I have been a fan of Dylan's work for quite a while now. I have read, reviewed and loved each and every book that he has released to date. I read the synopsis for 'The Operation' and it certainly sounded like just the kind of dark and twisty psychological thriller that I love. I wasn't wrong either as I thoroughly enjoyed 'The Operation' but more about that in a bit. I can honestly say that I didn't particularly like nor take to the character of Jacob Thorn, who is a surgeon and who is the focus of most of this story. Thorn is an intriguing and multi layered character. He has a sort of arrogance and self confidence that you often find with surgeons. I had better explain that sentence before lots of surgeons chase me out of town. Mrs. Ginger Book Geek (my lovely and long suffering Mam) used to be a theatre nurse and she would often tell me 'war stories' of the sorts of behaviour that surgeons used to get up to. Anyway back to this surgeon. On the surface Thorn appears to be a decent and respectable individual but it doesn't take long until you realise that everything is not as it seems and Thorn is keeping secrets. Thorn is a manipulative, deceitful and devious individual. Something happens that threatens to blow Thorn's world apart and change Thorn's life forever. What happens? Well for the answer to that question and so much more you are just going to have to read the book for yourselves to find out as I am not going to tell you. Oh my flipping word, 'The Operation' was one hell of an addictive read and then some. I initially picked the book up only intending to read a couple of chapters to fill in half an hour but I ended up reading more than a couple of chapters because I was just loving the book. I couldn't turn the pages over fast enough as my desperation to find out what happened to Thorn just grew and grew. I had to force myself to put the book to one side because I desperately needed some sleep. I thought about this book before I went to bed, whilst I was trying to sleep and when I got up the following morning. This book really got under my skin. I tried to ration how much I read in one go because I wanted to prolong my enjoyment of the book but I found it impossible to stick to my 'ration'. I soon reached the end of the book, which I had mixed feelings about. Don't get me wrong I was pleased to finish the book because at least I knew how the story concluded but I was enjoying the author's writing style, the characters and the storylines so much that I just wanted the book to continue. 'The Operation' is superbly written but then I find that to be true with all of Dylan's books. Dylan has a writing style that is easy to get used to and easy to get along with. He gets your attention from the start and once he has your attention, he will not let you have it back until you closed the back cover of the book as it were. For me, the story hit the ground running and the pace of the story accelerated as the level of tension increased. The author uses such vivid and realistic descriptions that I really did feel that I was part of the story myself. If I had one teensy, weeny little gripe, it would be that 'The Operation' has quite a bit of operating theatre 'technical speak' in. I know, I know that fits with the title of the book and helps to make the story seem that bit more authentic. Dylan Young had clearly done an awful lot of research and this shines through in the quality of the writing and adds authenticity. I was lucky in that I had a former theatre nurse (Mrs. Ginger Book Geek) in the same room so I could ask her about what certain terminology meant and what particular operations were and why they were done. If I hadn't had Mam in the same room I might have had to sit with a medical dictionary beside me. In short, I thoroughly enjoyed reading 'The Operation' and I would definitely recommend it to other readers. I look forward to reading more of Dylan's work in the future. The score on the Ginger Book Geek board is a very well deserved 5* out of 5*.

General Surgeon Jacob Thorn is the prime suspect in nurse Katy Leith's disappearance, possible abduction. Although he knew her from working at the hospital, it's not until a video shows up showing him and Katy arguing. The police are taking a much closer look at Thorn's life. And when terrible pictures of Katy start showing up on his phone, the kidnapper also sends a note ... that disappears in seconds. The message ... confess to a crime he doesn't remember committing. If he doesn't publicly confess, Katy will die. This is a well written psychological thriller that keeps the reader glued to the riveting story of a man who is being blackmailed for a crime he doesn't remember doing ... a crime that will cost him his job, his reputation ...or the life of a young woman. The use of twitter postings pulls this story right into the here and now. Amazing how social media can condemn a person without any proof. The characters are finely drawn and Thorn volunteering at a shelter for dogs made him much more likeable and human. The ending came as an astonishing surprise. Many thanks to the Author / Bloodhound Books for the digital copy of this psychological thriller. Read and reviewed voluntarily, opinions expressed here are unbiased and entirely my own.