Reviews

Fazele lunii au un efect inexplicabil, însă de necontestat, asupra bolnavilor psihic. Întrebaţi orice asistentă de psihiatrie. Pentru ele, este un adevăr universal valabil. Nici una nu se oferă să rămână peste program în perioada din preajma lunii pline, decât dacă sunt absolut disperate. Este, totodată, un adevăr care îi nelinişteşte pe savanţii behaviorişti; nu este ceva ce poate fi pus pe seama unei copilării pline de abuzuri sau a unei incapacităţi de a întreţine relaţii sociale. Este un ritm extern pe care nici un tratament nu îl poate ţine sub control. Atrage mareele şi îi aruncă pe nebuni de pe orbitele lor dereglate.
Dinamica internă a Spitalului de Securitate Bradfield Moor era la fel de expusă la efectele de atracţie ale lunii pline pe cât îi sugera şi numele. Conform unora dintre angajaţi, Bradfield Moor era un soi de depozit pentru cei prea periculos de nebuni că să fie lăsaţi în libertate; pentru alţii, era un adăpost pentru minţile prea fragile, care nu făceau faţă durităţii şi dezordinii vieţii din afară; iar pentru restul, era un refugiu temporar care oferea şansa unei reveniri la o normalitate aproximativă. Deloc surprinzător, cel de-al treilea grup avea mult mai puţini membri şi era dispreţuit din tot sufletul de membrii celorlalte două grupuri.
În seara aceea, nu era de-ajuns că luna era plină. Trecea şi printr-o eclipsă parţială. Umbrele lăptoase ale suprafeţei lunare se metamorfozau treptat din nuanţe de galben bolnav în oranj-închis, pe măsură ce pământul trecea între satelitul său şi soare. Pentru majoritatea celor care urmăreau eclipsa, ea era încărcată de o enigmatică frumuseţe, ce provoca uimire şi admiraţie. Pentru Lloyd Allen, unul dintre pacienţii cei mai instabili de la Bradfield Moor, ea reprezenta dovada absolută ce venea în sprĳinul convingerii sale că ultimele zile erau aproape şi că lui îi revenea datoria de a-i duce creatorului cât mai multe suflete. Fusese internat la ospiciu înainte să-şi fi îndeplinit ţelul de a vărsa cât mai mult sânge, astfel încât sufletele victimelor să poată urca mai uşor la cer în momentul iminent al celei de-a doua veniri. Dorinţa de a-şi îndeplini misiunea îl mistuia cu atât mai mult cu cât aceasta fusese zădărnicită.
Lloyd Allen nu era un om prost, motiv pentru care sarcina paznicilor săi se dovedea cu atât mai dificilă. Asistentele de psihiatrie aveau multă experienţă cu şiretlicurile ieftine şi le era relativ uşor să le înăbuşe din faşă. Era mult mai greu să ghicească însă urzelile celor nebuni, dar inteligenţi. Recent, Allen inventase o metodă prin care evita să-şi ia medicamentele. Asistentele mai experimentate erau versate în faţa unor astfel de trucuri şi ştiau cum să le combată, dar cele recent calificate, precum Khalid Khan, încă nu aveau colţii necesari pentru aşa ceva.

outsmartyourshelf's review against another edition

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dark mysterious tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Loveable characters? It's complicated

3.5

Dr Tony Hill is attacked at the hospital by a patient & left with a badly damaged knee. This should hinder him helping DCI Carol Jordan on one of the most complex cases she has faced, but this is Tony Hill we are talking about. A local star footballer has been poisoned & there seems to be little evidence & no motive, then Tony connects it to an earlier poisoning death, but when an explosion detonates in the stand of the football club, the investigation is taken in a different direction.

I found Carol rather irritating in this one as she continually rubbished Tony's insights into the case - wasn't she there during the last four books?! There's quite a lot going on in the plot, with poisonings, bombs, terrorism, etc and then if that wasn't enough, Tony's horrible mother turns up intent on defrauding him of his inheritance. Even so, I found this a bit more difficult to get through than the previous books as it seems to lose momentum a little, therefore, I can only rate this on 3.5.

Content Warnings

devrose's review against another edition

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4.0

This was another book that I didn't want to put down. It might be a reread if I ever get to the point where I don't remember who did it and why.

gigglewigglesquiggle's review against another edition

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2.0

Characters: 3
Plot: 2
Setting/~~world building~~: 3
Atmosphere: 2
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2,5

- Constant useless info about side character, page upon page of introspective rambling that have nothing to do with the actual plot of this book.
- By doing this, the atmosphere of tension, suspense and urgency that should be present in a crime mystery, is constantly destroyed or just plain absent for pages at a time.
- It took more than half the book for the promised explosion (from the synopsis) or anything else significant (another death) to happen, by that time I had already lost interest in this story. You only get teeny tiny bits of info on the murder plot, the rest is just personal stuff for basically all the characters, stuff you will forget within the next 30 pages, wwwhhhyyyyyy??

yowlyy's review against another edition

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4.0

Brilliant! There's nothing that I could write that hasn't already been written about this installation in the Tony & Carol series, I truly enjoyed it and look forward to more.

canada_matt's review against another edition

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4.0

McDermid approaches the fifth novel in the Hill-Jordan series from a unique perspective, set up in such a way to keep the format fresh. Turning the novel into a series of chapters broken up by day, the story progresses in such a way that the reader is kept wanting a little more with each page-turn. A freak attack at Bradfield Moors leaves Dr. Hill incapacitated and a guest of a hospital room, with at least one unwanted guest and little ability to help Jordan and her team. When a footballer is admitted to hospital with apparent flu-like symptoms, doctors are at a loss as to why he is getting no better with treatment. When ricin poisoning becomes a possibility, DCI Jordan and the Major Investigation Team begin examining possible motives and suspects, as the end result can only be murder. While the poison investigation is hampered by the stardom of its victim and varied lifestyle he lived, a plot to bomb the local football stadium is underway, though no one is the wiser. After a bomb explodes and wreaks havoc on those in attendance, the MIT (Major Investigation Team) fly into action on their second local case, looking to see how the act of terror played out and the rationale behind it, coming up with more questions than answers. When a second poison victim surfaces and others with suspicious symptoms make their with into the A&E ward, Jordan begins to wonder what sort of killer she may have on her hands. Following up on leads they are able to cobble together, the MIT soon determine that there is more to the story than meets the eye, as is usually the case. McDermid keeps the series strong with some interesting personal back stories into Hall's childhood and hooks the avid reader and sates those who want to know a little more about Dr. Tony Hill.

Moving away from the blood and gore that have become hallmarks for the series' victims, McDermid does not lessen the thrill level or stop advancing the complicated personal story shared by Hall and Jordan. While less a focus on their romantic over platonic personal advancement, McDermid tosses in some much anticipated backstory as it relates to Dr. Tony Hill and his opaque childhood. These advancements in Hill's personal story offers the series regular a better understanding of the character and perhaps an explanation for his troubled adulthood. McDermid is also to be applauded for finally getting the 'regularity' of Hill and Jordan's employment status and a foundational set of characters on which the reader can both rely to forge the narrative ahead.

Kudos, Madam McDermid for another tantalising story and thoroughly interesting angle. Keep it up and you'll net many more fans.

dr_juergen's review against another edition

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5.0

Gewohnt routinierter Krimi von Val McDermid. Interessante Story, die zum Schluss leider etwas an Glaubwürdigkeit zu wünschen übrig ließ.

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