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3.88 AVERAGE
3.88 AVERAGE
This book has been sitting on my physical TBR for years, so I was really hoping it would be worth the wait… but unfortunately, it just didn’t land for me.
At 512 pages, it felt way too long. I honestly wanted to DNF it multiple times, but sheer curiosity about the killer kept me going — and of course, we don’t find out who it is until the last 30 pages! There were so many side stories that pulled focus from the main plot, and the pacing was all over the place. The story supposedly takes place over just a few days, but so much happens in each one that it started to feel really unrealistic.
I’m definitely relieved to have it off my shelf, and while I’ll never yuck someone’s yum — if you loved it, that’s great! — it just wasn’t the read for me.
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
There are a couple of things I have to do before I start a new book by Stuart MacBride....wait 'til I have a day off & turn on the answering machine. Once I begin reading I can't put the damn thing down. The streak continues.
In this outing, we catch up with ex-DI Ash Henderson. He's been a guest of Her Majesty's prison system for two years now due to a combination of bad decisions & being framed for his brother's murder. At least that part was cleared up. He was killed by the infamous Mrs. Kerrigan, psycho crime boss & Ash's arch nemesis.
She continues to ruin his life inside by arranging to have the crap beat out of him every time he's up for parole. Seems they frown on releasing inmates with "anger management issues". Some prisoners dream of walking on a beach or reuniting with family when they get out. Ash dreams of killing Mrs. K.
After being turned down (and assaulted) again, he gets a surprise visit. DS "Bear" Jacobson has a proposition for him. He'll get Ash out (fitted with a snappy GPS ankle bracelet) if he'll help with a case.
Six years ago, Ash was on a team tracking a serial killer known as The Inside Man (TIM). His MO was abducting a nurse, cutting them open & leaving a plastic baby inside before stitching them up. Some survived, most didn't. Ash almost caught him but he got away. Then strangely, he stopped. Now, it seems he's come out of hibernation.
Bear heads up the Lateral Investigative & Review Unit, a temporary department he wants to make permanent. It's one of three separate police groups working the case, supposedly all smiles & cooperation, but in reality it's a giant pissing contest as each wants the credit for catching this guy.
Ash takes the deal. If he can help solve the case, great. But while Bear's priority is nabbing TIM, his is planning the demise of Mrs. K. Just one tiny obstacle....he's been assigned a sponsor who also wears an ankle bracelet & he can't be more than 100 yards from them at any time or he'll face the wrath of a SWAT team. His sponsor? Dr. Alice McDonald, a forensic psychologist (profiler). She worked with Ash before he went away & volunteered for the job. Alice is young, brilliant & talks like she's mainlining Red Bull.
Before he knows it, he's out, staying in a rented hovel with Alice in Kingsmeath & joining the other members of the team at an old pub that's been set up as an incident room. His days are full of going over the old case files, briefings, visiting crime scenes & planning Mrs. K's death with Shifty, an old friend/cop.
Then another nurse goes missing. But the killer should have done his homework. She's the daughter of Fraser "Wee Free" McFee, a hard man who's part criminal, part religious zealot & part crazy. Between being assaulted by him & Mrs. K's goons, Ash starts to wonder if he should just off himself....it would hurt less.
There are several side plots & a whack of peripheral characters to flesh out the story & keep you turning the pages. It's like the literary equivalent of a movie by the Coen brothers (think Scottish version of "Fargo"). Yes, there are scenes of brutal assaults & graphic murders but McBride has such a gift for sharp, hilarious dialogue that you may find yourself laughing out loud while you cringe.
The characters are well rounded & entertaining, running the gamut from pompous police brass to sociopathic criminals with a soft side. No one is a caricature, all good or all evil. There are several that appear in previous books but one of my favourites here is Babs Crawford, a prison guard who befriended Ash inside & acts as his backup when he confronts McFee. She's a muscular, tattooed woman armed with wit & a sawed off she calls Mrs. Thatcher. She also enjoys any opportunity to give someone a good thumping.
