BIRDMANMo Hayder
Personal Rating: 4.25/5
Yearly Count: 102
Whoa. This crime fiction thriller contained an incredibly twisted plot along with what I would call horror. I would never be able to watch something like this, but thankfully, reading it brought a healthy disconnection. It was also very clear that even though the plot may have been unique, the characters had difficulty holding the weight of that plot. I believe, even though it was still compelling, it lacked good, strong characters.
Jack (yes, ANOTHER Jack) Caffery, is a Detective Inspector in England. He has his own personal issues with death that linger in his mind as he investigates and searches for a murderer that mutilates his victims and leaves a horrific signature. He deals with several other members of the team and questions a host of people during the investigation. None of these people were very personable, including Jack. Despite the flaws in Birdman, I will still read the sequel titled The Treatment.
*Recommended By: Blogging My Books
This book stayed with me for a long while and it led me to a great conversation with Karin Slaughter at her signing. I have 'The Treatment' on the shelf. I may make this one of my Seconds Challenge choices. Changes are allowed, yeah? = )
ReplyDeleteI hope the second one works better for you.
Yes - it's more horror than straight crime fiction. You made me go back and recheck my comments. Seriously Twisted and and hero who's not exactly likeable still ring true. It's a tough book to 'recommend', so I was curious to see how you'd rated it. I have The Treatment, but haven't picked it up yet. I guess that makes it a good candidate for the 2008 TBR challenge, huh?
ReplyDeleteVickie ~ Of course you can change your book choice ... go for it! :) I'm interested in knowing how your conversation went with Karin Slaughter. I hope I like Jack more in the second one, too.
ReplyDeleteSuzi ~ When I was linking you, I reread your blurb. We virtually thought the same thing. Although, I'm not sure how you'd rate it. *giggle*
Check my goodreads page - I gave it a 4.
ReplyDeleteI was really blown away by Mo Hayder's The Devil of Nanking and do want to read this particular book and its sequel as well. It sounds right up my alley. :-)
ReplyDeleteSuzi ~ Okay. I'll be back. :)
ReplyDeleteLiterary Feline ~ I'll have to revisit your post on The Devil of Nanking. I really think Mo is extremely creative; I loved the plot. It's that Jack that I need to like more. :)
I kind of liked that I didn't necessarily like the main character.
ReplyDeleteI would strongly suggest not reading Ken Bruen, then. His characters are flawed flawed flawed and sometimes fairly awful people. I still like the writing, though, and stay with him. Maybe it's that whole dark Irish thing.
-V-
Vickie ~ In general, I like to like or connect with at least one character.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the heads-up on the Bruen characters. Although now I'm more curious. :)