Description from Goodreads:
"A fantastic, never-before-published Tom Thorne novel by England's crime king.
It's been twenty-five years since Tom Thorne last went to work wearing the "Queen's cloth" but now, having stepped out of line once too often, he's back in uniform. He's no longer a detective, and he hates it.
Still struggling to adjust, Thorne becomes convinced that a spate of suicides among the elderly in London are something more sinister. His concerns are dismissed by the Murder Squad he was once part of and he is forced to investigate alone.
Now, unable to trust anybody, Thorne risks losing those closest to him as well as endangering those being targeted by a killer unlike any he has hunted before. A man with nothing to lose and a growing list of victims. A man who appears to have the power to make people take their own lives."
****************************************
This is the 11th instalment in the saga that is Tom Thorne; a fantastic, interesting and unorthodox police officer wonderfully created by Mark Billingham and I want to thank my local library for lending me a copy at no cost :)
The synopsis pretty much explains the story of the book so I won't repeat it but what I will say is how much I enjoyed reading this. Once again, Mark successfully manages to keep the Tom Thorne novels feeling new and refreshing and although you don't have to have read the previous 10 books, it does help and if you do, Tom will very quickly become an old friend.
The story flows well and is easy to read with a fantastic cast of characters. The plot itself is, I feel, quite creative and it makes a change to have the "baddie" as a senior citizen; this brings a unique and different perspective to that of other books.
I felt that this particular story provided more insight into Tom's character especially his almost obsessive and selfish desire to prove his theory is correct that the apparent suicide victims are actually being murdered. Tom is single-minded in his quest to prove that he is right despite the very real danger he has of losing his trusted colleagues and friends. Having said that, it also shows a vulnerable side to the hard-nosed detective which is well explored throughout and brings a new and more human dimension to the character.
Overall, a great read ... probably not as enthralling as previous Tom Thorne stories ... but pretty damn good all the same and I would most definitely recommend it to others who enjoy this genre and also to people who don't ;)
Author Website: http://www.markbillingham.com/
Twitter: @MarkBillingham
UK Publisher: Little, Brown Book Group
The synopsis pretty much explains the story of the book so I won't repeat it but what I will say is how much I enjoyed reading this. Once again, Mark successfully manages to keep the Tom Thorne novels feeling new and refreshing and although you don't have to have read the previous 10 books, it does help and if you do, Tom will very quickly become an old friend.
The story flows well and is easy to read with a fantastic cast of characters. The plot itself is, I feel, quite creative and it makes a change to have the "baddie" as a senior citizen; this brings a unique and different perspective to that of other books.
I felt that this particular story provided more insight into Tom's character especially his almost obsessive and selfish desire to prove his theory is correct that the apparent suicide victims are actually being murdered. Tom is single-minded in his quest to prove that he is right despite the very real danger he has of losing his trusted colleagues and friends. Having said that, it also shows a vulnerable side to the hard-nosed detective which is well explored throughout and brings a new and more human dimension to the character.
Overall, a great read ... probably not as enthralling as previous Tom Thorne stories ... but pretty damn good all the same and I would most definitely recommend it to others who enjoy this genre and also to people who don't ;)
**************************************************
Author Website: http://www.markbillingham.com/
Twitter: @MarkBillingham
UK Publisher: Little, Brown Book Group
**************************************************
I was lucky enough to have been sent an eBook copy of Mark's latest Tom Thorne novel - Time of Death - which is the 13th instalment and it is captivating, thrilling, absorbing, exciting and all the other superlatives that you normally use to describe a brilliant read. As you can see, you don't have to read these books in the correct order to enjoy them ... just buy or borrow them :)
No comments:
Post a Comment