- Hardcover: 384 pages
- Publisher: Little, Brown; First Edition edition (7 Aug 2008)
- Language English
- ISBN-10: 1408700697
- ISBN-13: 978-1408700693
- Product Dimensions: 15.8 x 23.6 x 3.4 cm
- Average Customer Review: 3.2 out of 5 stars See all reviews (48 customer reviews)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 338,351 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
In the Dark
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Product Description
Review
'Right up there with this country's dark masters such as Ian Rankin and Val McDermid' Time Out '[A] brisk, racy read' The Times 'Assured and shocking thriller' The Guardian 'A cunning variation on the serial-murder theme' Sunday Telegraph 'Scary, pell-mell, cliff-hanging thriller' Literary Review
Evening Standard
'In The Dark is not only a top-notch mystery and a convincing portrait of crack-dealing on south London estates but a moving exploration of grief. Many so-called literary novels achieve far less and are by no means as impressive.'
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
36 of 38 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Well Written But Not The Best of Mark Billingham (3.5***),
By
This review is from: In The Dark (Hardcover)
Mark Billingham's crime-writing career got off to a turbo-charged start with `Sleepy Head' and `Scaredy Cat'. These books were written with a real freshness of approach that confirmed him as a major new voice in the pantheon of British crime writers. His policeman DI Tom Thorne was a well-drawn maverick investigator (yes, another one!) with a world-weary sense of humour. One or two of the subsequent five novels in the series were a touch unsatisfactory for me - maybe a little bit tired - so I was greatly looking forward to his first standalone `In The Dark'.
First impressions were: `This looks like a horror novel!' You have the dark, plain cover, featuring the illuminated title: 'IN THE DARK' and beneath that, the tag line... `It's where fear lives' Of course we know it's nothing of the sort. It is what it purports to be: a crime novel. It begins with what appears to be a gang initiation costing off-duty policeman Paul Hopwood his life. In addition to the police investigation into the affair, his heavily pregnant lady friend Helen Weeks (also a police officer) decides on a parallel investigation of her own. She initially uncovers evidence that Paul had become involved with at least two local 'businessmen' (a euphemism for gangster) and wonders what other shady dealings he may have become embroiled in. But is everything as it seems? The book reaches a satisfactory conclusion, but I'm afraid I spotted the much vaunted `twist' a mile off (no matter: there's a couple of others). I was puzzled all the way through as to why a gangland boss, Frank Kinnell, who Paul had befriended during a past investigation, was exacting such terrible retribution on his behalf. It's only in the last few pages that Billingham brilliantly reveals the reason/s why. Once again there're one or two little loose ends not tidied up. Billingham has done this before and quite deliberately so - to remind us that complex situations don't always have a nice pat ending in real life. I don't know why Helen Weeks has to be pregnant here, but it seems to me (as a bloke) that Mark draws a very realistic portrait of a lady in her condition - the anxieties and occasional fits of irrational thought, the weepiness... The drug gang culture and life in a high rise council estate are also vividly drawn, though how realistically I'm not sure. Mark writes with style, real insight and an excellent eye for character development, but I somehow kept wanting `more' from this novel. It's different from his Tom Thorne books (but guess what, Thorne makes a cameo appearance in here!), but for me there was always the nagging suspicion that he can do better than this. A cautious `recommended' from me, then.
4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Couldn't put it down!!,
By Louise "Book worm!" (England) - See all my reviews
This review is from: In The Dark (Paperback)
Am really surprised by all the negative comments on here as I couldn't put this book down?! When I first got this book (I buy all of Mark Billingham's books) I must admit the description of the storyline put me off, BUT he is such a fantastic writer that he can make any storyline interesting! I absolutely love the way he writes and I loved the fact that it was a stand-alone story (but with a small appearance by my hero, Tom Thorne!). I also love the fact that the chapters are short....which means I was constantly thinking "Oooh I'll just read one more....!" Brilliant, the best crime writer by far.
10 of 12 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
In the Dark - Mark Billingham,
By
This review is from: In The Dark (Hardcover)
Other reviewers have described the story itself - which is extremely good. The intrigue starts on the first page and is cleverly woven in later in the book. The pace does slow down in the middle but what's lost in pace gives value to the well drawn characters. The writing is excellent so much so that in reality I wanted one of the main characters to thrive when in reality he is a gang member selling drugs.
The pace picks up to a quite a speed at the end and even though you may work out the twists towards the end, this doesn't detract from any enjoyment. I liked the Tom Thorne cameo and the snippet of information given which will be interesting when the next Tom Thorne novel comes out. I didn't feel that this had the same grittiness that comes across in the Thorne novels but that said, this is great and holds your interest throughout.
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