This is not an exactly Book Review - I am not that great to review books written by native English Authors-----Frank Smith is the author of this book - THE BREAKING POINT. This is just my point of view and narration of the Book which I completed reading in 3 days much lesser than I used to take for other books.

The story or the plot of the novel is very simple - unravelling a mystery. The plot is set on some city of England and the time of happening is not exactly described. But I assume it is around mid-fifties. The novel starts with Miss Emma Baker launching a complaint to the Police about her friend cum house - mate going missing on the previous day of his birthday. Her complaint gives a slight discomfort to the officials because they feel that she is making a great fuss about a matured guy who knows where to go and when to return home. But as she is recommended by some higher officials, they are bound to do their work in searching him and finding his whereabouts asap.

Before I go into further narration of the story, let me introduce you to some important characters of the novel in the order of my likeness.

Neil Paget - The chief DCI

Tregalles - The sergeant

Grace Lovett - Paget's fiance/to- be wife/ live in partner

Charles - Grace's boss cum Paget's friend

Mark Newman - Guy who go missing

Doyle - Newman's friend

Emma Baker - friend of Newman

Gerald Fletcher - Bad man

Bernie Green - Fletcher's brother in law

Green's Wife

Bell - Good man

Trowbridge - Good man

Lyons - Good Man

Alcott - Paget's chief

Slater - Bad Australian

Kellerman - Big Big Bad man

Many Bad men come in the plot also many good men(Police) come in the plot (I cant remember all their names...sorry)

I am using simple words like Police and official in this narration. But the author has a very strong knowledge of all the positions and ranking and he addresses each person differently as DCI, Sergeant etc etc....

Mark Newman as I said the guy who goes missing is a budding journalist who is in search of a story gets trapped into a group of bad men who are involved in a very big scandal. The unravelling of this scandal with the help of the clues got from each and every part of the novel is the main plot. I am not going in detail of how the plot is solved. After a series of twists and turns, the author tells us that the scandal is not just a murder but it is PEOPLE TRAFFICING. Yes it is illegal buying and selling of people across Europe.

The story would be started like Neil Paget - the hero of the novel is going to unravel all the mysteries and he is going to win all hearts . If u think so , then u are wrong and that's the best part of the novel which I liked. There is no heroism involved. Paget do his job. Also he is also concerned about his personal life so much like any other normal person does. The way he is concerned about Grace Lovett and her problem is really touching. Also the character of Paget is too good especially when he is concerned about his fellow colleague Lyons who gets himself into trouble during the investigation.

One another character in the novel which impressed me much is Emma Baker. She is so much involved in the investigation right from the beginning. Actually she and a few friends who study and work for their living stay together in a cottage. Newman is one among the housemates. He is no where closely related to Emma. In spite of that her humanity make her to involve in the search of him with full involvement.

The bad guys --- Kellerman, Slater, Flethcher(innocent but turned bad) do not hesitate to do brutal killings and deceive the police for their own benefit. These things are so usual in any mystery novel.

There is one scene in which the higher officials are so much worried about meetings and documentation rather than actual ground work. This tells us the reality of how every mystery and Police department in any country used to be. The scenes of Grace Lovett and her official and her interaction with Paget are admirable.

On the whole, I would say the novel could convince me to read it till the end and the author has done justice to the reader. The plots are so natural and surreal.

Thanks for reading this post. I shall come soon again with my next book --- Love in the Rocks by Anne Christie