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4.48 AVERAGE
4.48 AVERAGE
challenging
dark
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
adventurous
challenging
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
This book dragged a little, despite a well thought out plot and interesting background. Not a straightforward narrative, but one that keeps the tension right to the end. I’m expecting to read Book 8 whilst on holiday, to keep me occupied by the pool.
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
This is probably one of my least favorite cases simply because reading about the cult is so awful - but the plotting is phenomenal - this was SUCH a page turner and the shippy payoff is great. I like the back half of the book more. I did not solve this case at all - I just wanted to keep the pages turning that I skated right by the clues.
challenging
dark
mysterious
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
This is definitely the best of the last 3 books in this series! I didn't even bother reading Ink Black Heart. This book actually made me want to keep reading and I thought of it often when I wasn't reading it.
I really thought at first that this would be a 4 or 5 star read but as it continued 2 issues prevented that
One is the length. I know the author thinks more must be better but had they edited this book by 300 pages or so I think it would have made it a great paced thriller/mystery! Despite this criticism being repeated over and over about her last few books it appears she refuses to listen.
The second issue was the main Characters Strike and Robin both individually and as a potential couple. Robin spent most of this book under the trope that a successful talent women means they must take risks and make stupid decisions and then be mad when should anyone worry or call her out or give advice. And Strike is going from a slig tly grumpy, but soft on the inside man to just being a jerk to anyone around him. And as a potential couple I am at the point where I don't care anymore. And as that is the only reason I've managed to get through the last few books, likely if the newest one isn't the same caliber as this one, I probably won't bother to finish the series instead relying on the TV series.
But overall I enjoyed this book, it can confirmed that while I have many flaws, falling into a cult would not be one of them!
I really thought at first that this would be a 4 or 5 star read but as it continued 2 issues prevented that
One is the length. I know the author thinks more must be better but had they edited this book by 300 pages or so I think it would have made it a great paced thriller/mystery! Despite this criticism being repeated over and over about her last few books it appears she refuses to listen.
The second issue was the main Characters Strike and Robin both individually and as a potential couple. Robin spent most of this book under the trope that a successful talent women means they must take risks and make stupid decisions and then be mad when should anyone worry or call her out or give advice. And Strike is going from a slig tly grumpy, but soft on the inside man to just being a jerk to anyone around him. And as a potential couple I am at the point where I don't care anymore. And as that is the only reason I've managed to get through the last few books, likely if the newest one isn't the same caliber as this one, I probably won't bother to finish the series instead relying on the TV series.
But overall I enjoyed this book, it can confirmed that while I have many flaws, falling into a cult would not be one of them!
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
adventurous
funny
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
Can't wait to finish it - can't believe it's already over.
emotional
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
dark
emotional
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
adventurous
dark
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Probably the Strike novel I've enjoyed the least since maybe Career of Evil. There are some great moments here and some really tense scenes, but I also found the setting of the UHC to be a bit dull and thought it robbed the book of the series' usual atmosphere. Also, and this may just be a me thing, but I felt like there were way more names to keep track of this time around. Between all of the members of the church, ex-members of the church, those related to members of the church, acquaintances of ex-members of the church, journalists, members of the police force, people related to other cases...
There were some names that came up in the final leg of the book that I couldn't remember for the life of me and certain scenes were called back to that I had no recollection of reading. I know this is kind of a brick, but I didn't take that long to read it, you know? This was the first time I found myself wishing there was an index with a list of characters and the chapters they appeared or were interviewed in. Might just keep a list whenever I start The Hallmarked Man.
Still, the mystery itself is solid, even if some of the threads have kind of limp resolution points. Compared to Ink Black Heart, though, I did appreciate this novel's pre-Epilogue final chapter a lot more. I thought the climax of the last book was really absurd in the context of, not only the book itself, but the series as a whole. By comparison, the climactic scene in Running Grave plays out more like something you'd find in a police procedural or detective thriller. No big explosive thrills, just a conversation and an unravelling of the thread.
There were some names that came up in the final leg of the book that I couldn't remember for the life of me and certain scenes were called back to that I had no recollection of reading. I know this is kind of a brick, but I didn't take that long to read it, you know? This was the first time I found myself wishing there was an index with a list of characters and the chapters they appeared or were interviewed in. Might just keep a list whenever I start The Hallmarked Man.
Still, the mystery itself is solid, even if some of the threads have kind of limp resolution points. Compared to Ink Black Heart, though, I did appreciate this novel's pre-Epilogue final chapter a lot more. I thought the climax of the last book was really absurd in the context of, not only the book itself, but the series as a whole. By comparison, the climactic scene in Running Grave plays out more like something you'd find in a police procedural or detective thriller. No big explosive thrills, just a conversation and an unravelling of the thread.