katieeliza's review
4.0
I enjoyed this book - I felt the ending was a little too tidy for me but it was a decent read that gripped the reader.
minimicropup's review
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
Really enjoyed this story, the twists, and how the characters in the town interacted with and were (or weren’t involved) in what happened in present and past. The actions of the characters - even minor ones - had consequences for what happened in the town and how others behaved even if they weren’t directly related to the main case. This made for realistic and well thought out “red herrings”. The end involved some relatively fast paced action scenes that I had trouble imagining, but that may be just me - I tend to struggle with scenes where multiple people are juggling about with weapons or fighting. The author did a good job writing about key items and where characters were spatially relative to each other so it flowed well. Looking forward to the next one in the series. Having the town based on Haddington meant I could imagine a richer world for this book using Youtube walks and Apple streetviews to get a sense of the buildings and scenery.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Mental illness and Violence
Moderate: Stalking and Alcoholism
Minor: Death of parent, Pedophilia, Sexual violence, Ableism, Bullying, Gun violence, Injury/Injury detail, and Murder
herreadingroom's review
4.0
Thoroughly enjoyed this book! Got hooked fairly early on and it kept me gripped until the end. Great read.
steph1rothwell's review
5.0
Black Wood is one book that I've been looking forward to reading for most of last year. Yes it's a crime novel but there is so much more to it. Jo and Claire had a traumatic experience in their childhood that left Claire paralysed and Jo struggling to cope with the memories.
Whilst Clare copes the best way she can, choosing not to remember it is Jo who seems to suffer more. Very much a loner for all of her life, she manages to alienate most people around her. Though not the easiest character to like I had quite a bit of sympathy for her. Rejected by her father and ridiculed by school friends she was always going to be an outsider.
No huge shocks but there were a few surprises along the way.
I enjoyed the setting of the novel in the fictional town of Banktoun, it was refreshing to read about a police investigation set in a small town rather than a city, and I adored Davey Gray.
I'm really looking forward to reading more of Susi's novels or short stories in the future.
With thanks to Susi and the publisher for the copy of the novel.
Whilst Clare copes the best way she can, choosing not to remember it is Jo who seems to suffer more. Very much a loner for all of her life, she manages to alienate most people around her. Though not the easiest character to like I had quite a bit of sympathy for her. Rejected by her father and ridiculed by school friends she was always going to be an outsider.
No huge shocks but there were a few surprises along the way.
I enjoyed the setting of the novel in the fictional town of Banktoun, it was refreshing to read about a police investigation set in a small town rather than a city, and I adored Davey Gray.
I'm really looking forward to reading more of Susi's novels or short stories in the future.
With thanks to Susi and the publisher for the copy of the novel.
cristianespinoza's review
3.0
Not a bad mystery set in a sleepy town that I really want to visit, it sounds idyllic. The story is a bit slow paced at the very start but quickly picks up pace in a well written whodunnit that’ll keep you guessing til the very end!
nini_f's review
3.0
I downloaded this based on a friends recommendation. This isn't my normal type of mystery read and I found it wasn't a book that kept me wanting to read and i often got distracted by "real life". That being said when i did sit down and read this book I found it enjoyable a fast paced thriller . Personally I struggled to like or sympathise with the protagonist and I think that's probably what caused me to take so long to read the book.
I would try another of SJI Hollidays books as I thought he had a gripping writing style however i'm not sure I could get past my dislike of the main character if this became part of a series.
I would try another of SJI Hollidays books as I thought he had a gripping writing style however i'm not sure I could get past my dislike of the main character if this became part of a series.
kellylacey's review
4.0
Susi Halliday has created a fictional town called Banktoun, with a cast of unpredictable and engaging characters. This is the first book in a trilogy and I love that we get to gentle settle into our new surroundings. Gradually getting our bearings of the town and the who’s who of people.
Susi Halliday sets the perfect pace of the writing, it is not super fast-paced and it is not a slow burner. It has an enjoyable steady pulse with moments of suspense and emotion. It will get your heart racing and your mind will be a whirl trying to figure out who the baddie is for sure.
My favourite character is Jo as she is fragile and flawed. Screaming out for help but nobody knows (not even she does) what to do. Her mind so jammed packed with memories, feelings and emotions. The pressure to be “normal” and let things go and just try and fit in is slowly imploding her mind. Susi Halliday really caught Jo’s anxiousness and it carries across to the reader. I felt my heart beating faster and my own breath getting more rapid when I was reading about Jo.
Sometimes the first book in a series can feel like a television pilot where you are just getting all the pieces you need and the author ties them all up for you nicely. Not the case with Black Wood, we learn more and more about the characters and the town throughout and the book could be standalone. If you don’t want to start a new series, you need not worry. If you only read Black Wood you will be completely satisfied. I, however, can’t wait to dive into the other two books.
An engaging crime fiction thriller, if this is just the start of what Susi Halliday has to offer I just can’t wait to read the back catalogue of adventures.
Susi Halliday sets the perfect pace of the writing, it is not super fast-paced and it is not a slow burner. It has an enjoyable steady pulse with moments of suspense and emotion. It will get your heart racing and your mind will be a whirl trying to figure out who the baddie is for sure.
My favourite character is Jo as she is fragile and flawed. Screaming out for help but nobody knows (not even she does) what to do. Her mind so jammed packed with memories, feelings and emotions. The pressure to be “normal” and let things go and just try and fit in is slowly imploding her mind. Susi Halliday really caught Jo’s anxiousness and it carries across to the reader. I felt my heart beating faster and my own breath getting more rapid when I was reading about Jo.
Sometimes the first book in a series can feel like a television pilot where you are just getting all the pieces you need and the author ties them all up for you nicely. Not the case with Black Wood, we learn more and more about the characters and the town throughout and the book could be standalone. If you don’t want to start a new series, you need not worry. If you only read Black Wood you will be completely satisfied. I, however, can’t wait to dive into the other two books.
