Reviews

Verbrijzeld by Stuart MacBride

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gayatriii's review against another edition

3.0

Shatter the bones is not as briskly paced as McBride's earlier works, neither are the sub plots as thrilling. But the writing is A grade as usual. He creates suspense, horror and intrigue almost effortlessly.

My only gripe is that the plot was not meaty enough. The story lags in between before it picks up again.

This book is emotionally heavier; failure, guilt, rage are all very extensively and very successfully explored. The end is satisfying, even if slightly predictable.

slavicsongbird's review against another edition

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4.0

Great as ever but all these endings are wrapped up so quickly! I have some questions. What happened with the boy and his mother for one?

kcfromaustcrime's review against another edition

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5.0

Here's the thing. You hoard a book because it's a favourite series, and there's no sign of the next one yet. But then there are noises about the next one, but that's not out for ages, but you can't wait any longer so you read the one you've had tucked away. Then you've not got that little thing of joy hidden away in the bookcases anymore. So now you're stuck in that horrible no man's land, because the next book's not out for ages, and you've given into temptation. It's a nightmare.

Mind you, that's about the only complaint I can come up with about SHATTER THE BONES. But then I'm a huge fan of Stuart MacBride's Logan McRae series. He's one of those writers that combine violence, brutality and some truly shocking story lines with absolute laugh out loud moments, a heap of creative swearing, some terrific insights into human nature and, in this case, social commentary into the bargain. There's a sense of urgency, lunacy and hurtling madness about most of the investigations in the McRae books that feels real. There are believable, fantastic characters performing over and above the call of duty, desperately hanging onto family and personal in the middle of an absolute storm of crazy.

In SHATTER THE BONES MacBride is also taking a wee shufty at the madness of reality TV - the way that a frenzy of interest and concern whips up when a mother and daughter are kidnapped, an interest that seems unlikely to have occurred without their TV profile. In amongst the kidnapping, the reactions, an investigation hampered by a total lack of forensic information, and some very cunning acts on the part of the kidnappers, further hinderance comes from closer to home. When the serious crimes squad sends in an "expert" you just know that things are going to get complicated, but the level of idiocy of this bloke is beyond the pale.

Whilst a lot of the madness, and the characters and their personal situations are carrying forward from the earlier books (thank goodness DI Steele remains a standout as frankly I'd be spitting the dummy well hard if she backed off), there are things that are moving forward. McRae's actually in danger of developing a personal life of his own, the relationships between the team are expanding a little, and ranks are progressing. There's also more than a few smacks around the head at the end of this book, and there's a final scene that's an absolute kicker.

CLOSE TO THE BONE is out in January 2013. I might ... just ... last ... until ... then.

http://www.austcrimefiction.org/review/shatter-bones-stuart-macbride

simonrtaylor's review against another edition

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4.0

Not quite enough DI Steel for my liking, but the obnoxious SOCA officer making everyone's life a misery and plenty of Finnie looking like a disappointed frog was always appreciated. Logan deals with personal trauma and questions his future - an important entry that moves the story forward.

shantti's review against another edition

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adventurous informative mysterious tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes

5.0

b00kw0rms0fthew0rldunite's review against another edition

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5.0

I love this author, the humour and the gritty tales are fantastic! Love Steel, she is such a character and the quirks of the team are delightful. Biohazard Bob has me in stitches!

Despite me loving these books I do have 2 qualms, one is that (Up to this book) even though he is a great cop, he never catches a break and gets promoted. Poor dude never catches a break. It got a bit predictable that he would fail in the end.
Secondly, I don't know why it bugs me so much but I counted 6 bad guy names in this book and yet it only explains who four of them were... possibly 5 as the endings are always a bit rushed and not fully explained.

Can anyone else fill me in?