Reviews

Birdman by Mo Hayder

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angeluslorelei's review against another edition

4.0

The first of Mo Hayder's novels is a wild and dark ride. Hayder's pacing and writing is very, very good. It is dark, it is grizzly, and it is interesting. These days serial killer novels are a dime a dozen. Often you'll see the same plot hashed and rehashed until you can pick out the killer and motivation yourself by page ten. However, Hayder manages to keep the mystery going. Though you feel you know what's coming, who's killing who and why, Hayder manages to shock and surprise at several turns.

This is however one of the times I wish that GoodReads had a half star option. While "Birdman" is good, it is far from perfect. Too often Caffery is left going, "Think, think, think" and suddenly, he has a brilliant flash of insight about his case. I do wish that Hayder had given us a little more insight into Caffery's mind and his process rather than leaving us with these almost magical mental leaps of logic.

I am also not sure I really like the turn Caffery's characterization took at the end of the novel. Throughout the book I found myself loving and routing for him only at the last minute to have some of his well-developed qualities abruptly taken away. I wish that Hayder had let this change of character develop more naturally and with better pacing. But I'll reserve my final judgement on this until I read some of her other Caffery novels.

All in all a very good read with good pacing and some nice twists. I would definitely recommend this book to anyone who loves thrillers, murder mysteries, and their protagonists a little dark and damaged. I'm definitely looking forward to reading "Treatment" as soon as I can.

thatnerd's review against another edition

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4.0

I downloaded this book as a Free Friday selection for my nook from Barnes and Noble. It took a bit to get into and it was a bit gory in parts, but all in all, it was a good read. I won't rush out to get the next book in the series, but at some point, I wouldn't mind reading more by this author.

cookiemonster1234's review against another edition

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challenging dark mysterious 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

5.0

the_enobee's review against another edition

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4.0

Holy mackerel, Mo Hayder is right up there with Dennis Lehane. Compulsively readable, hard to take in some spots, with inspiring prose. Can't wait for the next one!

jarofbees's review against another edition

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dark emotional mysterious tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

kraley's review against another edition

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2.0

I liked the writing, but male murder mystery writers, in my limited experience, seem to focus on sexuality of the criminal and the investigator quite a bit. This criminal was so weird and we knew who he was by design halfway through, so I felt no real desire to recheck it out from the library when it expired. I didn't finish, but don't feel I missed anything.