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4.05 AVERAGE
4.05 AVERAGE
challenging
dark
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
This was a great read, thrilling and had me questioning who did this??
Overall this was just a bit disappointing.
It was very much the average thriller, no doubt a story you’ll have read in a similar ilk a hundred other times and just nothing to make it stand out. I found the prose fairly monotonous, repetitive and Bellingham goes out of the way to make his threads so difficult to follow that it just takes the joy out of the story. I’m all for being kept guessing in a book like this, but reading this just felt like the threads were thrown in as an afterthought, and everything else was just pointless red herrings.
I didn’t care about any of the characters bar Josh and Kieron, as they almost all read exactly the same from our detective Thorne to the bloody principle of a primary school. It might have been more interesting had it been a solid hundred and fifty pages shorter, and all the pointless details and at least four of the red herrings were chucked in the bin.
One thing I will give Billingham a lick of credit for is that the victim played a part in his escape, rather than being a damsel found at the last minute, and he does write children characters with a degree of realism. However, that’s about as far as it stretches.
Admittedly one of my favourite cliches is the borderline hilarious unforeseen twists, but the one in this was just ridiculous and foreshadowed about as well as a first grader’s book. It was just not enjoyable, and towards the end turned into a really bad lug to get through, only to be presented with a boring ending.
It was very much the average thriller, no doubt a story you’ll have read in a similar ilk a hundred other times and just nothing to make it stand out. I found the prose fairly monotonous, repetitive and Bellingham goes out of the way to make his threads so difficult to follow that it just takes the joy out of the story. I’m all for being kept guessing in a book like this, but reading this just felt like the threads were thrown in as an afterthought, and everything else was just pointless red herrings.
I didn’t care about any of the characters bar Josh and Kieron, as they almost all read exactly the same from our detective Thorne to the bloody principle of a primary school. It might have been more interesting had it been a solid hundred and fifty pages shorter, and all the pointless details and at least four of the red herrings were chucked in the bin.
One thing I will give Billingham a lick of credit for is that the victim played a part in his escape, rather than being a damsel found at the last minute, and he does write children characters with a degree of realism. However, that’s about as far as it stretches.
Admittedly one of my favourite cliches is the borderline hilarious unforeseen twists, but the one in this was just ridiculous and foreshadowed about as well as a first grader’s book. It was just not enjoyable, and towards the end turned into a really bad lug to get through, only to be presented with a boring ending.
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:
No
I wasn't aware when I first picked up this book that it was a prequel to the other Tom Thorne books, but this didn't detract from the enjoyment. Was actually nice to read a mystery with a strong central character that didn't just rely on technology to solve the crime. Interesting to discover how long-term characters developed
hopeful
lighthearted
mysterious
reflective
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Absolutely loved sinking my teeth into this delicious crime novel! More twists and turns than Swindon’s Magic Roundabout and I thought it was brilliant.
Thought I'd better check out something by Mark before I interview him later, so here is my review of Cry Baby.
When 2 young boys are playing hide and seek in the woods, one of them disappears.
The story follows Tom Thorne and his team as they try and track the boy down, and the introduction of Hendricks, who I absolutely LOVED.
The first culprit to be in the frame, Grantleigh Figgis (best name in a book ever
When 2 young boys are playing hide and seek in the woods, one of them disappears.
The story follows Tom Thorne and his team as they try and track the boy down, and the introduction of Hendricks, who I absolutely LOVED.
The first culprit to be in the frame, Grantleigh Figgis (best name in a book ever
Thanks to NetGalley and The Publisher for this eARC in exchange for an honest review.
I'm a big fan of Mark Billingham's Tom Thorne series and look forward to each installment. With this book being set in 1996 I was wondering how that might affect my enjoyment. It totally in enhanced it. The nostalgia was fantastic! Small but significant details like using phonecards and A-Z's were genius.
Great tension building and misdirection - I loved that! And getting to discovery how Tom and Phil met along with additional background information is great for the long-term invested reader like myself, but also perfect for those new to the series, albeit for totally different reasons.
Didn't want it finish, but needed to get the end!
I'm a big fan of Mark Billingham's Tom Thorne series and look forward to each installment. With this book being set in 1996 I was wondering how that might affect my enjoyment. It totally in enhanced it. The nostalgia was fantastic! Small but significant details like using phonecards and A-Z's were genius.
Great tension building and misdirection - I loved that! And getting to discovery how Tom and Phil met along with additional background information is great for the long-term invested reader like myself, but also perfect for those new to the series, albeit for totally different reasons.
Didn't want it finish, but needed to get the end!