Scan barcode
A review by _onemorechapter_
Cold Blood by Robert Bryndza
dark
informative
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.0
๐ป.๐พ: Murder, Torture, Rape, Drugs Addiction, Manipulation.
๐ญDisappointing follow-up!
This is the 5th book in the 'Detective Erika Foster' series. IMO, Robert again missed this one. This series is going downhill, still on the bunny slope and I hope the next book doesn't continue this trend.
This latest Erika Foster book opens with a suitcase containing a dismembered body being washed up on the River Thames. As Erika and her team investigate, another body is found and a serial killer seems to be loose. Are the bodies linked together? Erika quickly realizes that she is following in the footsteps of a nasty and violent serial killer. After linking the two murders. It takes a bit of fast-talking to convince her boss not to turn the entire case over to the drug unit. During the investigation, Erika is brutally attacked and suffers multiple injuries, forcing her to take a medical leave.
In a parallel tale, Nina, a rootless teenager, looking for excitement becomes obsessed with a man called Max. As a confident and bolshy lad with a bad boy reputation, Nina falls under his spell and is drawn further into his world.
The story of Nina and Max, and the investigation slowly converge, with a lot of drama along the way, and Erikaโs life becomes more complicated.
The lulls in the police action are filled with the first-person narrative of Nina, one of the killers. The lonely 19 year-old misfit documents her relationship with the older Max, who is controlling, abusive, and unpredictable. They have an extensive storyline and we see them interact with their families; engage in a threesome; hit a pedestrian with their car; shack up in a small apartment; commit murders; carry out a double kidnapping; go on the run; and more. Bryndza does a good job developing these two and their relationship, but it seems to me that he shows us too much of their killing spree at the expense of his bread-and-butter menu item: Erika Foster and her team. There is far too little police work.
On the other hand, we do get to see Erika interact with her staff outside of work, with mixed results. At least she has Moss in her corner! We also see her return to her homeland to visit her sister and family while on medical leave. This gives her a chance to escape the pressures of her job โ somewhat. Her relationships with colleagues seem to wind up a mess. Admittedly the short chapters and in-your-face characterisation of Erika make for an undemanding and rapid read with Erika lacking any modicum of tact, but is this story well-written? In all honesty, not particularly.
Furthermore, I also had the impression this book was a bit of a rush job, with long passages that were spun out to maximize the number of pages. Worse however was that, unlike the previous books, this one showed sloppy writing, with grammar mistakes, missing words, missing words and punctuation, and stiff phrasings as well as plot holes, distracting side stories and a now stale formula.
In addition, the inevitable conclusion was so obvious that the book could have finished at least 100 pages earlier & it would have made no difference at all. There was just no suspense involved and with that cane no peril.
That's the thing with crime fiction. If you don't get a good ending, the earlier plot doesn't matter, the writing doesn't matter, and all one remembers is that it had a bad ending.
Overall, This wasnโt Robertโs best book, too many loose ends and unexplained events. On the strength of my disappointing experience, I doubt I will be revisiting this series in a hurry!
๐.๐ The titles are getting rather annoying and ludicrous. "A gripping serial killer that will take your breath away"? Not just a ridiculous title but this story didn't live up to the promise. Let your writing generate its own hype. Truth in advertising would deem the title to be more along the lines of, "A mildly entertaining story that leaves you wishing for 3 hours of your life back."
๐.๐.๐ Actually for me it's 2.5 stars (3 because I'm being generous really)
๐ธ๐ด๐ ๐น๐๐๐๐๐: โญโญโญ
๐ธ๐ฎ๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐ ๐ ๐น๐๐๐๐๐: 4.26 (15928)
๐ธ๐ฎ๐๐๐๐: Thriller, Mystery, Suspense and Police Procedural
๐ธ๐บ๐๐๐๐๐: Detective Erika Foster (Book 5)
๐ธ๐น๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐: An ok-ish "skippable" read!
But if you have read the series then you should read this but don't expect much.
๐ญDisappointing follow-up!
This is the 5th book in the 'Detective Erika Foster' series. IMO, Robert again missed this one. This series is going downhill, still on the bunny slope and I hope the next book doesn't continue this trend.
This latest Erika Foster book opens with a suitcase containing a dismembered body being washed up on the River Thames. As Erika and her team investigate, another body is found and a serial killer seems to be loose. Are the bodies linked together? Erika quickly realizes that she is following in the footsteps of a nasty and violent serial killer. After linking the two murders. It takes a bit of fast-talking to convince her boss not to turn the entire case over to the drug unit. During the investigation, Erika is brutally attacked and suffers multiple injuries, forcing her to take a medical leave.
In a parallel tale, Nina, a rootless teenager, looking for excitement becomes obsessed with a man called Max. As a confident and bolshy lad with a bad boy reputation, Nina falls under his spell and is drawn further into his world.
The story of Nina and Max, and the investigation slowly converge, with a lot of drama along the way, and Erikaโs life becomes more complicated.
The lulls in the police action are filled with the first-person narrative of Nina, one of the killers. The lonely 19 year-old misfit documents her relationship with the older Max, who is controlling, abusive, and unpredictable. They have an extensive storyline and we see them interact with their families; engage in a threesome; hit a pedestrian with their car; shack up in a small apartment; commit murders; carry out a double kidnapping; go on the run; and more. Bryndza does a good job developing these two and their relationship, but it seems to me that he shows us too much of their killing spree at the expense of his bread-and-butter menu item: Erika Foster and her team. There is far too little police work.
On the other hand, we do get to see Erika interact with her staff outside of work, with mixed results. At least she has Moss in her corner! We also see her return to her homeland to visit her sister and family while on medical leave. This gives her a chance to escape the pressures of her job โ somewhat. Her relationships with colleagues seem to wind up a mess. Admittedly the short chapters and in-your-face characterisation of Erika make for an undemanding and rapid read with Erika lacking any modicum of tact, but is this story well-written? In all honesty, not particularly.
Furthermore, I also had the impression this book was a bit of a rush job, with long passages that were spun out to maximize the number of pages. Worse however was that, unlike the previous books, this one showed sloppy writing, with grammar mistakes, missing words, missing words and punctuation, and stiff phrasings as well as plot holes, distracting side stories and a now stale formula.
In addition, the inevitable conclusion was so obvious that the book could have finished at least 100 pages earlier & it would have made no difference at all. There was just no suspense involved and with that cane no peril.
That's the thing with crime fiction. If you don't get a good ending, the earlier plot doesn't matter, the writing doesn't matter, and all one remembers is that it had a bad ending.
Overall, This wasnโt Robertโs best book, too many loose ends and unexplained events. On the strength of my disappointing experience, I doubt I will be revisiting this series in a hurry!
๐.๐ The titles are getting rather annoying and ludicrous. "A gripping serial killer that will take your breath away"? Not just a ridiculous title but this story didn't live up to the promise. Let your writing generate its own hype. Truth in advertising would deem the title to be more along the lines of, "A mildly entertaining story that leaves you wishing for 3 hours of your life back."
๐.๐.๐ Actually for me it's 2.5 stars (3 because I'm being generous really)
๐ธ๐ด๐ ๐น๐๐๐๐๐: โญโญโญ
๐ธ๐ฎ๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐ ๐ ๐น๐๐๐๐๐: 4.26 (15928)
๐ธ๐ฎ๐๐๐๐: Thriller, Mystery, Suspense and Police Procedural
๐ธ๐บ๐๐๐๐๐: Detective Erika Foster (Book 5)
๐ธ๐น๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐: An ok-ish "skippable" read!
But if you have read the series then you should read this but don't expect much.