But it's Ash himself who keeps you coming back to this series. He's a decent guy who was a great cop before tragic events twisted his focus. He's more than paid for his mistakes but can't seem to catch a break. He can be ruthless & violent to those who deserve it but gentle & sensitive to those in need (when his daughter's guinea pig died, he told her it had decided to go live on a farm). He's smart, loyal, tough & flawed...and a guy you'd want in your corner.
As usual, the plot is finely constructed & the main story line, intricate. There are several credible candidates for TIM but those pesky red herrings keep getting in the way & you may change your mind more than once before the killer is revealed.
This is a book for readers who enjoy intelligent police procedurals that are gritty, edgy &
served with a big side of black humour.
In this outing, we catch up with ex-DI Ash Henderson. He's been a guest of Her Majesty's prison system for two years now due to a combination of bad decisions & being framed for his brother's murder. At least that part was cleared up. He was killed by the infamous Mrs. Kerrigan, psycho crime boss & Ash's arch nemesis.
She continues to ruin his life inside by arranging to have the crap beat out of him every time he's up for parole. Seems they frown on releasing inmates with "anger management issues". Some prisoners dream of walking on a beach or reuniting with family when they get out. Ash dreams of killing Mrs. K.
After being turned down (and assaulted) again, he gets a surprise visit. DS "Bear" Jacobson has a proposition for him. He'll get Ash out (fitted with a snappy GPS ankle bracelet) if he'll help with a case.
Six years ago, Ash was on a team tracking a serial killer known as The Inside Man (TIM). His MO was abducting a nurse, cutting them open & leaving a plastic baby inside before stitching them up. Some survived, most didn't. Ash almost caught him but he got away. Then strangely, he stopped. Now, it seems he's come out of hibernation.
Bear heads up the Lateral Investigative & Review Unit, a temporary department he wants to make permanent. It's one of three separate police groups working the case, supposedly all smiles & cooperation, but in reality it's a giant pissing contest as each wants the credit for catching this guy.
Ash takes the deal. If he can help solve the case, great. But while Bear's priority is nabbing TIM, his is planning the demise of Mrs. K. Just one tiny obstacle....he's been assigned a sponsor who also wears an ankle bracelet & he can't be more than 100 yards from them at any time or he'll face the wrath of a SWAT team. His sponsor? Dr. Alice McDonald, a forensic psychologist (profiler). She worked with Ash before he went away & volunteered for the job. Alice is young, brilliant & talks like she's mainlining Red Bull.
Before he knows it, he's out, staying in a rented hovel with Alice in Kingsmeath & joining the other members of the team at an old pub that's been set up as an incident room. His days are full of going over the old case files, briefings, visiting crime scenes & planning Mrs. K's death with Shifty, an old friend/cop.
Then another nurse goes missing. But the killer should have done his homework. She's the daughter of Fraser "Wee Free" McFee, a hard man who's part criminal, part religious zealot & part crazy. Between being assaulted by him & Mrs. K's goons, Ash starts to wonder if he should just off himself....it would hurt less.
There are several side plots & a whack of peripheral characters to flesh out the story & keep you turning the pages. It's like the literary equivalent of a movie by the Coen brothers (think Scottish version of "Fargo"). Yes, there are scenes of brutal assaults & graphic murders but McBride has such a gift for sharp, hilarious dialogue that you may find yourself laughing out loud while you cringe.
The characters are well rounded & entertaining, running the gamut from pompous police brass to sociopathic criminals with a soft side. No one is a caricature, all good or all evil. There are several that appear in previous books but one of my favourites here is Babs Crawford, a prison guard who befriended Ash inside & acts as his backup when he confronts McFee. She's a muscular, tattooed woman armed with wit & a sawed off she calls Mrs. Thatcher. She also enjoys any opportunity to give someone a good thumping.
But it's Ash himself who keeps you coming back to this series. He's a decent guy who was a great cop before tragic events twisted his focus. He's more than paid for his mistakes but can't seem to catch a break. He can be ruthless & violent to those who deserve it but gentle & sensitive to those in need (when his daughter's guinea pig died, he told her it had decided to go live on a farm). He's smart, loyal, tough & flawed...and a guy you'd want in your corner.
