From the No.1 name in British crime comes a blistering and unmissable thriller
Acid Row
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Amazon Review
From the first page, Minette Walters assaults your sensibilities with her psychological thriller Acid Row; she grabs you hard and fast, sustains the onslaught throughout and hits you with a knock-out final blow. Straightaway she informs you that the abduction of 10-year-old Amy and the revelation that a paedophile has been relocated to Acid Row, "a place of deprivation where literacy was poor, drugs endemic and fights commonplace", and where children were left to run wild, leads to rioting and "five hours of savagery leaves three dead".
Even with this prior knowledge, Walters' skill as a novelist never leaves you complacent and nothing prepares you for the horror and tragedy of her novel's shocking denouement. Monsters and heroes are found in the most unlikely places, subverting all your preconceptions: third-time pregnant teenager Melanie incites the protest only to block the rioters when they turn violent; "Big, black" Jimmy James is just out of prison but risks his neck to save the life of an injured policewoman; and the 71-year-old asthmatic father of the so-called paedophile turns out to be more sadistic than your worst imaginings.
A page-turning novel doesn't have to be particularly well written or intelligent to hold you in its grip but occasionally one comes along with both qualities and leaves you reeling in its wake. This is it. Acid Row's numerous narratives are so tightly packed and interconnected that no detail is spurious and everything is channelled towards suspense and shattering revelations. Walters just goes from strength to strength. --Nicola Perry --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
Review
‘A breathtaking achievement’ -- Daily Telegraph
‘A gripping and exciting read covering events at a galloping pace . . . in vintage thriller style’ -- Sunday Express
‘Compelling . . . Walters masterfully weaves the disparate human stories into the action . . . a frightening, lethal cocktail of violence’ -- The Times
‘Walters’ eighth novel crackles like a police radio in the midst of tumult . . . A truly gripping thriller’ -- Daily Mail
‘A gripping and exciting read covering events at a galloping pace . . . in vintage thriller style’ -- Sunday Express
‘Compelling . . . Walters masterfully weaves the disparate human stories into the action . . . a frightening, lethal cocktail of violence’ -- The Times
‘Walters’ eighth novel crackles like a police radio in the midst of tumult . . . A truly gripping thriller’ -- Daily Mail
Inside This Book
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First Sentence
Only a handful of staff at the Nightingale Health Center ever read the memo referring to the presence of a pedophile on the Bassindale Estate. Read the first page
Front Cover | Copyright | Excerpt | Back Cover
Only a handful of staff at the Nightingale Health Center ever read the memo referring to the presence of a pedophile on the Bassindale Estate. Read the first page
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Concordance
Browse Sample PagesConcordance
Front Cover | Copyright | Excerpt | Back Cover
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
8 of 8 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
Fortunately, I picked up this book from the hotel bookcase on a wet day, so it passed the time!
It's also the first Walters' book I've read. I will try another but not hold out much hope for a riveting read filled with sturdy characterisation and reliable reporting of a riot situation. The author mentions Bradford as though this justifies the reasoning behind her storyline. Hmmmm. I lived there when the riots were in full swing. Don't recognize much by way of a comparison with the real world. Anyway, the book passed a day. Don't expect much else!
It's also the first Walters' book I've read. I will try another but not hold out much hope for a riveting read filled with sturdy characterisation and reliable reporting of a riot situation. The author mentions Bradford as though this justifies the reasoning behind her storyline. Hmmmm. I lived there when the riots were in full swing. Don't recognize much by way of a comparison with the real world. Anyway, the book passed a day. Don't expect much else!
14 of 15 people found the following review helpful
By russ t
Format:Paperback
It's hard to take this book seriously on any level.
I always get the feeling, from reading Walter's books, that she's a rather well-to-do middle class lady... and reading this book, above all her others, seems to confirm my suspicions.
The descriptions of the ordinary estate people (there are millions in Britain, Minette) were cliched, tired and frequently verged on the offensive. There are many many single mothers... but do they all have to be daytime TV addicts, swigging lager and smoking fags to their daily dose of Trisha? And do they all really need to be following that supposed 'cycle' of single parents, with jobless jailbird junkie males as the only love interest? The book seems confused, too. Are we following the listless 'missing girl' plot (which thankfully seems to get all but forgotten in the latter half of Acid Row) or the dastardly paedo/dirty Daddy story, which, with increasing ridiculousness, takes the forefront in the book?
I'm usually quite a fan of Walters' knack for writing a book you feel could have been set in your own village - she seems at home in the comfy, conservative, country villages like Dorset....but desperately out on a limb when writing about anything but this priveliged rich existence. Her genuine lack of knowledge regarding things like housing estates, race problems, drug problems and the relationships which run these apparently crime-ridden estates is glaringly obvious in Acid Row, and her generalisations and Daily Mail-like observations gave me frequent intakes of breath and curling of the toes.
