A review by barry_x
Someone Else's Skin by Sarah Hilary
4.0
I received this book through Goodreads First Read Giveaways.
This is an excellent novel and I feel Hilary has a really promising career in crime fiction ahead of her. This was a book that once I started I could hardly put down and carried on trying to make time during the day to read.
I don't want to cover to much of the plot as I am wary of spoilers but the plot focuses on themes of domestic violence. DS Marnie Rome and her colleague DS Noah Jake visit a women's refuge to try and obtain a witness statement from a victim of violence. When they arrive there they find a body bleeding from a stab wound and the plot develops from there.
The subject matter is quite challenging and may not be everyone's preference in particular the theme of domestic violence. Violence, including sexual violence feature in this novel and is often described in detail.
The structure and prose of the book is well developed. I am not normally a fan of short chapters as I find them a little manipulative but Hilary keeps the reader continually wanting to read a little more. The pacing of the novel is perfect and Hilary manages to develop enough tension and suspense to keep you interested.
Most of the characters are believable and well crafted. In particular Noah Jake is one of the better 'sidekick' characters I have found in a crime novel. When we were first introduced I was thinking he was 'another crafted stereotype' and I felt he was rather clichéd. However, he is a well rounded, completely believable character with depth. Indeed, all the characters in the novel have depth to them.
This novel deserves to be successful and I think there is some mileage in revisiting Marni Rome, there's so much to her that the reader has to discover. That's not to say, she's superficial - she already is a well defined character with a history and areas for development.
This ticks a lot of boxes for me - great plot, genuine tension and menace, well rounded characters and a really good structure.
This is an excellent novel and I feel Hilary has a really promising career in crime fiction ahead of her. This was a book that once I started I could hardly put down and carried on trying to make time during the day to read.
I don't want to cover to much of the plot as I am wary of spoilers but the plot focuses on themes of domestic violence. DS Marnie Rome and her colleague DS Noah Jake visit a women's refuge to try and obtain a witness statement from a victim of violence. When they arrive there they find a body bleeding from a stab wound and the plot develops from there.
The subject matter is quite challenging and may not be everyone's preference in particular the theme of domestic violence. Violence, including sexual violence feature in this novel and is often described in detail.
The structure and prose of the book is well developed. I am not normally a fan of short chapters as I find them a little manipulative but Hilary keeps the reader continually wanting to read a little more. The pacing of the novel is perfect and Hilary manages to develop enough tension and suspense to keep you interested.
Most of the characters are believable and well crafted. In particular Noah Jake is one of the better 'sidekick' characters I have found in a crime novel. When we were first introduced I was thinking he was 'another crafted stereotype' and I felt he was rather clichéd. However, he is a well rounded, completely believable character with depth. Indeed, all the characters in the novel have depth to them.
This novel deserves to be successful and I think there is some mileage in revisiting Marni Rome, there's so much to her that the reader has to discover. That's not to say, she's superficial - she already is a well defined character with a history and areas for development.
This ticks a lot of boxes for me - great plot, genuine tension and menace, well rounded characters and a really good structure.