As usual, the plot is finely constructed & the main story line, intricate. There are several credible candidates for TIM but those pesky red herrings keep getting in the way & you may change your mind more than once before the killer is revealed.
This is a book for readers who enjoy intelligent police procedurals that are gritty, edgy &
served with a big side of black humour.
Suffers a little from too many subplots but they all tie in nicely at the end. Very bleak and dark but with enough Scots humour to relieve the tension.
I got as far as the end of the 5th chaper and gave up. Too revolting for words. I think I hoped that the publisher's blurb was overstating things a bit but no. Misogeny and violence ruled the early pages and my stomach could not take it any more.
I have only 2 questions. What kind of brain do you have to have to be able to think up such revolting things to have your characters do to the victims?
And what kind of brain do you have to have to enjoy reading about them so much that you utterly adore these books and give them 4 or 5 stars?
Yes, I get that crime dramas end with the nasties getting their come-uppance but really - do they have to be so graphic? Is there a competition nowadays to try and max out the gore in order to get noticed?
4 questions. Sorry.
I have only 2 questions. What kind of brain do you have to have to be able to think up such revolting things to have your characters do to the victims?
And what kind of brain do you have to have to enjoy reading about them so much that you utterly adore these books and give them 4 or 5 stars?
Yes, I get that crime dramas end with the nasties getting their come-uppance but really - do they have to be so graphic? Is there a competition nowadays to try and max out the gore in order to get noticed?
4 questions. Sorry.
Said it before, should say it again. Will read anything Stuart MacBride publishes... eventually. And yes I know they are extremely violent, dark, with a warped sense of humour and slightly mad edge. What, therefore, is not to love.
A SONG FOR THE DYING isn't, however, a Logan McRae novel but don't let that make you lose hope. There's an equally good cast of misfits, mad buggers, scrappers and fighters here. Which is just as well as it's not easy for an ex-cop like Ash Henderson to survive a spell inside. Especially as even there, arch-enemy, gang boss and evil bitch Maeve Kerrigan can still seem to get to him with impunity.
This is the second Ash Henderson book and I'm shocked, somewhat amazed, and more than a bit disappointed in myself to find that I've not read BIRTHDAYS FOR THE DEAD (despite having it in my stash since release). I plead insanity. Having said that, it was only half-way through that I twigged that there was another book, so the lack of back story didn't matter a jot. Not when Henderson is in jail, not when he refers to deaths in his family in the past, nor when he's tagged and released to help out with the investigation into the return of the bizarre and sadistic killer nicknamed "The Inside Man". Out of circulation for a quite a while, the return of the Inside Man means Henderson's called upon as he's the only cop that even came close to nicking him in the past.
Needless to say the details of The Inside Man's modus operandi are revolting. After grabbing and drugging women, they are "operated on" and a cheap plastic doll inserted into their abdominal cavities, before being stitched up, dumped and then in a particularly cruel twist, their own pre-recorded message played to emergency services from the nearest payphone. Everyone is very keen to get this monster before more women have to suffer, although Henderson isn't likely to follow the rules as closely as authorities would like. Being electronically tagged to team member psychiatrist Dr Alice McDonald isn't going to stop him from going after The Inside Man in his own way, and hoovering up the problem of Maeve Kerrigan along the way.
So many of the elements of Stuart MacBride's books are there. Complicated team member relationships, put upon heroes, a bit of bizarre behaviour on both sides of the law, some whatever it takes goings on, and some mightily pissed off people with some scores to settle. The plot gallops forward and the physical damage inflicted on Henderson would make a lesser man at least take a nap sometimes. We're not, however, in Aberdeen anymore but that doesn't stop the rain and the general bleakness of the weather. There's also a certain level of violence and depravity that I've come to love in MacBride's writing. It's fiction after all, and I've always maintained I like my worst of human nature on the page rather than the streets or TV screens.
