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avrorae's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Gore, Physical abuse, Alcoholism, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, Murder, Sexual content, Violence, Emotional abuse, Addiction, Death, Grief, Gun violence, Misogyny, Torture, and Toxic relationship
Minor: Lesbophobia, Pregnancy, Sexual assault, and Abandonment
blitskater's review against another edition
3.0
Ik ben een groot fan van de boeken van Robert Bryndza. Deze viel wel wat tegen. Sommige karakters waren iets minder uitgewerkt en het verhaal was soms wat voorspelbaar. Toch voegt dat boek weer wat meer diepgang in alle andere terugkomende karakters.
kirs0693's review
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.75
_onemorechapter_'s review against another edition
dark
informative
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.0
𝑻.𝑾: Murder, Torture, Rape, Drugs Addiction, Manipulation.
💭Disappointing follow-up!
This is the 5th book in the 'Detective Erika Foster' series. IMO, Robert again missed this one. This series is going downhill, still on the bunny slope and I hope the next book doesn't continue this trend.
This latest Erika Foster book opens with a suitcase containing a dismembered body being washed up on the River Thames. As Erika and her team investigate, another body is found and a serial killer seems to be loose. Are the bodies linked together? Erika quickly realizes that she is following in the footsteps of a nasty and violent serial killer. After linking the two murders. It takes a bit of fast-talking to convince her boss not to turn the entire case over to the drug unit. During the investigation, Erika is brutally attacked and suffers multiple injuries, forcing her to take a medical leave.
In a parallel tale, Nina, a rootless teenager, looking for excitement becomes obsessed with a man called Max. As a confident and bolshy lad with a bad boy reputation, Nina falls under his spell and is drawn further into his world.
The story of Nina and Max, and the investigation slowly converge, with a lot of drama along the way, and Erika’s life becomes more complicated.
The lulls in the police action are filled with the first-person narrative of Nina, one of the killers. The lonely 19 year-old misfit documents her relationship with the older Max, who is controlling, abusive, and unpredictable. They have an extensive storyline and we see them interact with their families; engage in a threesome; hit a pedestrian with their car; shack up in a small apartment; commit murders; carry out a double kidnapping; go on the run; and more. Bryndza does a good job developing these two and their relationship, but it seems to me that he shows us too much of their killing spree at the expense of his bread-and-butter menu item: Erika Foster and her team. There is far too little police work.
On the other hand, we do get to see Erika interact with her staff outside of work, with mixed results. At least she has Moss in her corner! We also see her return to her homeland to visit her sister and family while on medical leave. This gives her a chance to escape the pressures of her job – somewhat. Her relationships with colleagues seem to wind up a mess. Admittedly the short chapters and in-your-face characterisation of Erika make for an undemanding and rapid read with Erika lacking any modicum of tact, but is this story well-written? In all honesty, not particularly.
Furthermore, I also had the impression this book was a bit of a rush job, with long passages that were spun out to maximize the number of pages. Worse however was that, unlike the previous books, this one showed sloppy writing, with grammar mistakes, missing words, missing words and punctuation, and stiff phrasings as well as plot holes, distracting side stories and a now stale formula.
In addition, the inevitable conclusion was so obvious that the book could have finished at least 100 pages earlier & it would have made no difference at all. There was just no suspense involved and with that cane no peril.
That's the thing with crime fiction. If you don't get a good ending, the earlier plot doesn't matter, the writing doesn't matter, and all one remembers is that it had a bad ending.
Overall, This wasn’t Robert’s best book, too many loose ends and unexplained events. On the strength of my disappointing experience, I doubt I will be revisiting this series in a hurry!
𝐏.𝐒 The titles are getting rather annoying and ludicrous. "A gripping serial killer that will take your breath away"? Not just a ridiculous title but this story didn't live up to the promise. Let your writing generate its own hype. Truth in advertising would deem the title to be more along the lines of, "A mildly entertaining story that leaves you wishing for 3 hours of your life back."
