Worth checking

Lost by Michael Robotham
From Publishers Weekly:
Det. Insp. Vincent Ruiz (a supporting character in Robotham's debut, Suspect) is hauled out of the Thames with a bullet wound in his leg and no memory of a shooting, let alone how he wound up in the water in Robotham's fine, moody second thriller. Keebal, a nasty cop from internal affairs, hounds Ruiz from the start, and everyone seems to know something Ruiz doesn't. When psychologist Joe O'Loughlin (the protagonist of Suspect) shows Ruiz a picture of young Mickey Carlyle—a seven-year-old girl kidnapped three years earlier whom everyone but Ruiz thinks is dead—he figures there must be some connection between her case and his shooting. Despite his injuries, Ruiz retraces this investigation with the help of his partner, a young Sikh woman named Ali. The past returns in dribs and drabs and none too gently. Mickey is the daughter of a Russian-born crime lord, Aleksei Kuznet; a cache of diamonds and a man known as a "grooming paedophile" also figure prominently in the splintered plot. The warm relationship between Ruiz and Joe, who suffers from Parkinson's, counterpoints the main story line's grit. Robotham works some good wrinkles into Ruiz's relationship with Ali and an empathetic nurse, too. The result is a thoughtful and subtle thriller, with convincing, three-dimensional characters.



I really enjoyed reading this novel, also titled The Drowning Man depending on country printed. The pace was excellent, the characters well drawn and the story engaging. I am now going back to read the first and I have the rest on my to reserve list.
Thanks for suggesting the author E.



Identity Theory by Peter Temple

Synopsis:
John Anselm is a former Beirut hostage, a foreign correspondent who has been to one war too many. A burnt-out case, he lives in his family’s ancestral house in Germany, working for a semi-legal and near-broke surveillance firm and wrestling with his own fractured identity and family history. His intelligence work collides with the lives of Con Niemand, an ex-mercenary and professional survivor, and ambitious London journalist Caroline Wishart. They are caught in a nightmare of violence and intrigue that can only end with the uncovering of long-buried secrets. Temple writes of a shadowy world peopled with intense, globetrotting characters who use espionage, double crossings, and political information to gain leverage. In Temple’s world, secrets can be worth more than human life.

Again a page turner. I stayed up late and finished it finding it impossible to set down as all the threads started to come together. Well laid out with believable characters. I can't decide if the ending was abrupt or if I just wanted more. This is the third novel I've read by this author and I think his best so far.

Both authors are Australian.