66 reviews for:

He Died with His Eyes Open

Derek Raymond

3.72 AVERAGE

w8godot32's review against another edition

4.0

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This one has been sitting impatiently on my shelf for over three years. Lightning struck a nearby transformer and zapped out the power a few days ago... leaving me with the option of reading the old fashion way... from an unplugged book. I remember hearing that Irish noir writer Ken Bruen had great things to say about Derek Raymond and I finally got to it.

This is a dark, dark book. A man has been brutally murdered in London, circa 1985. The characters are unsavory at best and the locations are the worst places you can imagine. The victim was a nobody, an alcoholic with no money and very few people who will miss him. He was a frustrated writer who only left behind a stack of cassettes, recordings of his life and what he was going through.

One person who gets involved is the Detective Sergeant assigned to the case. He is a member of the Department of Unexplained Deaths... the very lowest priority cases. He is ridiculed for putting any effort into this investigation, but he seems to share Michael Connelly's Harry Bosche credo... "Everybody counts or nobody counts." As the detective listens to the tapes, he is pulled in closer to the victim and the people in his life.

"He Died With His Eyes Open" is the first installment of Derek Raymond's five Factory books. It is gritty and not for the squeamish. It is also a very good look into the evil that people are capable of.

castral's review against another edition

3.0

dark mysterious reflective slow-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: No

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

sophielouu's review against another edition

3.75

dark mysterious tense fast-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Plot

Strong character development: Complicated

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: Complicated

riz715zo's review

3.5

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

ash_186's review against another edition

4.0

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This was really bleak—the brand of bleakness that I only associate with some British works, such as the Mike Leigh film Naked and Trainspotting. It really isn't for the faint of heart. but it's really thought-provoking and fascinating.

sunreachesout's review

4.0

challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense fast-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: No

Loveable characters: No

Diverse cast of characters: Complicated

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

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really hard to understand some of the conversations if you are not british or know a LOT of old british slang BUT!!! i had so much fun reading this anyways, just because of the type of main character the detective is. i had no idea he would become so tenderly devoted to the victim whose death he was investigating, it really got to me occasionally. i didnt think this would be the kind of story that made me think the protag could be a little gay lmao even when i had trouble with some rough edges in the story, theres absolutely enough here to convince me to read more in the series

esbee's review against another edition

3.5

challenging dark mysterious

p_t_b's review against another edition

3.0

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If you ever wished Jim Thompson wrote about england c. 1979 and was slightly less coherent

he_slaughtered's review against another edition

4.0

dark emotional funny mysterious sad fast-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

satyaraaj's review against another edition

3.5

dark reflective sad slow-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes