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jeffy_spaghetti's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
hellsbell's review against another edition
4.0
well written, likeable (and hateable) characters, just the riht balance between mystery, thriller and sick shit... with good twists in the tale too,
I want to read the rest of the series to find out what happens to the people :)
I want to read the rest of the series to find out what happens to the people :)
joannethefairy's review against another edition
4.0
Many, many English idioms - thank goodness for google as I didn’t have a clue what I was reading at times.
A wonderfully nasty killer with a unique psychosis. Definitely not for the squeamish reader.
The ending was very well written race to catch the baddie.
The lead was surprisingly ruthless which I also liked.
This bodes very well for the rest of the series which I will be reading in the coming year (hopefully).
A wonderfully nasty killer with a unique psychosis. Definitely not for the squeamish reader.
The ending was very well written race to catch the baddie.
The lead was surprisingly ruthless which I also liked.
This bodes very well for the rest of the series which I will be reading in the coming year (hopefully).
git_r_read's review against another edition
5.0
HOLEY SCHMOKES! A humdingah thriller!!! Scary, suspenseful, just FAB!
foiltheplot's review against another edition
1.0
I'm sorry but this was just sooooo boring, and this is coming from someone who loves British procedurals.
wyrmdog's review against another edition
4.0
Brutal and disturbing like all the best crime stories, Birdman digs into the brain. From Veronica's understandable though never laudable behavior to the origins of our too-much-a-cipher protagonist's pathos, Hayder never blinks.
Comparatively, the American crime thrillers and procedurals I've read are sanitary even when they're being ugly. I keep trying to quantify what I mean, but nothing feels right, so I keep taking it back out. Maybe someday I will put my finger on it and share.
Hayder handles the scenes of violence and violation matter-of-factly, never squeamishly and never pruriently. The horrors she depicts are recounted with skill, knowing that fading to black would sanitize the story too much just as focusing too finely would betray the casual reader's trust in the author. It's a fine line a novel like this must straddle, and Hayder does it well.
We also get a clear-eyed look at how mundane office politics can taint the success of a case, leading to lethal consequences, and how the same can serve to hide awful truths lurking in the murky blur of our peripheral vision.
The crime pokes (or do the crimes poke?) at the tender underbelly of modern sensibility, tapping both shame and horror in equal measure, then graft it onto mundane delivery to amplify the sense of filth and fear. Dread comes strongest late in the book when it's made clear that even those living virtuously are not immune to the predation of a monster willing to indulge itself.
Despite the big cast, there is only one protagonist here, and it's Caffery. That unfortunately makes the protagonist the weakest part of the story, coming to life only when he's sparring with his girlfriend, both of them calculating angles of attack as proactive defense. There's a verisimilitude here that's not always easy to achieve. The rest of the time he observes, argues, and lusts without ever really bringing it to a place where I feel anything for or about him. He is competent, intelligent, and lucky after a fashion, but he's really not very interesting. He just is.
The biggest complaint I read before picking this up - and indeed it was one of the reasons I did and I make no apologies for that - was that it was gory and violent. Most of it's not. Most of it is just the story of a detective trying to catch a killer, his numb life, and the machinations that enable the crimes. But when Hayder engages the violence, she does so without hesitation or remorse and she pulls only one punch.
I've already started The Treatment.
Comparatively, the American crime thrillers and procedurals I've read are sanitary even when they're being ugly. I keep trying to quantify what I mean, but nothing feels right, so I keep taking it back out. Maybe someday I will put my finger on it and share.
Hayder handles the scenes of violence and violation matter-of-factly, never squeamishly and never pruriently. The horrors she depicts are recounted with skill, knowing that fading to black would sanitize the story too much just as focusing too finely would betray the casual reader's trust in the author. It's a fine line a novel like this must straddle, and Hayder does it well.
We also get a clear-eyed look at how mundane office politics can taint the success of a case, leading to lethal consequences, and how the same can serve to hide awful truths lurking in the murky blur of our peripheral vision.