𝐏.𝐒.𝐒 Actually for me it's 2.5 stars (3 because I'm being generous really)
🔸𝑴𝒚 𝑹𝒂𝒕𝒊𝒏𝒈: ⭐⭐⭐
🔸𝑮𝒐𝒐𝒅𝒓𝒆𝒂𝒅𝒔 𝑹𝒂𝒕𝒊𝒏𝒈: 4.26 (15928)
🔸𝑮𝒆𝒏𝒓𝒆: Thriller, Mystery, Suspense and Police Procedural
🔸𝑺𝒆𝒓𝒊𝒆𝒔: Detective Erika Foster (Book 5)
🔸𝑹𝒆𝒄𝒐𝒎𝒎𝒆𝒏𝒅𝒂𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏: An ok-ish "skippable" read!
But if you have read the series then you should read this but don't expect much.
💭Disappointing follow-up!
This is the 5th book in the 'Detective Erika Foster' series. IMO, Robert again missed this one. This series is going downhill, still on the bunny slope and I hope the next book doesn't continue this trend.
This latest Erika Foster book opens with a suitcase containing a dismembered body being washed up on the River Thames. As Erika and her team investigate, another body is found and a serial killer seems to be loose. Are the bodies linked together? Erika quickly realizes that she is following in the footsteps of a nasty and violent serial killer. After linking the two murders. It takes a bit of fast-talking to convince her boss not to turn the entire case over to the drug unit. During the investigation, Erika is brutally attacked and suffers multiple injuries, forcing her to take a medical leave.
In a parallel tale, Nina, a rootless teenager, looking for excitement becomes obsessed with a man called Max. As a confident and bolshy lad with a bad boy reputation, Nina falls under his spell and is drawn further into his world.
The story of Nina and Max, and the investigation slowly converge, with a lot of drama along the way, and Erika’s life becomes more complicated.
The lulls in the police action are filled with the first-person narrative of Nina, one of the killers. The lonely 19 year-old misfit documents her relationship with the older Max, who is controlling, abusive, and unpredictable. They have an extensive storyline and we see them interact with their families; engage in a threesome; hit a pedestrian with their car; shack up in a small apartment; commit murders; carry out a double kidnapping; go on the run; and more. Bryndza does a good job developing these two and their relationship, but it seems to me that he shows us too much of their killing spree at the expense of his bread-and-butter menu item: Erika Foster and her team. There is far too little police work.
On the other hand, we do get to see Erika interact with her staff outside of work, with mixed results. At least she has Moss in her corner! We also see her return to her homeland to visit her sister and family while on medical leave. This gives her a chance to escape the pressures of her job – somewhat. Her relationships with colleagues seem to wind up a mess. Admittedly the short chapters and in-your-face characterisation of Erika make for an undemanding and rapid read with Erika lacking any modicum of tact, but is this story well-written? In all honesty, not particularly.
Furthermore, I also had the impression this book was a bit of a rush job, with long passages that were spun out to maximize the number of pages. Worse however was that, unlike the previous books, this one showed sloppy writing, with grammar mistakes, missing words, missing words and punctuation, and stiff phrasings as well as plot holes, distracting side stories and a now stale formula.
In addition, the inevitable conclusion was so obvious that the book could have finished at least 100 pages earlier & it would have made no difference at all. There was just no suspense involved and with that cane no peril.
That's the thing with crime fiction. If you don't get a good ending, the earlier plot doesn't matter, the writing doesn't matter, and all one remembers is that it had a bad ending.
Overall, This wasn’t Robert’s best book, too many loose ends and unexplained events. On the strength of my disappointing experience, I doubt I will be revisiting this series in a hurry!
