Scan barcode
fictionfan's review
1.0
Well written, unsavoury pulp…
Following heart surgery, Oliver Anchor-Ferrars is delighted to get down to his country house to relax and recuperate. He and his wife, Matilda, have brought their grownup daughter, Lucia, with them. Lucia has never recovered from the trauma of the murder of her ex-boyfriend and his new girlfriend when she was young, and is back living with her parents after yet another job and relationship breakdown. But the country idyll is destroyed when two men come into their home, take the family captive and begin a long-drawn out episode of torture and humiliation…
Mo Hayder is one of those popular authors whose books are always billed as ‘heart-stopping’, ‘pulse-racing’, ‘terrifying’, etc. To be honest, I’ve always thought the blurbs make them look rather graphic, but decided it was time to at least try one. I rather wish I hadn’t. I realise lots of people love Hayder and clearly in the end taste is always subjective. But while I felt there was some skill in the basic writing and pacing of the book, the plot, which started out fairly well, became increasingly inconsistent and unbelievable as the book wore on till, quite frankly, it reached the point of absurdity in the end. And I fear the repeated twists and turns played such havoc with the characterisation that by the end the only believable character in the house was Matilda – the rest had had their personalities so clumsily changed so often throughout the course of the book that they had lost all credibility.
The detective, DI Jack Caffrey, is of course an angst-ridden loner, damaged by his past – a maverick who in this book at least is working entirely outside the structure of the job on his own personal vendetta, hampered on occasion by his over-indulgence in alcohol. I find it hard to think how he could have been more clichéd.
I feel anyone who has been subjected to my reviews has already heard me rant often enough about the tendencies towards sleaze and graphic violence in today’s crime fiction, so I’ll spare us all the tirade. For the benefit of anyone new to Hayder trying to decide whether this book is for them, I will merely point out, as the blurb fails to, that this book contains physical and psychological torture, explicit descriptions of people’s innards in various stages of putrefaction, episodes of graphic violence, scenes of animal cruelty, the obligatory naked woman sexual humiliation scene (with an imaginative twist, though – Hayder chooses to humiliate an elderly naked woman rather than the usual beautiful young girl – much more tasteful, eh?) and, although the use of foul language is sparing, it’s also strong. Oh, and while we don’t actually get treated to descriptions of paedophilia, the references are all there.
Since as far as I can see the book doesn’t set out to be anything more substantial than entertainment, then it all comes down to whether the reader finds the subject matter entertaining. I didn’t. In truth, I found it to be reasonably well written unsavoury pulp with an absurd plot, and am entirely untempted to read any more of Hayder’s work. For which I imagine we are all grateful…
NB This book was provided for review by the publisher, Random House Transworld.
www.fictionfanblog.wordpress.com
Following heart surgery, Oliver Anchor-Ferrars is delighted to get down to his country house to relax and recuperate. He and his wife, Matilda, have brought their grownup daughter, Lucia, with them. Lucia has never recovered from the trauma of the murder of her ex-boyfriend and his new girlfriend when she was young, and is back living with her parents after yet another job and relationship breakdown. But the country idyll is destroyed when two men come into their home, take the family captive and begin a long-drawn out episode of torture and humiliation…
Mo Hayder is one of those popular authors whose books are always billed as ‘heart-stopping’, ‘pulse-racing’, ‘terrifying’, etc. To be honest, I’ve always thought the blurbs make them look rather graphic, but decided it was time to at least try one. I rather wish I hadn’t. I realise lots of people love Hayder and clearly in the end taste is always subjective. But while I felt there was some skill in the basic writing and pacing of the book, the plot, which started out fairly well, became increasingly inconsistent and unbelievable as the book wore on till, quite frankly, it reached the point of absurdity in the end. And I fear the repeated twists and turns played such havoc with the characterisation that by the end the only believable character in the house was Matilda – the rest had had their personalities so clumsily changed so often throughout the course of the book that they had lost all credibility.
The detective, DI Jack Caffrey, is of course an angst-ridden loner, damaged by his past – a maverick who in this book at least is working entirely outside the structure of the job on his own personal vendetta, hampered on occasion by his over-indulgence in alcohol. I find it hard to think how he could have been more clichéd.
I feel anyone who has been subjected to my reviews has already heard me rant often enough about the tendencies towards sleaze and graphic violence in today’s crime fiction, so I’ll spare us all the tirade. For the benefit of anyone new to Hayder trying to decide whether this book is for them, I will merely point out, as the blurb fails to, that this book contains physical and psychological torture, explicit descriptions of people’s innards in various stages of putrefaction, episodes of graphic violence, scenes of animal cruelty, the obligatory naked woman sexual humiliation scene (with an imaginative twist, though – Hayder chooses to humiliate an elderly naked woman rather than the usual beautiful young girl – much more tasteful, eh?) and, although the use of foul language is sparing, it’s also strong. Oh, and while we don’t actually get treated to descriptions of paedophilia, the references are all there.