A blip on an otherwise pretty near faultless body of work, Acid Row should be avoided. It really isn't a book to be proud of, and it certainly isn't one to recommend or read again.
And I haven't, for the benefit of Ms Walters writing career, even mentioned the gut churningingly American ending......
I always get the feeling, from reading Walter's books, that she's a rather well-to-do middle class lady... and reading this book, above all her others, seems to confirm my suspicions.
The descriptions of the ordinary estate people (there are millions in Britain, Minette) were cliched, tired and frequently verged on the offensive. There are many many single mothers... but do they all have to be daytime TV addicts, swigging lager and smoking fags to their daily dose of Trisha? And do they all really need to be following that supposed 'cycle' of single parents, with jobless jailbird junkie males as the only love interest? The book seems confused, too. Are we following the listless 'missing girl' plot (which thankfully seems to get all but forgotten in the latter half of Acid Row) or the dastardly paedo/dirty Daddy story, which, with increasing ridiculousness, takes the forefront in the book?
I'm usually quite a fan of Walters' knack for writing a book you feel could have been set in your own village - she seems at home in the comfy, conservative, country villages like Dorset....but desperately out on a limb when writing about anything but this priveliged rich existence. Her genuine lack of knowledge regarding things like housing estates, race problems, drug problems and the relationships which run these apparently crime-ridden estates is glaringly obvious in Acid Row, and her generalisations and Daily Mail-like observations gave me frequent intakes of breath and curling of the toes.
A blip on an otherwise pretty near faultless body of work, Acid Row should be avoided. It really isn't a book to be proud of, and it certainly isn't one to recommend or read again.
And I haven't, for the benefit of Ms Walters writing career, even mentioned the gut churningingly American ending......
13 of 14 people found the following review helpful
By A Customer
Format:Paperback
This book was not neary as good as the hype on the covers said it would be. There was no tension at all, i ended up skimming bits of it. Some of the words and phrases she puts in the mouth of her characters are plain daft. Luckily i got if from the library, i would have been mad if i had paid money for it. I did like her early work.
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3.4 out of 5 stars
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
5.0 out of 5 stars
Acid Row
Yet another wonderfully written book by Minette Walters. My friend introduced me to her books a while ago, and I have been hooked ever since. I can say no more.
Published 1 month ago by Jean
5.0 out of 5 stars
so very good
Acid row is excellent it is one of the best books i have read it sits high on my list. I have also read Ice house that is excellent. Read more
Published 2 months ago by bookmoviefanatic
3.0 out of 5 stars
Stellar story, tricky book format
As all MW's stories it is excellent. I consider her the best modern suspence storyteller.
But I hate "paperback" editions not specified when meant for readers that... Read more
But I hate "paperback" editions not specified when meant for readers that... Read more
Published 2 months ago by Ann-Louise Allert
3.0 out of 5 stars
shame on you amazon
I have Minette walters full collection.
she is without doubt my fav author telling vividly described stories with really strong believable characters. Read more
she is without doubt my fav author telling vividly described stories with really strong believable characters. Read more
Published 3 months ago by glynnak
2.0 out of 5 stars
Acid Row
Acid Row is the name of a low-end housing scheme. The residents discover that a paedophile has been housed there. Read more
Published 3 months ago by Ragnar
5.0 out of 5 stars
Excellent Book and Excellent Service
An excellent book that kept me turning the pages from start to finish. If you are looking for lots of action and don't want to be able to guess the outcome until you get to the... Read more
Published 12 months ago by ruftytuftyrider
1.0 out of 5 stars
Unspeakable
'Acid Row' is a salutory lesson in what can go wrong when an author steps outside their comfort zone. Read more
Published on 19 Aug 2009 by M. D. Smart
4.0 out of 5 stars
A good read but occasionally too predictable
My first Minette Walters book. A good read that kept the pages turning. Too many characters to learn much about them and some of them occasionally too predictable. Read more
Published on 1 Aug 2009 by Alison
5.0 out of 5 stars
A difficult read
Maybe the readers who gave this such low marks for unbelievable characters have never lived on a run down council estate or met such people as featured. Read more
Published on 11 Mar 2008 by M. Reeve
1.0 out of 5 stars
Patronising & badly-researched!
This is the worst of her novels. The estate described in the book is something imagined from the worst excesses of many Daily Mail articles and bears no relation to reality... Read more
Published on 18 Jun 2007 by Julie
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