𝐏.𝐒 The titles are getting rather annoying and ludicrous. "A gripping serial killer that will take your breath away"? Not just a ridiculous title but this story didn't live up to the promise. Let your writing generate its own hype. Truth in advertising would deem the title to be more along the lines of, "A mildly entertaining story that leaves you wishing for 3 hours of your life back."
𝐏.𝐒.𝐒 Actually for me it's 2.5 stars (3 because I'm being generous really)
🔸𝑴𝒚 𝑹𝒂𝒕𝒊𝒏𝒈: ⭐⭐⭐
🔸𝑮𝒐𝒐𝒅𝒓𝒆𝒂𝒅𝒔 𝑹𝒂𝒕𝒊𝒏𝒈: 4.26 (15928)
🔸𝑮𝒆𝒏𝒓𝒆: Thriller, Mystery, Suspense and Police Procedural
🔸𝑺𝒆𝒓𝒊𝒆𝒔: Detective Erika Foster (Book 5)
🔸𝑹𝒆𝒄𝒐𝒎𝒎𝒆𝒏𝒅𝒂𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏: An ok-ish "skippable" read!
But if you have read the series then you should read this but don't expect much.
ingo_lembcke's review against another edition
5.0
Review to follow soon. Added Jan 23d, 2018: Or not, this is it.
Wow! This was one spiraling book, ending as expected, but sad.
And luckily no "single woman solving the case, getting alone into the danger, with a hint vigilantism".
Although during some parts I found it lacked suspense, the back story of two lovers killing and spiraling out of control more than made up for it.
Very highly recommended, as is the whole series.
Wow! This was one spiraling book, ending as expected, but sad.
And luckily no "single woman solving the case, getting alone into the danger, with a hint vigilantism".
Although during some parts I found it lacked suspense, the back story of two lovers killing and spiraling out of control more than made up for it.
Very highly recommended, as is the whole series.
namitakhanna's review against another edition
4.0
Detective Erika Foster and her team are back investigating a case where two suitcases were found with dismembered male and female body inside.Soon Erika realizes she is dealing with a pair of serial killers who are one step ahead of her all the time.
Cold blood is a fast paced gripping police procedural novel in Detective Erika Foster series. Even though this can be read as a stand alone I would suggest reading this series from the start.I completely enjoyed Erika’s character development and cannot wait to see where the next book in the series goes.
I would like to thank Bookouture & NetGalley for providing an ARC of this book in exchange for my honest and fair review.
This and more reviews at https://chloesbooksblog.wordpress.com/
Cold blood is a fast paced gripping police procedural novel in Detective Erika Foster series. Even though this can be read as a stand alone I would suggest reading this series from the start.I completely enjoyed Erika’s character development and cannot wait to see where the next book in the series goes.
I would like to thank Bookouture & NetGalley for providing an ARC of this book in exchange for my honest and fair review.
This and more reviews at https://chloesbooksblog.wordpress.com/
gabmc's review against another edition
4.0
These books keep getting better and better! Detective Erika Foster has become a favourite character of mine - she says what she thinks when she thinks it and doesn't care about whose feathers she ruffles (sometimes I wish I could be more like her!). A dismembered body in a suitcase is discovered in the Thames. Soon afterwards, a second body is discovered and Erika assembles her team to find the serial killer. It soon becomes apparent that maybe there are two killers and as another body is found, the pressure is on the police to find them. Robert Bryndza does something really clever in this book - he gets into the head of a teenage girl via her diary entries - and they are written in a different style to the rest of his writing and it really feels like an actual diary. Really, really good book - although it is quite gruesome.
bruna_wd's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
debtat2's review against another edition
4.0
Fantastic story. Fully enjoyed it. I have read all of the Erica foster books, and I think that cold blood is now my new favourite.
Now I desperately need book 6!!
Brilliant series and serial killers aplenty :-)
Now I desperately need book 6!!
Brilliant series and serial killers aplenty :-)
margaridang's review against another edition
4.0
Estava indecisa em relação à classificação porque por um lado adorei, e achei muito melhor que o anterior, mas... Acho que foi tudo muito óbvio.