An engaging crime fiction thriller, if this is just the start of what Susi Halliday has to offer I just can’t wait to read the back catalogue of adventures.
raven88's review
5.0
A debut crime novel that more than lives up to the promise of being a dark and extremely compelling psychological thriller. Inspired by a disturbing incident in the author’s own childhood, Black Wood explores the lives of two young women, Jo and Claire, deeply affected by an event that happened to them in their younger years in the local woods. This distressing incident left Claire paralysed and Jo with deep mental scars, but due to Claire’s memory loss, how much is Jo’s version of what happened to be trusted? Twenty-three years later, a familiar face walks into the local bookshop where Jo works, dredging up painful memories and rekindling her desire for revenge. At the same time, popular local police officer, Sergeant Davie Gray is investigating a man who is attacking women near the disused railway, shocking the sleepy village of Banktoun. But how is this man connected to Jo’s unwelcome visitor, and will the dependable Gray unravel the tangled web of secrets and lies to keep Jo safe and give her justice? And just who will survive the violence that must surely follow?
I should really start by saying how much I applaud Holliday in taking the decision to present us with a cast of characters who are all so singularly dislikeable. They range in character from self-absorbed, to screwed-up, from emotionally crippled to inherently evil, and all the worst points in-between. If I were to encounter any of them in real life, I would not seek their company again, but within the confines of this book, I liked them all immensely. I loved the premise of having this collection of oddball personalities, whether shaped by unfortunate experience or just as a result of their natural weirdness, in this claustrophobic community, and the fact that as a reader you could remain largely unaffected by their trials and tribulations. I was very much put in mind of a brilliant drama series from years ago, Cape Wrath, which instilled a similar feeling as to the largely nasty characters within it, but remained compulsive viewing. I liked the feeling of being unencumbered by empathy with Jo, in particular, and rather enjoyed the fact that she inhabited the role of victim, but had a rather unpleasant and manipulative streak to her. She seemed to wield some strange hypnotic effect over most of the male characters, including the dogged Sergeant Gray who was probably the only character registering at all on the niceness scale. The assured characterisation of such a cast of dark and twisted people was a real strength of the book overall, and as much as I disliked them, I derived great satisfaction from seeing into their lives- the good and the bad.
I liked the unfolding complexity of the characters connections to one another within the central plot. I did read quite a way into the book with not the faintest clue as to how it would pan out, and I thought Holliday’s control of reveals was incredibly well-handled, keeping my interest throughout, as we became further embroiled in the nasty dark secrets and lies at the heart of this community. I wasn’t entirely convinced by the explosion of violence towards the end of the book, but no matter, as what proceeded it was more than satisfying. Oh- and there is a good twist right at the end of the book. I love it when that works, and this one did. All in all, a good debut, that contains all the necessary tension, and unwelcome surprises of a thoroughly enjoyable psychological thriller. Seek this one out and you won’t be disappointed I’m sure.
I should really start by saying how much I applaud Holliday in taking the decision to present us with a cast of characters who are all so singularly dislikeable. They range in character from self-absorbed, to screwed-up, from emotionally crippled to inherently evil, and all the worst points in-between. If I were to encounter any of them in real life, I would not seek their company again, but within the confines of this book, I liked them all immensely. I loved the premise of having this collection of oddball personalities, whether shaped by unfortunate experience or just as a result of their natural weirdness, in this claustrophobic community, and the fact that as a reader you could remain largely unaffected by their trials and tribulations. I was very much put in mind of a brilliant drama series from years ago, Cape Wrath, which instilled a similar feeling as to the largely nasty characters within it, but remained compulsive viewing. I liked the feeling of being unencumbered by empathy with Jo, in particular, and rather enjoyed the fact that she inhabited the role of victim, but had a rather unpleasant and manipulative streak to her. She seemed to wield some strange hypnotic effect over most of the male characters, including the dogged Sergeant Gray who was probably the only character registering at all on the niceness scale. The assured characterisation of such a cast of dark and twisted people was a real strength of the book overall, and as much as I disliked them, I derived great satisfaction from seeing into their lives- the good and the bad.
I liked the unfolding complexity of the characters connections to one another within the central plot. I did read quite a way into the book with not the faintest clue as to how it would pan out, and I thought Holliday’s control of reveals was incredibly well-handled, keeping my interest throughout, as we became further embroiled in the nasty dark secrets and lies at the heart of this community. I wasn’t entirely convinced by the explosion of violence towards the end of the book, but no matter, as what proceeded it was more than satisfying. Oh- and there is a good twist right at the end of the book. I love it when that works, and this one did. All in all, a good debut, that contains all the necessary tension, and unwelcome surprises of a thoroughly enjoyable psychological thriller. Seek this one out and you won’t be disappointed I’m sure.
fionayule's review
4.0
I really enjoyed this novel.
I started to read Damsel Fly and realized that it was the third in a trilogy so had to go back to read them in order.
This is a brilliant thriller set in a small Scottish town (my husband comes from the town its based on), and its perfect setting with the small town paranoia and take a short walk to get to the country.
The story splits between the now and the past as the reader puts together what really happened to two girls who were attacked in the woods 20 years ago.
A classic page turner that kept me guessing until the end.
I started to read Damsel Fly and realized that it was the third in a trilogy so had to go back to read them in order.
This is a brilliant thriller set in a small Scottish town (my husband comes from the town its based on), and its perfect setting with the small town paranoia and take a short walk to get to the country.
The story splits between the now and the past as the reader puts together what really happened to two girls who were attacked in the woods 20 years ago.
A classic page turner that kept me guessing until the end.