Take a photo of a barcode or cover
A review by kair_ree
Murder In Thrall by Anne Cleeland
2.0
I'm not sure what to say about this story without spoiling the mystery (although it's obvious who the killer is from pretty early on). It's about two detectives, Acton and Doyle, who have been working together for a little bit even though Doyle is a very junior detective. Acton is a legend in the department and his choosing Doyle to work with causes quite the stir with her coworkers. Doyle is intuitive in the extreme and can easily read people's emotions, so much so that being in crowds is disturbing for her. She can't read Acton very well, though.
I started out thinking they were working together because Acton respected Doyle's abilities. But the reader quickly learns that his interest in her is more than a professional one. I won't consider it a spoiler, because you are told very early on in the book, that Acton is stalking Doyle. And not in a just keeping an eye on her cause she's my partner kind of way. He has photos of her, has been in her apartment and is consumed by her.
I actually thought this was going to be a really cool aspect of the thriller. Doyle being in danger from her partnership and then also from the murders happening around her. I was totally wrong.
At this point, I was uncomfortable, because, well, he's unhinged. I still thought there was going to be some sort of twist. That this would be a story about a woman finding that intensity flattering at first and finding it a safe haven from the danger around her before she wakes the hell up. Instead she leans into it. He wants her to text him every hour. She does. He wants her to leave her home. She does. He pulls her off the cases they're working on. She publicly eats the humiliation. Later she says she's willing to give her career up for him, but he decides that he'll just choose the cases she can work on from here on out. Apparently that's what every woman dreams of because Doyle is just thrilled he cares so much. GROSS.
Acton is also possibly running guns and involved with some sort of Russian crime syndicate. It wasn't entirely clear, but Doyle realizes he's not a clean cop and that he has the ability to easily murder someone and dispose of a body. This bothers her so much that she runs away. Just kidding. She decides not to think about it.
In the end, when Doyle faces the killer they're chasing (the identity of the killer is easily guessed from the moment he's introduced in the book) and defeats him, Acton finds her and assumes that her shock means she's been sexually assaulted (she hasn't been). Instead of trying to comfort her or get her help he just tells her "It doesn't matter if he raped you, Kathleen."
WHAT. THE. ACTUAL. FUCK.
She decides he said that because he thinks she might be pregnant by the rapist. That's his big issue in the moment, not that she's traumatized and will need help, not that she needs kindness and compassion. No, he immediately decides that since Doyle is on her period and not on birth control she might be carrying another man's baby and that this issue is more important than the attack on her person. That's a disgusting thing to say to a woman straight off the bat. Of course it matters if someone rapes you. And it's not because of how a man would view you afterwards. I was 100% horrified.
I thought at that point we were building towards a shift. But I was wrong. Doyle gets horny and coerces him into having sex with her even though she has a BULLET WOUND IN HER LEG.
Now. There are a lot of things you can work around when you're having sex. But your legs are gonna be an issue no matter what when there's a fresh, gaping, untreated bullet wound in your calf. It was so ridiculous that I started to get even more angry about the whole book.
Then Doyle lies to Acton about why the killer was trying to kill her because Acton and the killer are two sides of the same obsessive coin. She realizes that the two share the exact same behaviors - they stalk, they have photos on their phones of their prey, and they are determined to have the person they're fixated on. Doyle doesn't want him to feel bad about how deranged he is, so she pretends the guy was working for the Russians. She then goes about her day without ever realizing that it's probably the dumbest possible thing she could have said as now Acton will no doubt be going after some dangerous Russian.
I couldn't even process how this fab detective could be that stupid. It was insulting to both the character and to the reader.
I was going to round this up to 3 stars from 2.5 but writing this review made me realize I need to round down. This book, while enjoyable in many ways, is also extremely problematic. I'm tempted to read the next one just to see if Acton's obsession turns him into the big bad, but I'm nervous it's just going to be treated like a personality quirk. I'll have to have a solid think on it.
