- Paperback: 362 pages
- Publisher: Jove Books; Reissue edition (Aug 2000)
- Language English
- ISBN-10: 0515128821
- ISBN-13: 978-0515128826
- Product Dimensions: 17 x 10.4 x 3 cm
- Average Customer Review: 3.2 out of 5 stars See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 1,920,973 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
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Product Description
Amazon.co.uk Review
When Kate Sumner's corpse is discovered naked, bruised, prone and violated on the rocks of a sleepy South Coast town by two curious young boys, and her tiny, traumatised daughter is found wandering alone several miles away, police are instinctively drawn to two suspects. William Sumner, Kate's husband, and Steven Harding, a handsome would-be actor, find themselves at the centre of the investigation and as police suspicions grow, their fatally flawed personalities are gradually disembowelled in the search for the truth. The clever presentation of part of the evidence in the form of bland witness statements, stylishly contrasting with the fast-paced narrative that swoops between the two prime suspects, is an ingenious tool which allows the weaknesses of each man to be gradually revealed.
The Breaker is an example of the crime novel at its very best, with characters and situations so carefully judged that they become all the more believable as the story is pushed towards its chilling climax. Minette Walters has more than proved her exceptional talent for mystery and suspense in the award-winning The Ice House, The Sculptress and The Scold's Bridle, and here merely confirms her unquestionable standing as the true Queen of intelligent crime writing. --Susan Harrison --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
thoughtful, intelligent, very gripping,
By A Customer
This review is from: The Breaker (Hardcover)
Every time I read Minette Walters, I just don't believe that she can again be as good as her last one - and she always is. Her detached voice, her thoughtful pictures of the characters, her way of describing each of them with their flaws and their stupidities, this combined with a story that is interesting, full of twists and yet never just "action for action's sake", I am extremely impressed every time. Also, I like that each novel stands alone, and I do not need to follow some detecive's life through a series. I recommend it to anyone who wants a book that is not predictable.
4.0 out of 5 stars
An enjoyable holiday 'Whodunnit',
By A Customer
This review is from: The Breaker (Paragon Softcover Large Print Books) (Paperback)
As usual, Minette Walters keeps the reader guessing right up until the last moment. The suspects are all equally capable, and available to commit the crime with various motives. An enjoyable 'whodunnit' read for ant time of year but particularly for the summer as the novel is set in a popular sailing and holiday resort.
3.0 out of 5 stars
I long for the old Walters,
By A Customer
This review is from: The Breaker (Hardcover)
Oddly enough, I grew to envy Walters' labyrinthine plots and nasty characters. My impression has always been that she has been trying to subvert the genre by populating her novels with loathsome, complex characters whose lives are open to interpretation by the slanted perceptions of the others in each book. This presents us with a world of ambiguity. Walters' unusual talent, and for me the appeal of her crime stories, lies in her creating characters who alternately make our flesh crawl with their quirks and perversities then elicit our sympathy when we understand the events that lead to choices they make. However, for my tastes, The Breaker is run-of-the-mill. The story begins with an excerpt from a book called The Mind of A Rapist and its elementary Freudian analysis automatically forces the reader to overanalyze each of the male characters' libidos. Maybe this is her point. But obviously the suspect list is immediately limited to one sex. Much of the "romance" angle I felt was merely padding and could have been dispensed with. The Jenners were intrusive and annoying and I didn't care about any of their storyline. Overall, fewer twists and hardly a single surprise. I wanted to gasp at the end, not shrug and say "But of course."
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