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mnatale100's review against another edition
challenging
dark
mysterious
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
1.0
I liked the first two books in this series well enough, but this one was not it. The entire premise does not age well. It's in the book description, so it's not a spoiler to say the theme of the mystery is "African black magic" or "African witchcraft". Listening to this on audiobook probably reinforced how racist this premise was for me, as the white narrator doing ""African"" accents for the generic Black immigrant characters (all of whom were so bland and superficial, I couldn't tell you *a* character trait for almost any of them besides Mo Hayder's idea of ""African"") was incredibly cringeworthy.
Having one character give a little soliloquy at the end about how there are 47 countries in Africa with a lot of diverse traditions, and it's insulting to call indigenous religions "witchcraft" or "black magic" doesn't make up for the preceding 300+ pages of Caffrey and all the other characters doing exactly that. It's not just the characters, who are obviously usually no role models in these books; it's baked into the structure of the storytelling. Minor spoilers:Hayder treats a character being African as sufficient to make him a person of interest in the eyes of the police (not inaccurate, if we're being honest) and the reader. It's incredibly lazy and makes for a slow, not remotely compelling story in which very little happens and there is no mystery to untangle, because the things Hayder thinks are clues or red herrings simply aren't unless you're a weird racist who thinks Africa is one giant jungle continent full of people who drink blood and have sex with monkeys.
The choice to center the novel around this, explicitly stating "African witchcraft" and ritual murder are on the rise because of immigrants, to the point that the Bristol police have a unit dedicated to it (??) is a remarkable level of tone deafness. I can typically overlook a certain amount of poorly aged material, but this book was written in 2008, and this was regressive then.
Even if you are reading the series, you can skip this one. The only thing of interest is the introduction ofFlea Marley and you can catch up on that. Others have mentioned the gruesomely slow, boring pace, but I haven't seen this mentioned - it isn't the only problem with the book.
Having one character give a little soliloquy at the end about how there are 47 countries in Africa with a lot of diverse traditions, and it's insulting to call indigenous religions "witchcraft" or "black magic" doesn't make up for the preceding 300+ pages of Caffrey and all the other characters doing exactly that. It's not just the characters, who are obviously usually no role models in these books; it's baked into the structure of the storytelling. Minor spoilers:
The choice to center the novel around this, explicitly stating "African witchcraft" and ritual murder are on the rise because of immigrants, to the point that the Bristol police have a unit dedicated to it (??) is a remarkable level of tone deafness. I can typically overlook a certain amount of poorly aged material, but this book was written in 2008, and this was regressive then.
Even if you are reading the series, you can skip this one. The only thing of interest is the introduction of
Content Warnings
Graphic: Gore, Kidnapping, Police brutality, Blood, Confinement, Drug abuse, Drug use, Violence, Death of parent, Injury/Injury detail, Torture, and Addiction
Moderate: Death, Excrement, Grief, Murder, Cursing, and Racism
Minor: Body shaming, Pedophilia, Fatphobia, Rape, and Terminal illness
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