fatmaahmed's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
girlwiththepinkskimask's review against another edition
3.0
Writing: 4/5 | Plot: 2/5 | Ending: 3/5
THE PLOT
Lacey Flint is back in uniform, this time with the "river police." When she finds a dead body shrouded in linen, she inadvertently ends up assisting her old pals at the Met with a complicated case.
MY OPINION
I read this right after book #1 and I'm glad. I think if I took time between the two books, I would've been confused by the several references to events in book #1. The downside however, is that book #1 blew this one outta the water (pun very much intended).
I love Bolton's books because they're so unique. I always learn something new, but she writes it in such a natural way that it doesn't come across like info-dumping or like you're reading a wikipedia page. You can tell she does her research and checks that her t's are crossed and her i's dotted—no "hair attached to a 40 yr old skull" boo boo here (AHEM...)
This was a meh read because Lacey was going full detective dumbass for most of it. And the whole crime could've been solved by simply installing security cameras. So yeah.
SPOILER ALERRTTTTT SCROLL FURIOUSLY TO THE BOTTOM IF YOU HAVEN'T READ THIS YET
Re: Lacey being detective dumbass... Oh you're looking for girls who received medical attention and are being stored by the river... well quelle surprise the perpetrators are the twinsies you met living by the river, one of which is a doctor. C'mon girl lmao. Lacey must be colour blind because she couldn't see a red flag for shit.
I got an ick from the repeated mentions of "Bollywood tan"—this wording did NOT age well although it was expired to begin with tbh. Also... if Pashtun are described as pale and white-passing (excuse me if this is not the correct term) why did Lacey need a tan? Confusion.
ANYWAYS. I'm a #boltonbish so I still found this an enjoyable and educational read. 6 more days until The Dark comes out!!!!!
PROS AND CONS
Pros: interesting premise, the ending held its shit together (Bolton's endings can go off the deep end sometimes), some Joesbury and Lacey action to quench my illogical thirst for their romance
Cons: Lacey was obtuse as she was in book #2, some of the math did not mathulate, major icks around the undercover scene with Lacey... nah bruv
THE PLOT
Lacey Flint is back in uniform, this time with the "river police." When she finds a dead body shrouded in linen, she inadvertently ends up assisting her old pals at the Met with a complicated case.
MY OPINION
I read this right after book #1 and I'm glad. I think if I took time between the two books, I would've been confused by the several references to events in book #1. The downside however, is that book #1 blew this one outta the water (pun very much intended).
I love Bolton's books because they're so unique. I always learn something new, but she writes it in such a natural way that it doesn't come across like info-dumping or like you're reading a wikipedia page. You can tell she does her research and checks that her t's are crossed and her i's dotted—no "hair attached to a 40 yr old skull" boo boo here (AHEM...)
This was a meh read because Lacey was going full detective dumbass for most of it. And the whole crime could've been solved by simply installing security cameras. So yeah.
SPOILER ALERRTTTTT SCROLL FURIOUSLY TO THE BOTTOM IF YOU HAVEN'T READ THIS YET
Re: Lacey being detective dumbass... Oh you're looking for girls who received medical attention and are being stored by the river... well quelle surprise the perpetrators are the twinsies you met living by the river, one of which is a doctor. C'mon girl lmao. Lacey must be colour blind because she couldn't see a red flag for shit.
I got an ick from the repeated mentions of "Bollywood tan"—this wording did NOT age well although it was expired to begin with tbh. Also... if Pashtun are described as pale and white-passing (excuse me if this is not the correct term) why did Lacey need a tan? Confusion.
ANYWAYS. I'm a #boltonbish so I still found this an enjoyable and educational read. 6 more days until The Dark comes out!!!!!
PROS AND CONS
Pros: interesting premise, the ending held its shit together (Bolton's endings can go off the deep end sometimes), some Joesbury and Lacey action to quench my illogical thirst for their romance
Cons: Lacey was obtuse as she was in book #2, some of the math did not mathulate, major icks around the undercover scene with Lacey... nah bruv
thain's review against another edition
3.0
I can't say I've enjoyed this series as much as I did her standalones. Lacey is quite a trying character and rather foolhardy considering how she keeps ending up alone in dangerous situations.
yvo_about_books's review against another edition
3.0
Finished reading: January 12th 2020
“Misery was like mud, she thought, as she turned on the water. It was greedy and jealous, grabbing hold and sucking you down. Misery stank like mud. It got in your eyes, making them sting and smart, and into your throat, drawing it closer and tighter so that you wondered how you'd ever breathe again.”