Desde cedo que percebemos quem é o assassino, aliás, seguimos as perspetivas deles, mas sabemos as suas identidades. De certa forma tirou um pouco a piada na parte de tentar descobrir o que se estava a passar, no entanto, acho que este livro não era para ser uma história desse género. Senti que foi mais uma lição sobre relacionamentos tóxicos.
A minha review pode não estar muito coerente porque são quase quatro da manhã, mas cheguei tarde a casa e não consegui parar de ler até chegar ao fim. Acaba por ser também um dos motivos porque dou as quatro estrelas. Apesar de nos ter sido dito tudo, eu precisava de saber na mesma como é que as coisas iam acontecer.
A experiência ao ler o livro também foi interessante porque a minha mãe já leu todos do autor, então eu estava a ler e a partilhar a minha opinião com ela, e ela lá ia deixando uma dica ou outra.
Penso que não haveria outro desfecho para o Max e para a Nina, mas uma pessoa como ele não pode existir no mundo, mas ao mesmo tempo merece ser castigado. É mesmo perverso. Achei interessante a apresentação de uma personagem assim. Para mim o Max é um psicopata. Ele não tem qualquer empatia para com a vida humana, para ele não há valor nenhum. Tem umas ideias diferentes; parece ser uma pessoa inteligente, mas foca isso nas coisas erradas.
Tive imensa pena da Nina porque foi tudo uma ilusão. A relação deles não era amor.
A nível de escrita continua sempre o mesmo: super acessível e com capítulos curtos que dá perfeitamente para devorar o livro num instante. Sobre a Erika só me falta um, e da outra inspetora tenho os 2 por ler e espero que sejam tão fantásticos como esta série. Já disse isto mais vezes, mas estes livros são perfeitos para eu conseguir avançar com a leitura. Andava com algumas dificuldades, e a ler pouco, mas este autor devolve-me sempre o ritmo.
Aconselho!
Desde cedo que percebemos quem é o assassino, aliás, seguimos as perspetivas deles, mas sabemos as suas identidades. De certa forma tirou um pouco a piada na parte de tentar descobrir o que se estava a passar, no entanto, acho que este livro não era para ser uma história desse género. Senti que foi mais uma lição sobre relacionamentos tóxicos.
A minha review pode não estar muito coerente porque são quase quatro da manhã, mas cheguei tarde a casa e não consegui parar de ler até chegar ao fim. Acaba por ser também um dos motivos porque dou as quatro estrelas. Apesar de nos ter sido dito tudo, eu precisava de saber na mesma como é que as coisas iam acontecer.
A experiência ao ler o livro também foi interessante porque a minha mãe já leu todos do autor, então eu estava a ler e a partilhar a minha opinião com ela, e ela lá ia deixando uma dica ou outra.
Penso que não haveria outro desfecho para o Max e para a Nina, mas uma pessoa como ele não pode existir no mundo, mas ao mesmo tempo merece ser castigado. É mesmo perverso. Achei interessante a apresentação de uma personagem assim. Para mim o Max é um psicopata. Ele não tem qualquer empatia para com a vida humana, para ele não há valor nenhum. Tem umas ideias diferentes; parece ser uma pessoa inteligente, mas foca isso nas coisas erradas.
Tive imensa pena da Nina porque foi tudo uma ilusão. A relação deles não era amor.
A nível de escrita continua sempre o mesmo: super acessível e com capítulos curtos que dá perfeitamente para devorar o livro num instante. Sobre a Erika só me falta um, e da outra inspetora tenho os 2 por ler e espero que sejam tão fantásticos como esta série. Já disse isto mais vezes, mas estes livros são perfeitos para eu conseguir avançar com a leitura. Andava com algumas dificuldades, e a ler pouco, mas este autor devolve-me sempre o ritmo.
Aconselho!