I started out thinking they were working together because Acton respected Doyle's abilities. But the reader quickly learns that his interest in her is more than a professional one. I won't consider it a spoiler, because you are told very early on in the book, that Acton is stalking Doyle. And not in a just keeping an eye on her cause she's my partner kind of way. He has photos of her, has been in her apartment and is consumed by her.
I actually thought this was going to be a really cool aspect of the thriller. Doyle being in danger from her partnership and then also from the murders happening around her. I was totally wrong.
Spoiler
Acton makes his move on Doyle (24 to his 37, Roman Catholic, virgin) pretty early on and she finds herself entertaining not just a relationship with him, but a marriage. Acton is impressive to her- he's handsome and incredible at his job, but he is also a classified/diagnosed stalker (he calls himself a section 7 and Doyle immediately understands exactly how batshit that means he is). He confesses he has been watching her, tracking her, has broken into her home, made his own key, and is poking around in her life and she doesn't run screaming from him. Instead she tells him she needs a little time to sort through her feelings with him and then they start having sex.At this point, I was uncomfortable, because, well, he's unhinged. I still thought there was going to be some sort of twist. That this would be a story about a woman finding that intensity flattering at first and finding it a safe haven from the danger around her before she wakes the hell up. Instead she leans into it. He wants her to text him every hour. She does. He wants her to leave her home. She does. He pulls her off the cases they're working on. She publicly eats the humiliation. Later she says she's willing to give her career up for him, but he decides that he'll just choose the cases she can work on from here on out. Apparently that's what every woman dreams of because Doyle is just thrilled he cares so much. GROSS.
Acton is also possibly running guns and involved with some sort of Russian crime syndicate. It wasn't entirely clear, but Doyle realizes he's not a clean cop and that he has the ability to easily murder someone and dispose of a body. This bothers her so much that she runs away. Just kidding. She decides not to think about it.
In the end, when Doyle faces the killer they're chasing (the identity of the killer is easily guessed from the moment he's introduced in the book) and defeats him, Acton finds her and assumes that her shock means she's been sexually assaulted (she hasn't been). Instead of trying to comfort her or get her help he just tells her "It doesn't matter if he raped you, Kathleen."
WHAT. THE. ACTUAL. FUCK.
She decides he said that because he thinks she might be pregnant by the rapist. That's his big issue in the moment, not that she's traumatized and will need help, not that she needs kindness and compassion. No, he immediately decides that since Doyle is on her period and not on birth control she might be carrying another man's baby and that this issue is more important than the attack on her person. That's a disgusting thing to say to a woman straight off the bat. Of course it matters if someone rapes you. And it's not because of how a man would view you afterwards. I was 100% horrified.
I thought at that point we were building towards a shift. But I was wrong. Doyle gets horny and coerces him into having sex with her even though she has a BULLET WOUND IN HER LEG.
Now. There are a lot of things you can work around when you're having sex. But your legs are gonna be an issue no matter what when there's a fresh, gaping, untreated bullet wound in your calf. It was so ridiculous that I started to get even more angry about the whole book.
Then Doyle lies to Acton about why the killer was trying to kill her because Acton and the killer are two sides of the same obsessive coin. She realizes that the two share the exact same behaviors - they stalk, they have photos on their phones of their prey, and they are determined to have the person they're fixated on. Doyle doesn't want him to feel bad about how deranged he is, so she pretends the guy was working for the Russians. She then goes about her day without ever realizing that it's probably the dumbest possible thing she could have said as now Acton will no doubt be going after some dangerous Russian.
I couldn't even process how this fab detective could be that stupid. It was insulting to both the character and to the reader.
I was going to round this up to 3 stars from 2.5 but writing this review made me realize I need to round down. This book, while enjoyable in many ways, is also extremely problematic. I'm tempted to read the next one just to see if Acton's obsession turns him into the big bad, but I'm nervous it's just going to be treated like a personality quirk. I'll have to have a solid think on it.