abbienk's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
balthazarlawson's review against another edition
4.0
Another great read about Logan McRae, now an acting DI. At least he wasn't shot or stabbed in this one. Though he isn't really the innocent sort of copper he would like to be and treads a very thin line between right and wrong. This is perhaps not as gory as previous novels but is still violent.
Stuart MacBride has the habit of including three way conversations in novels and at times they can be so very frustrating. This book includes them in they are more than annoying. Having a conversation on the phone while listening to the radio and trying to take it all in. It can be so easy to get lost at times and don't really add to the story.
Well worth a read.
Stuart MacBride has the habit of including three way conversations in novels and at times they can be so very frustrating. This book includes them in they are more than annoying. Having a conversation on the phone while listening to the radio and trying to take it all in. It can be so easy to get lost at times and don't really add to the story.
Well worth a read.
nighthawk921's review against another edition
5.0
Once again I have nothing but good things to say about this book. I read it slowly as my break and reward for trudging through two unlikable book club books. Because of this I'm not sure if the pace of this book was a little slower than previous ones or it was just me. Either way I found it thoroughly enjoyable and, unlike others in the series, I had it partially figured out halfway through.
didactylos's review against another edition
4.0
Very enjoyable, but as it is part of a sequence some of it was very confusing, really needs to be read in order to make sense of what is going on. A different setting to most books of this genre.
historybooksandtea's review against another edition
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
myrdyr's review against another edition
4.0
I can always count on Stuart MacLean for an entertaining read!
nataliejs_'s review
dark
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
4.0
andrew61's review against another edition
3.0
I read book 7 well over a year ago and with a diet of conventional police procedurals it took me a while to get back into the black humour of this series but when I did I enjoyed the rip roaring ride as DS McRae has to solve several different crimes occurring simultaneously but at the centre murders that mirror the plot of a supernatural horror movie being filmed in Aberdeen.
Some great tangential themes including his girlfriend physical health and his relationship with the local gang leader and son make for a page turning read. Don't plan to leave it so long for book 9.
Some great tangential themes including his girlfriend physical health and his relationship with the local gang leader and son make for a page turning read. Don't plan to leave it so long for book 9.
fictionfan's review against another edition
4.0
More comedy than crime…
Logan McRae returns for an eighth adventure, this time as Acting DI. As a film about witchcraft is being made in the city, a series of horrific murders with an occult theme is taking place throughout the city. Meantime a young couple have gone missing and a gang war is brewing between the drug barons of the city. And as usual, every crime in Aberdeen seems to be dumped on poor McRae's desk.
As always, MacBride has come up with an interesting and complicated plot and the quality of his writing remains very high. However as the series has progressed the humour seems to have taken over more and more and while this makes the book an enjoyable read it does tend to reduce any sense of realism and detract from the flow of the story. The usual characters are there - DI Steel, now acting head of CID, Rennie and a brief return for Jackie Watson - but all the characters have become so caricatured that they seem to be more like pantomime characters than real people. This book also sees a reappearance for retired DI Insch, but his personality is so changed, mainly for comedic purposes, that he simply doesn't ring true at all.
The overall impression for me is that MacBride is bored with these characters and taking them to comedic extremes for his own amusement. And while there's no doubt it's still an amusing journey for the reader too, I no longer think of these as crime books but as fairly broad farce comedies. As a result, all the characters are there purely to be laughed at, including McRae, so I found I didn't feel any emotional involvement with them or tension as to the outcome. I'm not sure where the series is heading and I'll probably stick with it for another book or two but I think it may be close to the time that it should reach an end before it becomes too farcical. Overall then, an enjoyable read but lacking any sense of realism and with none of the grittiness of the early books. Falls somewhere between 3 and 4 stars for me, so for old times sakes I've rounded up to 4.
NB This book was provided for review by Amazon Vine UK.
Logan McRae returns for an eighth adventure, this time as Acting DI. As a film about witchcraft is being made in the city, a series of horrific murders with an occult theme is taking place throughout the city. Meantime a young couple have gone missing and a gang war is brewing between the drug barons of the city. And as usual, every crime in Aberdeen seems to be dumped on poor McRae's desk.
As always, MacBride has come up with an interesting and complicated plot and the quality of his writing remains very high. However as the series has progressed the humour seems to have taken over more and more and while this makes the book an enjoyable read it does tend to reduce any sense of realism and detract from the flow of the story. The usual characters are there - DI Steel, now acting head of CID, Rennie and a brief return for Jackie Watson - but all the characters have become so caricatured that they seem to be more like pantomime characters than real people. This book also sees a reappearance for retired DI Insch, but his personality is so changed, mainly for comedic purposes, that he simply doesn't ring true at all.
The overall impression for me is that MacBride is bored with these characters and taking them to comedic extremes for his own amusement. And while there's no doubt it's still an amusing journey for the reader too, I no longer think of these as crime books but as fairly broad farce comedies. As a result, all the characters are there purely to be laughed at, including McRae, so I found I didn't feel any emotional involvement with them or tension as to the outcome. I'm not sure where the series is heading and I'll probably stick with it for another book or two but I think it may be close to the time that it should reach an end before it becomes too farcical. Overall then, an enjoyable read but lacking any sense of realism and with none of the grittiness of the early books. Falls somewhere between 3 and 4 stars for me, so for old times sakes I've rounded up to 4.
NB This book was provided for review by Amazon Vine UK.