Spoiler
I decided to go ahead and read the fourth and final book of the Lacey Flint series while memories of book three were still fresh... Especially since it ment that I would have one less unfinished series to worry about in 2020. Main character Lacey isn't part of the actual investigation, but rather forced into the spotlight again... As A Dark And Twisted Tide will once again bring a killer to her doorstep (or boat in this case). While Lacey's character is essentially an intriguing one with a mysterious background and all, somehow I never actually warmed up to her and this made it harder to connect to the series (with exception of book two). In this fourth and final book, the whole damaged and flawed main character was getting a bit old and I wasn't really convinced by the tad chaotic plot and too many different storylines. I was also surprised to find the pace of the story a bit slow in points, and as a whole I don't think it had the same quality of the last two books. That said, overall it was still quite an entertaining read and it was interesting to see how the story and series ended. I hoped this series would end on a higher note and I would have liked to see a bit more closure for the different characters, but at least the case in this fourth book did come to a close... In short, A Dark And Twisted Tide wasn't my favorite of the series and could be a bit slow and chaotic in points, but overall it was still an entertaining ride.
P.S. Find more of my reviews here.
fictionfan's review against another edition
5.0
“Till human voices wake us, and we drown…”
After her recent experiences, Lacey has stepped back from her role as a detective and joined the Met’s Marine Unit, patrolling the Thames. She’s also moved to live on a houseboat moored in Deptford Creek and taken up the highly dangerous sport of river-swimming. And it’s when she’s out swimming alone one early morning that she finds the first body…
This is another excellent entry in the Lacey Flint series, with all the regulars back in fine form. Mark Joesbury (sigh!) is off on an undercover mission but we know he won’t be able to stay away from Lacey for long. Dana’s long-distance relationship with Helen is still continuing, and Dana is becoming desperate to have a child. And Lacey, although still suffering the after-effects of her last couple of cases, is continuing to move towards a more normal existence – she’s just about ready to finally accept that there may be a life for her with Mark.
I’d suggest that although at a push this book could work as a standalone, it would be much better to read the series in order starting with [b:Now You See Me|9783200|Now You See Me (Lacey Flint, #1)|S.J. Bolton|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1388723658s/9783200.jpg|14673027]. The crime story works fine on its own, but the characters develop and grow so much throughout these books that a new reader coming in in the middle might be left a bit puzzled as to the dynamics amongst the members of the team.
Normally Bolton’s plotting is one of her major strengths but, to be honest, I didn’t think the plot of this one was quite up to her usual standard. It relied a bit too much on coincidence and stretched credulity a little too often and, more than that, I felt the main points of the solution were too easy to work out fairly early on. I also found myself questioning how often we can believe that a killer will specifically target Lacey. However, one of Bolton’s slightly less good plots is still about twenty times better than most people’s best, and what it perhaps lacked in tension was made up for by the brilliant descriptions of the Thames and the people who live and work on it. There are some of Bolton’s trademark creepy moments that set my spine nicely a-tingle – I was never a huge fan of crabs but oooh! Well! They may figure in my nightmares for a while now…
The story is hard-hitting but as always Bolton manages to tell it without gratuitously-described violence or excessive foul language; and, though the murder victims are young women, Bolton is far too talented and original to rely on tedious scenes of sexual humiliation and torture to harrow her reader’s soul. Lacey is a bit of a maverick, but thankfully not a drunken one, and more and more we see her trying to conform to rules and procedures. One of the most enjoyable aspects of this series has been watching Lacey’s gradual transformation from weird loner to valued team-member – she’s not completely there yet, but she’s getting close. And the fact that she’s changed so much and yet remained completely credible is a testament to Bolton’s skill in characterisation.
By a tiny margin, not the best in the series perhaps, but still one of the best books I’ve read or expect to read this year – highly recommended.
NB This book was provided for review by the publisher, Random House Transworld.
www.fictionfanblog.wordpress.com
After her recent experiences, Lacey has stepped back from her role as a detective and joined the Met’s Marine Unit, patrolling the Thames. She’s also moved to live on a houseboat moored in Deptford Creek and taken up the highly dangerous sport of river-swimming. And it’s when she’s out swimming alone one early morning that she finds the first body…
This is another excellent entry in the Lacey Flint series, with all the regulars back in fine form. Mark Joesbury (sigh!) is off on an undercover mission but we know he won’t be able to stay away from Lacey for long. Dana’s long-distance relationship with Helen is still continuing, and Dana is becoming desperate to have a child. And Lacey, although still suffering the after-effects of her last couple of cases, is continuing to move towards a more normal existence – she’s just about ready to finally accept that there may be a life for her with Mark.