The crime pokes (or do the crimes poke?) at the tender underbelly of modern sensibility, tapping both shame and horror in equal measure, then graft it onto mundane delivery to amplify the sense of filth and fear. Dread comes strongest late in the book when it's made clear that even those living virtuously are not immune to the predation of a monster willing to indulge itself.
Despite the big cast, there is only one protagonist here, and it's Caffery. That unfortunately makes the protagonist the weakest part of the story, coming to life only when he's sparring with his girlfriend, both of them calculating angles of attack as proactive defense. There's a verisimilitude here that's not always easy to achieve. The rest of the time he observes, argues, and lusts without ever really bringing it to a place where I feel anything for or about him. He is competent, intelligent, and lucky after a fashion, but he's really not very interesting. He just is.
The biggest complaint I read before picking this up - and indeed it was one of the reasons I did and I make no apologies for that - was that it was gory and violent. Most of it's not. Most of it is just the story of a detective trying to catch a killer, his numb life, and the machinations that enable the crimes. But when Hayder engages the violence, she does so without hesitation or remorse and she pulls only one punch.
I've already started The Treatment.
saltycorpse's review against another edition
4.0
If you like: Silence of the Lambs, Se7en, "torture porn" horror, and/or body horror, you'll like this.
It's gratuitous, violent, gnarly, and messed up, so don't read it if you don't want those things. But if you do, this one is a banger. This book knows what it's about, son, and that's necrophilia, mutilation, and murder. I'd definitely say this errs more to the side of horror than mystery/detective novel despite the fact is is framed as a police procedural in many aspects. I wasn't "scared" by this but more disturbed and intrigued. Like that Johnny Bravo clip where he says "I'm sickened, but curious."
It's gratuitous, violent, gnarly, and messed up, so don't read it if you don't want those things. But if you do, this one is a banger. This book knows what it's about, son, and that's necrophilia, mutilation, and murder. I'd definitely say this errs more to the side of horror than mystery/detective novel despite the fact is is framed as a police procedural in many aspects. I wasn't "scared" by this but more disturbed and intrigued. Like that Johnny Bravo clip where he says "I'm sickened, but curious."
erasmuscostanza's review against another edition
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Torture, Alcoholism, Child death, Misogyny, Murder, Sexual violence, Gore, Medical trauma, Blood, Death, Drug abuse, Body horror, Kidnapping, Emotional abuse, Violence, Injury/Injury detail, Mental illness, Rape, and Sexual assault
april_golden's review against another edition
3.0
This is the first Mo Hayder book I've read. I decided to try her because I've seen a lot of great reviews of her newest Jack Caffery novel, Gone. So, I decided to start with this one, which is the first in her series starring English policeman Jack Caffery. After several women are found mutilated and buried at a construction zone, he is brought in to investigate.
Overall, I really enjoyed the book. It was a bit slow to start for me. Having not been familiar with Hayder, I wasn't sure how the book was going to progress. I didn't connect with her protaganist from the start, but by the end, I felt he was fleshed out more and I was interested in his story. I am delighted that I ended up liking the last half better than the first. Often, I don't particularly care for my favorite author's first books, so the fact that I liked this one when I finished it is reason enough for me to read the next in the series and see if I like it too.
Overall, I really enjoyed the book. It was a bit slow to start for me. Having not been familiar with Hayder, I wasn't sure how the book was going to progress. I didn't connect with her protaganist from the start, but by the end, I felt he was fleshed out more and I was interested in his story. I am delighted that I ended up liking the last half better than the first. Often, I don't particularly care for my favorite author's first books, so the fact that I liked this one when I finished it is reason enough for me to read the next in the series and see if I like it too.
mirandab22's review against another edition
5.0
Re-read having first read it around 10 years ago. Just as enthralling as the first time and still couldn't put it down despite knowing the twist. Aspect I particularly enjoyed this time around was how Hayder didn't shy away from the racism within the police force, especially as this was written in 1999 and long before it became so widely discussed as it is today.