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A review by canada_matt
The Last Temptation by Val McDermid
4.0
As McDermid creates a new psychopathic mystery for her readers, Tony Hill and Carol Jordan are back to test their wiles and personal chemistry. Seeking a new position, DCI Jordan interviews for a job with Europol, in hopes of using her skills to help those all across the continent. Handed an interesting file, whereby she must infiltrate the depths of a human smuggling ring, Jordan goes undercover to weasel her way right to the top. Stationed in Berlin and working with a German cop, Jordan seeks the assistance of Dr. Hill, who offers valuable insight into how to have those around her become trustworthy without blowing her own cover. Meanwhile, a serial killer may be on the loose, slaying experimental psychologists in The Netherlands and Germany. When Jordan posits that Hill may wish to help look into these cases, he jumps at the opportunity to leave academia (a position he took when profiling became too personal). Diving deep into Germany's past, he discovers what might be the perfect rationale for such murders, but cannot fathom the gruesome experiments the Nazis undertook, nor the reaction our killer is having in modern-time. As both cases inch towards success, passion between our two characters, long suppressed, may be the one thing that derails the entire mission. Explosive plot lines mesh together and leave the reader gasping at the lengths to which McDermid will go to shock the reader.
McDermid is sensational in her character development and storytelling. She gets to the core of the matter and pulls no punches. While some are queasy by her graphic murder scenes and description, I find it useful to offer the reader the full-scale knowledge of what Hill and Jordan are seeing, which only adds to the story. This is the second novel in the series that seeks to show the killer throughout, offering up their identity and hoping authorities can piece it together before it is too late. McDermid paints a vivid/gruesome backstory that fully complements the killings and the impetus. My one critique might be the continual change in jobs both Hill and Jordan undertake, making any character foundation all the more difficult, even if it opens up new and exciting characters in each novel.
Kudos, Madam McDermind on this wonderful addition to the series. You shock me when I think I've seen it all!
McDermid is sensational in her character development and storytelling. She gets to the core of the matter and pulls no punches. While some are queasy by her graphic murder scenes and description, I find it useful to offer the reader the full-scale knowledge of what Hill and Jordan are seeing, which only adds to the story. This is the second novel in the series that seeks to show the killer throughout, offering up their identity and hoping authorities can piece it together before it is too late. McDermid paints a vivid/gruesome backstory that fully complements the killings and the impetus. My one critique might be the continual change in jobs both Hill and Jordan undertake, making any character foundation all the more difficult, even if it opens up new and exciting characters in each novel.
Kudos, Madam McDermind on this wonderful addition to the series. You shock me when I think I've seen it all!