Reviews

Smoke and Whispers by Mick Herron

didactylos's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

3.5

The location (I live there) is actually the main character, the plot is more than a little far fetched, and the main characyter in what she does is hardly credible.  Not sure how many readrs would like it if they could not actually know the locations and have walked the streets regularly. 

caroparr's review against another edition

3.0

Sarah is the protagonist again, as she comes to Newcastle to ID the body of her friend Zoë. But not is all as it seems, to put it mildly. The plot is overstuffed (medical sociopath, blurred identities, child abuse, a murderer hiding in plain sight, maybe), and some of the incidents strain credulity (I'm thinking of her midnight trip to the warehouse in particular). In other words, the story is all over the place, but I stuck with it because I cared about Sarah and Zoë. Sadly, it seems Herron has abandoned these characters, and I do wish he'd written one more book to wrap it all up. 3.5

smallfet's review against another edition

mysterious slow-paced

• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No

1.5

mxinky's review against another edition

5.0

I love the Zoe Boehm series, and this novel is no exception. I like seeing more realistic "civilians" become entangled in the quest to understand what happened and why.

martyfried's review against another edition

5.0

I'm pretty sure I wrote a review when I read this, but it seems to be gone. I don't remember it well enough now, so I guess I'll have to reread the series and write a new one. Good excuse to reread more Mick Herron.

pshotts's review

challenging emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

alice_horoshev's review

adventurous challenging emotional reflective medium-paced

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

5.0

Cleverly written and it was interesting to be inside Sarah's head and follow her train of thought. 

roastedsalted's review

5.0

Best one in the series - requires having read the prequels for context.

mclent's review

3.0

Deft and admirable storytelling in places but overall not as engaging as Herron's amazing Slough House series. Felt like a tuneup read.

pgchuis's review

4.0

Sarah goes to Newcastle to identify Zoe's body, which has been pulled from the Tyne. She stays at the same hotel as Zoe did and there encounters Gerard (from the first book). Sarah suspects that Alan Talmadge (from the second book) killed Zoe.

I enjoyed this very much until the last quarter or so. I find Sarah a more engaging protagonist than Zoe and her encounters with Gerard were very entertaining. That whole storyline: the cinema, Barry the barman, the scene with Ivy etc was excellent. Sadly the story of what happened to Zoe was only tangentially connected to this first storyline and seemed almost like a separate episode. The resolution to this element was satisfactory in terms of logic, but morally troubling to me.