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billymac1962 's review for:
Poppet
by Mo Hayder
Well, I think that's it for me.
The Jack Caffrey series has yet to return to the punch-in-the-gut intensity as the first two novels, Birdman and The Treatment. I may have mentioned in those reviews that the crime fiction genre has become so saturated that it takes something very special to stand out from the rest. Those two novels did that in spades. In fact, they were so disturbing that I was very selective in who I would recommend them to (yes, I ended a sentence with a preposition. Leave me alone).
Throughout the rest of the series, Jack's personal struggles have since been resolved somewhat, and we have been left with a typical crime detective series that, unfortunately, fails to stand out from the crowd. This has caused increasing disappointment for me because that aspect is what has kept me in the series. I don't think she plans on ever going back, nor do I think there is a reason to at this point. And for that reason I'm out.
Also, in this novel she seems to have taken a page from James Patterson's playbook and that is the use of maddeningly short chapters. I used to really enjoy this format (see Patterson's Kiss the Girls for a harrowing example), but in this novel it served to disrupt my reading momentum rather than fuel it.
Don't get me wrong, Mo Hayder has fine writing chops and a deviously clever mind and I wouldn't hesitate recommending her to anyone looking for a good thriller. And this is a good thriller setting a backdrop of an institution for the criminally insane that may or may not be haunted...
I'll still go back to Ms. Hayder, she has shown that she can rise above the rest and be special, but this series is getting thin, for me at least. Thanks for the first two brilliant ones though, Mo.
The Jack Caffrey series has yet to return to the punch-in-the-gut intensity as the first two novels, Birdman and The Treatment. I may have mentioned in those reviews that the crime fiction genre has become so saturated that it takes something very special to stand out from the rest. Those two novels did that in spades. In fact, they were so disturbing that I was very selective in who I would recommend them to (yes, I ended a sentence with a preposition. Leave me alone).
Throughout the rest of the series, Jack's personal struggles have since been resolved somewhat, and we have been left with a typical crime detective series that, unfortunately, fails to stand out from the crowd. This has caused increasing disappointment for me because that aspect is what has kept me in the series. I don't think she plans on ever going back, nor do I think there is a reason to at this point. And for that reason I'm out.
Also, in this novel she seems to have taken a page from James Patterson's playbook and that is the use of maddeningly short chapters. I used to really enjoy this format (see Patterson's Kiss the Girls for a harrowing example), but in this novel it served to disrupt my reading momentum rather than fuel it.
Don't get me wrong, Mo Hayder has fine writing chops and a deviously clever mind and I wouldn't hesitate recommending her to anyone looking for a good thriller. And this is a good thriller setting a backdrop of an institution for the criminally insane that may or may not be haunted...
I'll still go back to Ms. Hayder, she has shown that she can rise above the rest and be special, but this series is getting thin, for me at least. Thanks for the first two brilliant ones though, Mo.