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A review by toellandback
Pig Island by Mo Hayder
4.0
Journalist Joe Oakes is invited to a remote Scottish Island to sort myth from fact regarding a reclusive religious community, however an old adversary, Malachi Dove, is living on the island and Oakes had previously proven Dove as a conman years ago under an alias and past and present are about to collide in spectacularly violent fashion.
A grainy video seems to show an animal with human characteristics prowling the island and the journalistic nose of Oakes wants to know more, despite the reservations of various members of the community, and when Oakes oversteps the mark, things turn very bad, very quickly.
This is almost three individual stories in one which combine well with the community, the “animal” and the subsequent aftermath all linked together by Oakes and, to a lesser extent, Dove, who remains secretive and elusive throughout, although the reader is left in little doubt of how dangerous he is.
Oakes isn’t afraid to proverbially steps on toes to get his questions answered, making him the sort of character that is easy to dislike despite willing him to get what he craves in the shape of a good story for his employers. The story(s) are told from both the viewpoint of Oakes and his increasingly frustrated wife, Alex (Lexie) and both their sides weave together nicely.
Although it's a slow burner to begin with, it takes a sudden turn around half way which completely surprised me and leads nicely into the third “section” of the book set partially away from Pig Island itself. Some sections are very graphic, shocking and difficult to read and there are a couple of neat little twists which will catch some people (me included!) out.
It's not for the faint hearted and it did seem to end quite suddenly but, as it's the first Mo Hayder novel I've read, courtesy of my local library, it will encourage me to seek out more of her work in the future.
A grainy video seems to show an animal with human characteristics prowling the island and the journalistic nose of Oakes wants to know more, despite the reservations of various members of the community, and when Oakes oversteps the mark, things turn very bad, very quickly.
This is almost three individual stories in one which combine well with the community, the “animal” and the subsequent aftermath all linked together by Oakes and, to a lesser extent, Dove, who remains secretive and elusive throughout, although the reader is left in little doubt of how dangerous he is.
Oakes isn’t afraid to proverbially steps on toes to get his questions answered, making him the sort of character that is easy to dislike despite willing him to get what he craves in the shape of a good story for his employers. The story(s) are told from both the viewpoint of Oakes and his increasingly frustrated wife, Alex (Lexie) and both their sides weave together nicely.
Although it's a slow burner to begin with, it takes a sudden turn around half way which completely surprised me and leads nicely into the third “section” of the book set partially away from Pig Island itself. Some sections are very graphic, shocking and difficult to read and there are a couple of neat little twists which will catch some people (me included!) out.
It's not for the faint hearted and it did seem to end quite suddenly but, as it's the first Mo Hayder novel I've read, courtesy of my local library, it will encourage me to seek out more of her work in the future.