Lasting Damage
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Review
'[An] assured psychological thriller of murderous domestic deceit.'
(Financial Times )'Hannah has a canny knack of insinuating threat into apparently benign domesticity and she does a nice line in offbeat characters'
(Daily Mail )'We're huge fans of Sophie Hannah's psychological thrillers . . . [LASTING DAMAGE is] one of her very best. Whether crime thrillers are your usual cup of tea or not, expect a beautifully written and entirely gripping tale from beginning to end.'
(Heat )'An edge-of-your-seat psychological crime thriller . . . The twists just keep coming. You will be kept on your toes from start to finish.'
(Essentials )'Hannah creates a complex plot that grafts lurid motifs of insanity on to a solid police-procedural template. Her main strength, however, is her characterisation'
(Irish Times )Praise for Sophie Hannah (: )
'Hannah takes domestic scenarios, adds disquieting touches and turns up the suspense until you're checking under the bed for murders' (Independent )
'It's a given that nothing will be as it seems in the latest psychological thriller from Sophie Hannah, who marries complex plots with crisp, conversational prose' (Marie Claire )
'As Hannah sees it things are rarely clear cut and it is this moral ambivalence that makes her fiction so provocative' (Daily Express )
'Hannah's latest psychological thriller combines quirky police procedural with shrewdly observed domestic deceit. Told with confidence and panache, Hannah challenges the reader to work out who the paranoiac of the piece really is.' (Independent )
Review
'If you're new to the Sophie Hannah phenomenon, let us explain: she's the author of five previous psychological crime thrillers, each of which begins with a cunning premise, which grips like a vice for the rest of the novel, with myriad twists you never see coming ... another superb mystery in which extraordinary things happen to ordinary people.' ***** -- Heat 'Sophie Hannah, the queen of psychological suspense, reigns supreme in her latest taut and terrifying chiller-thriller ... Hannah is one of Britain's most intelligent and thrilling writers. Her modern-day gothic novels are clever, complex and devilishly plotted with outrageous twists and turns that are guaranteed to confound even the smartest of readers. Expect the unexpected right up to the very last page.' -- Lancashire Evening Post 'Sophie Hannah has rapidly made a name for herself as a purveyor of upmarket psychological thrillers. From the first few pages of LASTING DAMAGE, it's easy to see why.' -- Mail on Sunday 'Hannah is a challenging storyteller and anything but predictable ... I felt quite bereft on reaching the final page.' -- Irish Independent 'A deeply complex story where nothing is quite what it seems at first glance ... an engrossing story that had me hooked.' -- Eurocrime 'Sophie Hannah takes her readers on a disquieting ramble through her characters' lives in this unusual psychological mystery thriller.' -- Choice 'She is a cunning creator of crime stories packed with head-scratching twists you don't see coming, and Hitchcock would have loved this modern take on Rear Window ... It will constantly grip and surprise you.' -- Peterborough Evening Telegraph 'Two things I really love about Sophie Hannah as a writer - she takes really unglamourous day to day things and expands them into genuinely terrifying thrillers, and she is just a master of plot ... they are extraordinary, proper miss-a-bus-stop type reads.' -- BBC Radio 6 Music 'A writer of prodigious talent ... This is a jaw-droppingly assured book which sometimes feels as if there's a plot twist on every page ... This reader was left speechless with admiration ... a truly sensational book.' -- Daily Express 'Confidence oozes from every taut chapter ... intelligence shines, the mystery deepens. Hannah's relish of every delicious twist and tweak is one of the very few things that are clear in this cryptic game of hide and seek.' -- Scotsman 'As addictively creepy as her previous thrillers ... Taking those 3am horrors and turning them into a story that just won't be scrubbed from your mind is quite a gift, and Hannah has it.' -- Independent on Sunday 'A complex chilling story ... Intriguing stuff.' -- U magazine, Ireland
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
16 of 17 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover|Amazon Verified Purchase
I have read and enjoyed Sophie Hannah's other books in this series, and after reading the pre-publication blurb about this one, I was very much looking forward to this one also. The plot sounded most intriguing.
It starts off well, a promising sign for the rest of the book, I hoped. I didn't know where this story was going to take me, but I sat back and went along for the ride. But the ride was like taking a coach trip from A to B, but the driver getting lost and having to go via C to Z to get there.
As the story goes along, the plot begins to get more bizarre and rather complicated. So many characters enter the story I had to go back once or twice to work out who was who and how they fitted into things.
The ending, when we eventually get there, is all a little disappointing and just a bit too far-fatched for my liking. I know it's fiction, but even so, the way it all ends and the explanations behind the whole story just push the bounds of credulity a little too far.
Having said that, although it is nonsense, it is entertaining nonsense and this together with the fact I liked the author's previous books means this one gets a 3 star rating from me. If you also liked her other books, then give this a go but don't expect the same quality as the earlier books. And if you are new to this author, I wouldn't recommend starting with this one.
It starts off well, a promising sign for the rest of the book, I hoped. I didn't know where this story was going to take me, but I sat back and went along for the ride. But the ride was like taking a coach trip from A to B, but the driver getting lost and having to go via C to Z to get there.
As the story goes along, the plot begins to get more bizarre and rather complicated. So many characters enter the story I had to go back once or twice to work out who was who and how they fitted into things.
The ending, when we eventually get there, is all a little disappointing and just a bit too far-fatched for my liking. I know it's fiction, but even so, the way it all ends and the explanations behind the whole story just push the bounds of credulity a little too far.
Having said that, although it is nonsense, it is entertaining nonsense and this together with the fact I liked the author's previous books means this one gets a 3 star rating from me. If you also liked her other books, then give this a go but don't expect the same quality as the earlier books. And if you are new to this author, I wouldn't recommend starting with this one.