I’d suggest that although at a push this book could work as a standalone, it would be much better to read the series in order starting with [b:Now You See Me|9783200|Now You See Me (Lacey Flint, #1)|S.J. Bolton|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1388723658s/9783200.jpg|14673027]. The crime story works fine on its own, but the characters develop and grow so much throughout these books that a new reader coming in in the middle might be left a bit puzzled as to the dynamics amongst the members of the team.
Normally Bolton’s plotting is one of her major strengths but, to be honest, I didn’t think the plot of this one was quite up to her usual standard. It relied a bit too much on coincidence and stretched credulity a little too often and, more than that, I felt the main points of the solution were too easy to work out fairly early on. I also found myself questioning how often we can believe that a killer will specifically target Lacey. However, one of Bolton’s slightly less good plots is still about twenty times better than most people’s best, and what it perhaps lacked in tension was made up for by the brilliant descriptions of the Thames and the people who live and work on it. There are some of Bolton’s trademark creepy moments that set my spine nicely a-tingle – I was never a huge fan of crabs but oooh! Well! They may figure in my nightmares for a while now…
The story is hard-hitting but as always Bolton manages to tell it without gratuitously-described violence or excessive foul language; and, though the murder victims are young women, Bolton is far too talented and original to rely on tedious scenes of sexual humiliation and torture to harrow her reader’s soul. Lacey is a bit of a maverick, but thankfully not a drunken one, and more and more we see her trying to conform to rules and procedures. One of the most enjoyable aspects of this series has been watching Lacey’s gradual transformation from weird loner to valued team-member – she’s not completely there yet, but she’s getting close. And the fact that she’s changed so much and yet remained completely credible is a testament to Bolton’s skill in characterisation.
By a tiny margin, not the best in the series perhaps, but still one of the best books I’ve read or expect to read this year – highly recommended.
NB This book was provided for review by the publisher, Random House Transworld.
www.fictionfanblog.wordpress.com
laul's review against another edition
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
e_j_b's review against another edition
3.0
Although a good book, not my favorite in the Lacy Flint series. I feel simply that the story was rushed and found myself flipping back a few pages here and there to make sure I was on track and didn’t miss anything. To me, a few too many holes in the story.
bibliobabe94's review against another edition
4.0
Wow - another excellent dark mystery/thriller featuring Lacey Flint. Not as creepy as some of the earlier works, but still an "unputdownable" book!
mepresley's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
sad
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
It wasn’t a “perfect” book, but my god it was clever and it just kept surprising me. I actually felt like I learned some things by reading it, too, about women in
Spoiler
Afghanistan and about fertility treatment and egg donation in England. I actually feel like the book raised some interesting ethical questions with his clinic, especially when the girls themselves shrugged off the egg harvesting. One final great a-ha moment from the end was hearing the story of Thessa the mermaid, as it linked back to a line Thessa said about identical twins much earlier, when Lacey and I both responded you can’t be identical cuz you aren’t the same sex and Alexander said I think my sister was just speaking generally. Thessa was born a man without a penis, and with only a single, fused leg, a real but very rare medical condition that is usually fatal. I liked how poetically it connected with the tragic story of Nadia, who was forced by cultural imperatives to be a boy and thus ostracized from both the men and the woman; she herself was tortured in the manner she had been murdering the other girls from the clinic. Gotta comment that I love the loyalty between Alexander and Thessa, the unwillingness to turn each other in as they wrongly suspected one another of being the killer. Super pissed the book cut off right as Lacey was being reunited with Mark, and that the 5th book isn’t at my library.lisaarnsdorf's review against another edition
5.0
This has been the least creepy Bolton book I’ve read so far. Bolton’s love of the water came through loud and clear via Lacey. The book’s focus was the interpersonal, moving the character development forward. I loved how much time we got with Dana. I set this book down for a bit to read a book club pick, and when I picked it back up, I was able to jump right back in and speed toward the end. The final explanation of the making of the killer was fascinating and I wish we had gotten more about that. I can’t wait to catch up with the two novellas and the newest Lacey Flint! This whet my appetite.