carmelade6645's review
challenging
dark
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
clmckinney's review
4.0
David Peace is a good author. This is the second in the quartet. I really liked the first book because of the main character. I liked the suspense of 2nd novel, and the way he sets up an atmosphere of the area. What I didn't care so much for was the visceral aspect of the story telling. It was very violent and at times, there was gore. Both of these things degrade the experience of reading for me. For that I would give this one a 3.7/5. I will read the other two books to complete the series though.
yorkslass70's review against another edition
4.0
A disturbing and unsettling story set during the height of the Yorkshire Ripper murders. Having grown up in a small village near Wakefield,West Yorkshire, I remember only too well the atmosphere of fear that gripped the area and also remember seeing the photofit posters stuck to the doors of my junior school - Have you seen this man? This is all captured in the book. The second in the Red Riding Quartet is as bleak and uncompromising as the first, 1974. An absolutely brilliant read, but not for the fainthearted.
jimbowen0306's review against another edition
2.0
This book focuses on a fictionalised account of West Yorkshire Constabulary's attempt to invetigate the first third of the Yorkshire Ripper's crimes.
I think that people know now that the police in the 1970s didn't necessarily take the same approach to policing as they do now. If they felt that they had their man, they were quite prepared to "slap him about some" to get the confession they needed as the "icing on the cake."
The problem is that this book goes beyond that. The West Yorkshire Constabulary are presented as boozey, strip joint attending, prostitute using, thugs who were as inclined to fight each other as they were to fight criminals.
I know it's a story. Trust me when I say I get that. But personally I'd like to read a book that was a little closer to reality.
I think that people know now that the police in the 1970s didn't necessarily take the same approach to policing as they do now. If they felt that they had their man, they were quite prepared to "slap him about some" to get the confession they needed as the "icing on the cake."
The problem is that this book goes beyond that. The West Yorkshire Constabulary are presented as boozey, strip joint attending, prostitute using, thugs who were as inclined to fight each other as they were to fight criminals.
I know it's a story. Trust me when I say I get that. But personally I'd like to read a book that was a little closer to reality.
jeremyhornik's review against another edition
3.0
Relentless and bleak and dizzying. I still don’t know what happened. Like, I usually write my couple sentences without reading anyone else’s reviews, but this time I didn’t because... what happened? I’m confused.
In summary, Yorkshire in the 70s was a bad place to be a woman. There are dirty cops and there are bad cops and there are evil ones. And sometimes... sometimes you just LONG for an omniscient narrator, because I feel like I’m two inches away from figuring it all out, and I’m never going to get there.
In summary, Yorkshire in the 70s was a bad place to be a woman. There are dirty cops and there are bad cops and there are evil ones. And sometimes... sometimes you just LONG for an omniscient narrator, because I feel like I’m two inches away from figuring it all out, and I’m never going to get there.
jackieeh's review
3.0
Jack Whitehead was surprisingly sympathetic. Bob Fraser was surprisingly...not. I have to say, though, the overall favorable reaction I had to Nineteen Seventy Four almost wasn't enough to get me through this book, where the INCREDIBLY graphic violence and ickiness seemed to have even less of a point, if possible.
Still, this book gained points for unreliable narrators (perhaps?) and an ending I didn't see coming.
One interesting thing: In both this and the previous book, narrators will often have dreams/visions/wtfs of things they couldn't possibly have known about or seen yet. When those events occur, it's like an echo in the text. I'm not sure where those are headed, if anywhere.
P.S. It's possible that after reading this book I would have given up on the whole series if I hadn't already checked the third one out of the library to take with my to San Diego as well. So I started it, and what did I find? A subtle change in style and a (so far!) sympathetic and even sane narrator? Fresh life! More on Nineteen Eighty later.
Still, this book gained points for unreliable narrators (perhaps?) and an ending I didn't see coming.
One interesting thing: In both this and the previous book, narrators will often have dreams/visions/wtfs of things they couldn't possibly have known about or seen yet. When those events occur, it's like an echo in the text. I'm not sure where those are headed, if anywhere.
P.S. It's possible that after reading this book I would have given up on the whole series if I hadn't already checked the third one out of the library to take with my to San Diego as well. So I started it, and what did I find? A subtle change in style and a (so far!) sympathetic and even sane narrator? Fresh life! More on Nineteen Eighty later.
fat_girl_fiction's review against another edition
4.0
This was the second in the riding quartet and after an exciting start in 1974, I couldn't wait for this.
Eddie Dunford is no longer on the scene, instead the reader follows Jack Whitehead, a burnt out reporter and Bob Fraser, a young policeman.
Anyone who's read 1974 will recognise these characters, but they're not overly familiar. However, having two narrators isn't necessarily a good things. Whitehead and Fraser sound similar and it can be confusing. Frequently I had to turn back to check and see who I was reading about.
I wasn't born at the time of the Yorkshire Ripper so I was going in more or less blind. David Peace doesn't shy away from violence, or bad language, which makes the book come alive, the characters and scenes leaping from the page.
It's a brilliant book and I can't wait to read the next installment. From the start to finish, I feel like I'm holding my breath, waiting to see what the next page will bring.
Eddie Dunford is no longer on the scene, instead the reader follows Jack Whitehead, a burnt out reporter and Bob Fraser, a young policeman.
Anyone who's read 1974 will recognise these characters, but they're not overly familiar. However, having two narrators isn't necessarily a good things. Whitehead and Fraser sound similar and it can be confusing. Frequently I had to turn back to check and see who I was reading about.
I wasn't born at the time of the Yorkshire Ripper so I was going in more or less blind. David Peace doesn't shy away from violence, or bad language, which makes the book come alive, the characters and scenes leaping from the page.
It's a brilliant book and I can't wait to read the next installment. From the start to finish, I feel like I'm holding my breath, waiting to see what the next page will bring.