The interesting thing about A SONG FOR THE DYING is that Henderson is a lot more suspect than Logan McRae will ever be. Anti-hero he might be, as wrong as it might feel to be on his side, he's a tremendous character who you can't help but cheer on. From a long way off in the sidelines mind you. As with all the characters around him, if you get too close, you're going to get a bit of heat rash.
http://www.austcrimefiction.org/review/review-song-dying-stuart-macbride
A SONG FOR THE DYING isn't, however, a Logan McRae novel but don't let that make you lose hope. There's an equally good cast of misfits, mad buggers, scrappers and fighters here. Which is just as well as it's not easy for an ex-cop like Ash Henderson to survive a spell inside. Especially as even there, arch-enemy, gang boss and evil bitch Maeve Kerrigan can still seem to get to him with impunity.
This is the second Ash Henderson book and I'm shocked, somewhat amazed, and more than a bit disappointed in myself to find that I've not read BIRTHDAYS FOR THE DEAD (despite having it in my stash since release). I plead insanity. Having said that, it was only half-way through that I twigged that there was another book, so the lack of back story didn't matter a jot. Not when Henderson is in jail, not when he refers to deaths in his family in the past, nor when he's tagged and released to help out with the investigation into the return of the bizarre and sadistic killer nicknamed "The Inside Man". Out of circulation for a quite a while, the return of the Inside Man means Henderson's called upon as he's the only cop that even came close to nicking him in the past.
Needless to say the details of The Inside Man's modus operandi are revolting. After grabbing and drugging women, they are "operated on" and a cheap plastic doll inserted into their abdominal cavities, before being stitched up, dumped and then in a particularly cruel twist, their own pre-recorded message played to emergency services from the nearest payphone. Everyone is very keen to get this monster before more women have to suffer, although Henderson isn't likely to follow the rules as closely as authorities would like. Being electronically tagged to team member psychiatrist Dr Alice McDonald isn't going to stop him from going after The Inside Man in his own way, and hoovering up the problem of Maeve Kerrigan along the way.
So many of the elements of Stuart MacBride's books are there. Complicated team member relationships, put upon heroes, a bit of bizarre behaviour on both sides of the law, some whatever it takes goings on, and some mightily pissed off people with some scores to settle. The plot gallops forward and the physical damage inflicted on Henderson would make a lesser man at least take a nap sometimes. We're not, however, in Aberdeen anymore but that doesn't stop the rain and the general bleakness of the weather. There's also a certain level of violence and depravity that I've come to love in MacBride's writing. It's fiction after all, and I've always maintained I like my worst of human nature on the page rather than the streets or TV screens.
The interesting thing about A SONG FOR THE DYING is that Henderson is a lot more suspect than Logan McRae will ever be. Anti-hero he might be, as wrong as it might feel to be on his side, he's a tremendous character who you can't help but cheer on. From a long way off in the sidelines mind you. As with all the characters around him, if you get too close, you're going to get a bit of heat rash.
http://www.austcrimefiction.org/review/review-song-dying-stuart-macbride
The first two thirds of the book dragged on a bit and I had to force myself to continue reading. I didn’t read the first book in this series before reading this one so I’m not sure if I’d have enjoyed it more had I done so. There certainly seems to be a lot of back story that was mentioned during the book that I’ve missed out on.
The last third of the book held my interest much more easily and the ending didn’t disappoint.
The last third of the book held my interest much more easily and the ending didn’t disappoint.
dark
emotional
funny
mysterious
sad
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
This is the second book in the Ash Henderson series, with alot more to come i hope. Ash in his new role as a "civilian" consultant comes in full force to help the police find a serial killer that he had let escape years before. Very good book, love the characters, and Ash is awesome in this one, a real hard ass and he dont care who he upsets, well except for Wee Free McFee that is, who is the crazy father of one of the victims. Very dark and dreary book, which is why i like the Ash books so well, MacBride doesnt try and sugar coat everything and make it all happy happy in the end, sometimes the world dont work that way and he pulls it off here. Rather long book, 500+ pages, could have been a 100 or so shorter and still been a hell of a book. Really liked the passage in the book with the quote from the poem A Song for the Dying by william Denner.