To his friends, his foes and even to himself it looks as though Tom Thorne's career is on the skids. On his last case he had seriously over-stepped the mark, and now gardening leave has been suggested and all he has to tend is a window box. So when it appears someone is targeting London's homeless community it seems pefectly natural for Thorne to take a step nearer to the gutter and go undercover amongst them. He blends into the sometimes invisble community easily - too easily perhaps - but the information he gleans quickly proves that this is no random killer, it is someone with a very distinct purpose and a very specific list of victims, only the team supporting Thorne from the outside don't have the key to motive or identity. Then somehow the fact that a policeman is working under cover becomes public knowledge ... With acute observation of character and place, combined with his acknowledged mastery of plotting, LIFELESS raises the Thorne series to an even higher level.
Lifeless (Tom Thorne Novels)
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Amazon Review
In Lifeless, Mark Billingham's Tom Thorne reaches something like the nadir of his police career, broken by the death--possibly the murder--of his demented father and shuffled off to a desk job of infinite tedium. When someone starts kicking the London homeless to death, he suggests going undercover, and those of his friends who care about him worry that he is looking for his own destruction as much as for the killer. Certainly Thorne finds compensations on the street for danger, cold, hunger and squalor--his friendship with two young addicts is nonetheless real for his deceit and their pragmatic ruthlessness. Yet the secret of the deaths he is investigating lies only partly in London's dark alleys and corners; it lies as well fourteen years in the past on the road to Baghdad... This is probably Billingham's best thriller yet--inventive and passionate and full of commitment and dark humour. In his vulnerability and shrewdness, Tom Thorne is gradually shaping up into a classic detective whose habit of breaking the rules is not so much a strength as part of a pattern of self-destructive behaviour. Billingham's writing gets better with each book, too--the rough tenderness for each other of Spike and Caz, Thorne's mildly deranged guides to the street, is delicate and moving. ---Roz Kaveney
Review
Complex, thought-provoking and, in parts, very funny ... a tour de force (OBSERVER )
Murder and mystery do not come better than this. (WHAT'S ON IN LONDON )
Assured and shocking thriller. (GUARDIAN )
A cunning variation on the serial-murder theme. (SUNDAY TELEGRAPH )
Murder and mystery do not come better than this. (WHAT'S ON IN LONDON )
Assured and shocking thriller. (GUARDIAN )
A cunning variation on the serial-murder theme. (SUNDAY TELEGRAPH )
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
31 of 35 people found the following review helpful
By RachelWalker
TOP 500 REVIEWER
Format:Hardcover
Someone's killing homeless people. That's the basic thrust of Billingham's new novel, his fifth to feature DI Thorne. Thorne himself has been shunted aside, a bit out of favour with his bosses and still getting over the death of his elderly father, which he will never be certain wasn't murder. He's most definitely "having a rest" - until, eager to be in the thick of the action, he volunteers to go undercover out onto the streets of London, posing as one of the many homeless, to try and garner vital information about the killings which show no signs of stopping. Understandable, much is made of the perhaps precarious nature of Thorne's mental wellbeing, especially as he throws himself into his mission with such gusto and, well, enthusiasm. (The fact is, it's probably quite good for him, I think.)
I'm undergoing somewhat of a disaffect with serial killer novels right now, so I wasn't too sure about this book, especially after The Burning Girl, which veered away from that sub-genre completely, and broke entirely new and refreshing ground for the series. The fact is that if Billingham sticks with serial killers then he's never going to better his first book (and so far, he hasn't - but his last came close). I was pleased, then, that this book, despite its initial conceit of strings of homeless people being killed, steers away that, and is ultimately better for it. (Though, I suspect, the exposited motivation for some of the killings is less accurate than the simple fact Billingham had to have them in order to maintain a selling point, an original angle.) Lifeless is a clever, topical, intelligent crime novel, another point on Billingham's arc of growing maturity that started with Lazybones.
