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A serial killer stalks the streets of London in this "top-notch debut thriller"--the first Jack Caffery novel from the acclaimed author of Gone (Kirkus Reviews). In his first case as lead investigator with London's murder squad, Det. Inspector Jack Caffery is called on to investigate the murder of a young woman whose body has been discovered near the Millennium Dome in Greenwich, southeast London. Mutilated beyond recognition, the victim is soon joined by four others discovered in the same area--all female and all ritualistically murdered. And when the postmortem examination reveals a gruesome signature connecting the victims, Caffery realizes exactly what he's dealing with--a dangerous serial killer. A finalist for the Edgar Award, Birdman explores the darkest reaches of the human mind and introduces a fascinating detective to the world of British crime fiction. "Treading the grisly path blazed by Thomas Harris in 1981 with Red Dragon, promising newcomer Hayder crafts a blood-curdlingly creepy debut thriller." --Publishers Weekly, starred review "A deftly plotted assault on the nerves . . . Birdman preys on the reader's expectations expertly, and Hayder handles her story's complicated time scheme with enviable assurance. Graphic, disturbing, splendidly readable." --Kirkus Reviews… (more)
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Detective Inspector Jack Caffery has a lot on his mind. He has a girlfriend he doesn’t love. He has a neighbor haunting him who may have murdered Jack’s brother years ago. He has parents who don’t want to be around him. And now he has five mutilated bodies that were found buried at a
Birdman is British novelist Mo Hayder’s first novel, and the first featuring Detective Inspector Jack Caffery. The series now totals five installments. Right from the start, Hayder does a masterful job of capturing the utter confusion that surrounds a police investigation, where there are far more unknowns than reliable facts. Jack Caffery makes for a compelling hero – not without many flaws – but duty-bound to do the right thing when he knows what the right thing is. He is an everyman with a knack for putting disjointed pieces together. Hayder also provides the characters around Caffery with diverse personalities and vivid dialog.
It is with the crime that Birdman really hits its chilling stride. Without ruining the plot, I will say that it is very well constructed and produces a really big twist in the middle of the story. There are a few well-placed red herrings to keep the reader guessing, but no dirty tricks to spring a manufactured “gotcha” on you. Everything passes the plausibility test with flying colors. Hayder also brings a dark, foreboding edge to the world of her characters. It isn’t over-the-top gothic, but it is just inauspicious enough to make you want to tiptoe through the pages so as not to draw attention to yourself.
Birdman is also quite unsettling. It is graphic and at times sadistic. The villain is so incomprehensible, and yet realistic, that is will give you the chills right from the beginning. The scenes are intense and there don’t seem to be any taboos to Hayder’s storytelling. It is not a crime story for those with a weak stomach. However, this is one of the only negatives – and it depends on the reader as to if it is truly a negative – that I can identify in this page-turning crime thriller
Birdman resonates with a raw intensity. It is not perfectly written. Some of the sentences seem clunky at times, but the story moves very well. The characters are real and the peril is even more so. I kept turning the pages feeling a bit like a voyeur wondering what was going to happen next. I will certainly be picking up the next book in the Jack Caffery series.
Now that I've read and enjoyed every book Hayder's written thus far, I'm looking forward to some lighter, brighter reading matter -- but also hoping for another addition to the series.
The plot focuses on 34 year old Jack Caffery leading investigations into five
This is a very violent book, right up there with Silence of the Lambs for grisliness.
Detective Inspector Jack Caffery has a lot on his mind. He has a girlfriend he doesn’t love. He has a neighbor haunting him who may have murdered Jack’s brother years ago. He has parents who don’t want to be around him. And now he has five mutilated bodies that were found buried at a
Birdman is British novelist Mo Hayder’s first novel, and the first featuring Detective Inspector Jack Caffery. The series now totals five installments. Right from the start, Hayder does a masterful job of capturing the utter confusion that surrounds a police investigation, where there are far more unknowns than reliable facts. Jack Caffery makes for a compelling hero – not without many flaws – but duty-bound to do the right thing when he knows what the right thing is. He is an everyman with a knack for putting disjointed pieces together. Hayder also provides the characters around Caffery with diverse personalities and vivid dialog.
It is with the crime that Birdman really hits its chilling stride. Without ruining the plot, I will say that it is very well constructed and produces a really big twist in the middle of the story. There are a few well-placed red herrings to keep the reader guessing, but no dirty tricks to spring a manufactured “gotcha” on you. Everything passes the plausibility test with flying colors. Hayder also brings a dark, foreboding edge to the world of her characters. It isn’t over-the-top gothic, but it is just inauspicious enough to make you want to tiptoe through the pages so as not to draw attention to yourself.
Birdman is also quite unsettling. It is graphic and at times sadistic. The villain is so incomprehensible, and yet realistic, that is will give you the chills right from the beginning. The scenes are intense and there don’t seem to be any taboos to Hayder’s storytelling. It is not a crime story for those with a weak stomach. However, this is one of the only negatives – and it depends on the reader as to if it is truly a negative – that I can identify in this page-turning crime thriller
Birdman resonates with a raw intensity. It is not perfectly written. Some of the sentences seem clunky at times, but the story moves very well. The characters are real and the peril is even more so. I kept turning the pages feeling a bit like a voyeur wondering what was going to happen next. I will certainly be picking up the next book in the Jack Caffery series.
I will be reading the next story, not just because I have it, but because I want to read it.
Jack leads the investigation into the deaths of five women whose bodies are found with evidence of strange mutilating surgeries. The victims were all drug users/prostitutes who
Some of the suspense is created by the fact that the point of view of the perpetrators is given at different times. Will Jack learn the truth in time to save other women?
Jack is similar to a number of literary detectives; he is a haunted, tortured soul who has been emotionally scarred, but he is intuitive and intelligent. Few would find him unlikeable.
One character, DI Diamond, is unbelievable. He is arrogant and self-centred and keeps making mistakes. He seems to have no redeeming qualities. One is left to wonder how he ever achieved his position.
Some sections of the novel are quite gruesome. Paedophilia, necrophilia and sexual mutilation are all part of this mystery, so it is not for the faint of heart. I also found some of the Britishisms a problem. Nonetheless it is a psychological thriller cum police procedural well worth reading.
The
A great and relatively straightforward read.
Mixed in is the police detective whose personal life is a mess, and colleagues who are more interested in confirming their own
It's a good novel with detail in all the right places conveying the disturbing nature of the crimes and actions of those responsible without veering off into gore for gores sake.
Would recommend for fans of darker police procedurals.
And here begins the ranting about the audio edition. Unfair to the book? Possibly, but the public needs to know!
Stay the hell away from anything Damien Goodwin reads. He narrates all of the women's voices in this ridiculous, breathy drag queen type voice that makes me want to vomit and scream, possibly simultaneously. And don't, just don't even get me started on the children's voices he affects. Luckily, there aren't many children in this book. There is a character, Gemini, who is apparently Jamaican, or pretending to be Jamaican, I can't be sure which, because whenever Goodwin narrated his voice, I was too busy cringing in vicarious embarrassment to listen to the story. I actually had to stop the playback several times to let myself recover.
3 stars because I'm probably being more generous to make up for the absolute frothing rage the narration drove me to, which isn't the book's fault, after all.