Since as far as I can see the book doesn’t set out to be anything more substantial than entertainment, then it all comes down to whether the reader finds the subject matter entertaining. I didn’t. In truth, I found it to be reasonably well written unsavoury pulp with an absurd plot, and am entirely untempted to read any more of Hayder’s work. For which I imagine we are all grateful…
NB This book was provided for review by the publisher, Random House Transworld.
www.fictionfanblog.wordpress.com
bunpetals's review against another edition
4.0
i cant believe i finished the whole series im so sad.
i read this series all in one go and have loved every bit of it. usually im not too bothered about the personal lives of the detectives in these types of books but i got more and more intrigued by jack caffereys story and where it would end up.
the conclusion was so bittersweet, he finally found out what happened to ewan but it was so horrible and since this is the last book i can only come to the conclusion that he will never find his body to put to rest and everyone involved is either dead or unknown.
i would have liked to known if anything ended up happening between jack and flea, i was really hoping it would as it seemed to be hinting at something but in the end nothing came of it. i just want more and more of this series. it was so good
i read this series all in one go and have loved every bit of it. usually im not too bothered about the personal lives of the detectives in these types of books but i got more and more intrigued by jack caffereys story and where it would end up.
the conclusion was so bittersweet, he finally found out what happened to ewan but it was so horrible and since this is the last book i can only come to the conclusion that he will never find his body to put to rest and everyone involved is either dead or unknown.
i would have liked to known if anything ended up happening between jack and flea, i was really hoping it would as it seemed to be hinting at something but in the end nothing came of it. i just want more and more of this series. it was so good
tasmanian_bibliophile's review against another edition
3.0
‘Amy is five years old and in all of those five years she’s never seen Mummy acting like this before.’
Amy finds a small dog wandering alone, and in the time that she is out of her parents’ sight, they panic. A vagrant comes to Amy’s aid, and takes the small dog away. The dog has a note with the words ‘Help Us’ but no other details.
Just ten miles away, in their remote home known as the Turrets, three members of the Anchor-Ferrers family are fighting for their lives. Two men have convinced the Anchor-Ferrers to let them into their home, and are now holding the family against their will. But what do the two men want?
The vagrant who has the small dog (named Bear) is sure that someone is in trouble. He involves Detective Inspector Jack Caffery, by promising him some information. Jack Caffery is reluctant, but cannot forgo an opportunity to hopefully obtain more information about the childhood abduction of his brother so many years ago.
So begins a race against time. The story moves between the increasingly tense (and bizarre) happenings at the Turrets, and Jack Caffery’s race against time to find out who the dog belongs to, and who needs help.
There are more than a few twists and turns in this novel, and an ending that I really didn’t anticipate. I can’t believe that this is my first Mo Hayder novel. While it’s possible to read and enjoy this novel as a standalone, I believe that this is the seventh book in a series to feature Jack Caffery. I’m intrigued enough to read the others to find out more about Jack Caffery.
An excellent rainy day (or two) read!
Jennifer Cameron-Smith
Amy finds a small dog wandering alone, and in the time that she is out of her parents’ sight, they panic. A vagrant comes to Amy’s aid, and takes the small dog away. The dog has a note with the words ‘Help Us’ but no other details.
Just ten miles away, in their remote home known as the Turrets, three members of the Anchor-Ferrers family are fighting for their lives. Two men have convinced the Anchor-Ferrers to let them into their home, and are now holding the family against their will. But what do the two men want?
The vagrant who has the small dog (named Bear) is sure that someone is in trouble. He involves Detective Inspector Jack Caffery, by promising him some information. Jack Caffery is reluctant, but cannot forgo an opportunity to hopefully obtain more information about the childhood abduction of his brother so many years ago.
So begins a race against time. The story moves between the increasingly tense (and bizarre) happenings at the Turrets, and Jack Caffery’s race against time to find out who the dog belongs to, and who needs help.
There are more than a few twists and turns in this novel, and an ending that I really didn’t anticipate. I can’t believe that this is my first Mo Hayder novel. While it’s possible to read and enjoy this novel as a standalone, I believe that this is the seventh book in a series to feature Jack Caffery. I’m intrigued enough to read the others to find out more about Jack Caffery.
An excellent rainy day (or two) read!
Jennifer Cameron-Smith
hinzlea's review against another edition
dark
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? No
5.0
steph1rothwell's review against another edition
5.0
Wolf is one of the scariest books I have read. Part of the Jack Caffery series but this one focuses more on the victims, a family who are being held hostage in their own home. I thought I had solved it but there were events that I didn't see coming, this book is definitely one that has it's twists.
It's the third I've read by Mo Hayder and my favourite so far. One of the reasons I like her is that even though I've not read all the series there are no spoilers, so you can go back and read the earlier books. With the twist at the end of the book I hope it's not a long wait for book eight.
Thank you to the publisher and the author for the copy via NetGalley.
It's the third I've read by Mo Hayder and my favourite so far. One of the reasons I like her is that even though I've not read all the series there are no spoilers, so you can go back and read the earlier books. With the twist at the end of the book I hope it's not a long wait for book eight.
Thank you to the publisher and the author for the copy via NetGalley.
seddso's review against another edition
2.0
There should be a ' bored with this ' option here. Not a patch on the last book, Poppet. I read at night mainly, plus whenever I get a chance throughout the day but I've been leaving it till night time and each night it's been a struggle to maintain my interest. Binned at 50%. Life is too short to continue with books that don't hold your attention
mnatale100's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Confinement, Murder, Gore, Violence, Death of parent, Dementia, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Torture, Sexual assault, Sexual harassment, Sexual content, Blood, Cursing, and Stalking
Minor: Vomit, Excrement, Medical content, Toxic relationship, Grief, Infidelity, Pedophilia, Rape, and War