One of the central problems I have personally with Billingham's series is Tom Thorne. While I like him, and I concede (quite willingly) that the psychological development of the character through recent books - and through this one in particular - is fascinating and excellently wrought on Billingham's part, he is nothing new or special, he is nothing that we haven't seen so, so many times before (and, to be honest, better). He doesn't extend the constant pull of interest that some other detectives do, purely because I don't feel that there's anything new in him: he seems almost to be a likeable composite of so many other detectives. I never anticipate Billingham's book because of the protagonist, as I do with Rankin or Mankell. Fortunately, Billingham's plots are usually enough to keep me riveted anyway.
Aside from the journey Thorne's character seems to be on, the real triumph of this novel is Billingham's portrait of the immense landscape of homelessness. It's superbly done. The general atmosphere, and the characters involved (particularly the young couple Spike and Caroline whom Thorne befriends) are written brilliantly, touching yet not sentimental, always emptily sad. It's never less than clear that this environment is harsh and dangerous, Thorne somewhat crazy for so willingly immersing himself in it.
It's a book that's better than I'd thought it would be, but not quite as good as Billingham has shown himself capable of. Still, it's a surprising, satisfying crime novel, with a nice sizeable dollop of societal analysis.
31 of 36 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
Mark Billingham's latest novel is without a doubt his best yet. I honestly cannot remember the last time I enjoyed a book as much as this. This novel manages that rare feat; to be thrilling, hilarious, moving and socially aware. To reveal any of the plot would spoil enjoyment but suffice to say if you are a fan of crime novels, you will relish this. Highly recommended.
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
Lifeless is very gritty and bleak thriller that really encapsulates the life of the homeless on the streets of London through the eyes of Tom Thorne going undercover to try and track down a ruthless serial killer targeting the rough sleepers. A military link is quickly established as the main motive, drawing on a very topical subject of the time with the abuse of prisoners by the military. Billingham ensures that well know landmarks serve as a backdrop to the plot and therefore ensures an even great sense of realism for the reader. Central to the plot is Thorne adapting to life on the streets and his friendship with drug addict Spike, and from where he is able to observe and comment on both the homeless community and his police colleagues. Nice little twist in the end.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
5.0 out of 5 stars
TOM
IF YOU LOVE DETECTIVE STORIES AND THRILLERS YOU WILL LOVE MARK BILLINGHAM, TOM THORNE NOVELS. I'VE NEARLY READ THEM ALL NOW SO I HOPE MARK IS STILL WRITING SOME MORE!
Published 1 day ago by banoffie
4.0 out of 5 stars
A return to form
Lifeless is the fifth book in the excellent Tom Thorne series by Mark Billingham and opens as Thorne is trying to deal with his father's death at the end of the previous book, The... Read more
Published 1 month ago by Stacey Woods
4.0 out of 5 stars
Great read
Reading through this set of Mark Billingham books, all are a very good read, I recommend you read them in order.
Published 2 months ago by Denise Day
5.0 out of 5 stars
tom thorne novels
Buillingham's novels are a quick read because the reader will want to get to the solution - he propells the reader into complex cases with quirky origins. Read more
Published 2 months ago by linda
5.0 out of 5 stars
Excellent
Bought this for my husband who loves Mark Billing ham, he was not disappointed and has gone on to read more.
Published 2 months ago by Jilly
5.0 out of 5 stars
Superb read
True Gillingham style keeps you guessing teaches you things you sometimes don't want to know but great for pub quiz stuff
Published 2 months ago by Wilma
5.0 out of 5 stars
lifeless
Couldn't put it down - I have not read Mark Billingham before a friend lent a book to me and then I bought 8 in one go and read the lot. Great read - thanks Mark
Published 4 months ago by Mary
5.0 out of 5 stars
Fantastic
I love this series of Tom Thorne novels. The characters are interesting and the plots are not easy to predict.
Published 4 months ago by Clare
5.0 out of 5 stars
Compellingly different.
I'm not going to write a synopsis of the plot as many other reviews detail it perfectly well.
What I want to add is how beautifully the sadness and darkness of the crimes ,the... Read more
What I want to add is how beautifully the sadness and darkness of the crimes ,the... Read more
Published 4 months ago by JAYESSE
5.0 out of 5 stars
Lifeless
As with all Billinghams, Tom Thorne novels this was a truly good read which kept me captivated right to the end!
Published 5 months ago by Ms. Sharon F. Whyte
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