5 of 5 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
I've read all of SH's books and enjoyed them - the last had a disappointing ending but otherwise was a compelling read. Sadly this one represents a further step downwards. There are so few intelligent new thriller writers that I snapped up her book on sight with high expectations. It started out pretty much as normal - an emotionally flaky heroine with a pretty incredible story, looking for a sympathetic ear from policeman Simon Waterhouse and finding it. However from this promising start the plot became increasingly muddled and irritating. It strained my credibility to breaking point that any police officer (even Simon) would cut his honeymoon short to investigate a murder when the only evidence is a picture on a website briefly glimpsed by said flaky woman. The most obvious conclusion - which everyone pretty much ignores - is that it was just a hoax perpetuated by a hacker skilled in the use of Photoshop (I would have thought a picture of a `dead' woman lying face down in a pool of blood would be pretty easy to fake). I couldn't believe that THREE police officers would give any credence to Connie's ramblings about 'death buttons' and all the other dreadful nonsense she spouts, given that she is an admitted stalker who has already had a nervous breakdown or that she would ask the police to investigate an address programmed into a sat nav! - how on earth could that be judged a crime by any standards? After we are taken all round the houses (literally), Simon comes up with a long rambling solution apparently plucked out of thin air, summing up the character and extremely complicated motives of the villain (who turns out to be the person most obvious from the start anyway).
I was also disappointed by the lack of progress in Simon and Charlie's relationship - despite the fact they are married now I still struggled to see why he ever asked her, or why she would put up with the fact he virtually ignores her. I would have preferred that Simon had stayed on honeymoon and actually talked to Charlie, it would have been more interesting than the nonsense which ensues on his return. At the very least SH could have dropped a completely pointless affair between two peripheral characters which added nothing whatsoever to the plot, in favour of telling us more about her two main characters, but I fear she is already setting up a storyline which will run into her next novel . I sincerely hope it's an improvement on this one!
I was also disappointed by the lack of progress in Simon and Charlie's relationship - despite the fact they are married now I still struggled to see why he ever asked her, or why she would put up with the fact he virtually ignores her. I would have preferred that Simon had stayed on honeymoon and actually talked to Charlie, it would have been more interesting than the nonsense which ensues on his return. At the very least SH could have dropped a completely pointless affair between two peripheral characters which added nothing whatsoever to the plot, in favour of telling us more about her two main characters, but I fear she is already setting up a storyline which will run into her next novel . I sincerely hope it's an improvement on this one!
4 of 4 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
Well, where do I start? If I'd read the reviews posted on here I would never have bought the book, but I picked it up in a bookshop on a 3for2 offer and the plot sounded very intriguing. I can honestly say I've never read such a load of covoluted rubbish! I don't mind a little bit of a far fetched plot but this book takes it into another realm. The re-naming of the houses was absolutely ridiculous and I totally lost interest when Kit's parents entered the scene. I thought from the way they were carrying on that we were about to find out that Kit was an unconvicted mass murderer or something and his parents were they only ones to know of his guilt. I expected his bedroom walls to be plastered with photos of his victims - not pictures of flipping Cambridge!!
The only reason I finished it was because I was laid up for a couple of days and had nothing else to read. By the time I was two thirds through it I really didn't care how it ended!
It had the makings of a really good book but totally lost it's way after the first few chapters. I haven't read any other books of Sophie Hannah's and quite honestly I don't think I'll be giving her a second chance.
The only reason I finished it was because I was laid up for a couple of days and had nothing else to read. By the time I was two thirds through it I really didn't care how it ended!
It had the makings of a really good book but totally lost it's way after the first few chapters. I haven't read any other books of Sophie Hannah's and quite honestly I don't think I'll be giving her a second chance.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
Well it kept me guessing!
I'm surprised at the mixed reviews that this book has got. I will agree that it is somewhat far fetched in places, but it's a novel and it's job is to entertain and that's what it... Read more
Published 9 days ago by G. Williams
Tedious and slow
I haven't read any of Sophie Hannah's novels before but I have seen her books on display in various places and knew her name. Read more
Published 17 days ago by Telboy
Gripping read
To me this is Sophie Hanna's best book yet. It is so gripping that I struggled to put it down. Why is it so good? Read more
Published 18 days ago by Ana
A page turner!
A cliche I know, but I really did find this book to be a page turner, a rare find for me. It must have been good as this is my first ever review! Read more
Published 23 days ago by book addict
Disappointing
This is the first book I have read by Sophie Hannah and I was disappointed. The plot unravelled very slowly with little suspense. Read more
Published 1 month ago by City Chic
confusing
I was hooked by the openinbg chapter of this book but frankly, got completely lost in the very far-fetched plot with rather too many charecters. Read more
Published 2 months ago by R. Myers
Great
I really enjoyed this novel, and although the plot was a little far fethced at times, I thoroughly enjoyed the twists and turns, including the ultimate twist at the end. Read more
Published 2 months ago by JMD
Intricate, Intriguing and Bonkers
Sophie Hannah loves weaving an intricate story and here she excels and then overreaches herself. The plot starts with an intriguing premise and then develops into ever more... Read more
Published 2 months ago by Paul Sloane
Not for me!
I really wanted to like this book and stayed with it in the hope that it was a slow burner. Sadly, the characters were totally unbelievable (particularly the police officers)and in... Read more
Published 2 months ago by ik_49
Disappointing
I have read all Sophie Hannah's books to date and really enjoyed them. However, this one is really disappointing. Read more
Published 3 months ago by Sue J
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