Reviews with content warning for Sexual violence - The Echo Man

Jess Ambrose is bored in her marriage to Patrick, & they are both cheating on each other, Jess via mindless sex with strangers. So their marriage is rocky & has been plagued with troubles so when their house is burned down & Patrick killed in an arson attack, the police immediately seize upon Jess as someone with a motive for wanting her husband dead. Only one person seems to think she may be innocent, Nate Griffin, a cop who is on leave following the death of his wife in a traumatic home invasion. Nate's sister, DCI Cara Elliott, is investigating a series of grisly murders which seem unrelated, but Jess realises that they are copies of murders committed by infamous murders such as the Yorkshire Ripper, & the Zodiac Killer. The media soon nickname the killer 'The Echo Man'.

First of all, warning to anyone who is of a sensitive disposition - this book is extremely graphic in respect of death, gore, & sexual violence. The plot itself is rather good & the fast pace & body count is maintained throughout. I really liked Cara & Griffin, but Jess was just an annoying plot device. I was hoping she would be killed off but no such luck. There are some clichés, especially that the killer that is always a couple of steps ahead of the police etc, but it maintained my interest well enough. The ending made me go "WTH?!" or something every similar. 3.5 stars

My thanks to NetGalley & publishers, HarperCollins UK, for the opportunity to read an ARC. I am voluntarily giving an honest review.

Content Warnings

bookwormdanni's review against another edition

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challenging dark mysterious tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

Wow, this book is not for the faint hearted!
The Echo Man is brilliantly written with a plot that will shock you from start to finish. The development of the plot is really clever and quick-paced. The writing is brilliant and Sam Holland was not afraid of writing in horrific sometimes graphic detail of abuse and assault.
There is a small group of main characters, each of which have their own personal struggles as they try to work together to find the culprit and bring to an end the horrific attacks and murders of The Echo Man.
While it's not for the faint hearted, it's such a good book that kept me guessing all the way through. It's one of those books where the reader will find themselves questioning nearly every character they meet!
I really enjoyed The Echo Man and definitely would recommend with the advice for potential readers to check the CW's first.
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Thank you to NetGalley, Sam Holland and the publisher for the advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.

Content Warnings

booksandcwtches's review against another edition

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challenging dark tense fast-paced

4.0

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abookwormwithwine's review against another edition

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dark emotional informative mysterious tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.75

Holy MOLY, I knew The Echo Man by Sam Holland was going to be violent and gory, but I didn't realize the full extent of this until I actually got going. I read Karin Slaughter, so I am no stranger to this in my books, but Holland definitely took things to a whole new level. This isn't a book you are going to want to read while eating, but it was completely fantastic, and I am in both shock and awe that this is Holland's debut novel. The author describes herself as a serial killer nerd and that definitely comes through in the story. I also appreciated that she explained a bit about the serial killers mentioned by working it into the plot, so the reader doesn't have to Google anything. There are about a million triggers in the book, and if you shy away from any type of violence or gore you should NOT read The Echo Man since it is very graphic.

I loved the different viewpoints, and this is a straight-up police procedural but at the same time a whole lot more than that. I really liked having Jessica's viewpoint and the fact that she ends up doing a bit of sleuthing herself. The pacing is very fast which made the book feel way shorter than over 300 pages, and it also helped that the chapters were super short and engaging. The aspect of the copycat killer really got my attention, but I was also completely drawn to the characters. Cara is such a great detective and is the strong and fierce kind of woman I like to have as the lead in the books I read, and I couldn't help but adore Griffin (AKA Nate). I did think it was a little odd that Holland kept interchanging Deakin and Griffin’s first names with their last and do prefer when authors stick to using one or the other, but it was a very small thing in the grand scheme and didn't take away from the story. If you love police procedurals, true crime, serial killers, and crazy twists I HIGHLY recommend you read The Echo Man immediately. I also can't help but hope this isn't the last we have seen of Detective Cara Elliott.

I received a complimentary copy of this book. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

Content Warnings

librariangeorgia's review against another edition

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dark mysterious tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

Wow! Wow! Wow!

Bloody hell, that is one hell of a debut novel!

I'm still wrapping my head around it. I thoroughly enjoyed everything about it. I'm a fan of serial killers in books and this one was very well written.

I thought I knew who did it around half way through but with every reveal, I kept changing my mind.

That ending was fantastic! I completely did not see that coming!

I must warn potential readers that this is quite a graphic book - mostly with the details of the murders but there are also some graphic sex scenes.

I read the kindle version of this e-arc and the format isn't quite right. It feels like it jumps too much as it's not obvious where the breaks should be.

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