Tough-As-Nails Attorney Spike Sanguinetti Returns In ‘A Thousand Cuts’ [REVIEW]

The further Spike Sanguinetti investigates, the more secrets deep in Gibraltar’s past he uncovers in Thomas Mogford’s A Thousand Cuts. (Photo by Patrick McDonald, Flickr)

When secrets long buried simply can’t be forgotten, a violent insurrection shatters the peace of the present as a series of heinous murders ricochet across Gibraltar in a misguided search for justice in Thomas Mogford’s A Thousand Cuts. 

Bloomsbury

In 1940, two British soldiers are killed when a bomb explodes on the dry docks of Gibraltar. But the Spaniard executed for the crime may not have been guilty for the crime at all.

Flash forward to present day. Attorney Spike Sanguinetti finds himself defending Christopher Masetti, a hotheaded sot accused of harassment by Dr. Eloise Capurro. When the trial takes a turn, Masetti soon walks free, only to be spotted in the shadows days later as Sanguinetti watches Capurro jump to her death from a house aflame.

As Sanguinetti investigates the crime, he unearths some of Gibraltar’s darkest secrets, and is led to the doorsteps of some very influential people—individuals he knows all too well—folks who can threaten everything he holds dear. In this, the fifth Spike Sanguinetti novel, the Gibraltar attorney is pushed to the limits of his endurance. Will he make it out the other side unscathed?

When readers think of British crime writers, names like Ian Rankin, Raymond Chandler, and John le Carré likely come to mind. Now add Thomas Mogford to this long tradition. With A Thousand Cuts, he’s earned his right to belly up to the bar beside these award-winning scribes. He’s one of those authors who wins his way into our hearts with a mindbending story that truly captivates.

His protagonist,  Spike Sanguinetti, is a tough-as-nails attorney who sinks his teeth into the case with the tenacity of a pit bull. Shrewd, loyal, and determined, he isn’t afraid to go after the truth, even if it puts the people he knows best in harms’ way, and threatens his chances for his own happily ever after.

If you like stories that are layered with history, culture, and nailbiting suspense, add Mogford’s A Thousand Cuts to your reading list. Full of surprises, set against exotic geography, and populated with gritty characters who are as original as they are malicious, this book is thoroughly original and compellingly capricious. Mogford is definitely an author to watch.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Thomas Mogford
(Photo by Lowdy Brabyn)

Thomas Mogford is the critically acclaimed author of the Spike Sanguinetti crime novels series, including Sleeping Dogs, Hollow Mountain, Sign of the Cross, and Shadow of the Rock. He was shortlisted for the CWA John Creasey Dagger award for best new crime writer of 2013.

After reading Modern and Medieval Languages at Oxford University, he worked as a journalist for Time Out and as a translator for the European Parliament and the UEFA Champions League.

He is married and lives with his family in London. Visit his home on the Web at ThomasMogford.com and follow him on Twitter.

A THOUSAND CUTS
By Thomas Mogford
368 pgs. Bloomsbury. $29