easily categorized within the thriller genre. His novel ‘The Boy in The Woods’ is about a young boy who witnesses a murder and

Carter Wilson

is unable to put the memory out of his mind. Later as a thriller writer he recounts the story, representing it as fiction. He is contacted by the person he believes is the killer and a deadly game ensues.’ Final Crossing’, his other novel is about a religiously motivated serial killer being pursued by an ex ranger and a psychic detective. There seems to be no common denominator here. I feel it’s kind of refreshing that the settings and plots are so different. Certainly not predictable! His influences appear wide ranging as Dan Brown, Gillian Flynn, Dennis Lehane, Lee child, Ian Fleming and Stephen King all sprang to mind whilst looking at synopses of his work. As these are some of the best thriller writers, he is in good company.

It’s actually a very difficult book to put down at all. Wilson keeps you guessing with every twist and turn and ratchets up the tension continuously. Even a regular reader of thrillers, like myself, was left giddy with each revelation. Every time I thought I had it sussed, there I was, wrong again! There was even romance in the mix. I won’t spoil the conclusion which tied everything up nicely but I must admit to being a little disappointed at the loss of a main character with more to give.

This is certainly a book I shall recommend to male and female friends alike. A great holiday read. I look forward to finding more of Carter Wilson’s enthralling and hopefully crazily named characters in his previous and future works..

Reviewed by  Georgina Murphy