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Review
'The story carries on in a very tightly plotted and sometimes moving way until the very unpredictable and quite amazing ending' --Euro Crime
'I could not put it down, as it was such an exciting page turner'
--Euro Crime
`This is a novel that really gets under your skin. Not only is the complex plot expertly managed (I was sure I knew who the murderer was at least twice before being prove comprehensively wrong) and the Glasgow setting brilliantly utilised, but the actions of the sniper himself mean this, for many, will be anything but a simple case of goodies versus baddies/.../The world Robertson creates in Snapshot is dark and often depressingly grubby. But it's also fascinating, challenging and, dare I say it, edge-of-the-seat and heart-in-the-mouth entertaining.' --Gregor White, Stering Observer
'I could not put it down, as it was such an exciting page turner'
--Euro Crime
`This is a novel that really gets under your skin. Not only is the complex plot expertly managed (I was sure I knew who the murderer was at least twice before being prove comprehensively wrong) and the Glasgow setting brilliantly utilised, but the actions of the sniper himself mean this, for many, will be anything but a simple case of goodies versus baddies/.../The world Robertson creates in Snapshot is dark and often depressingly grubby. But it's also fascinating, challenging and, dare I say it, edge-of-the-seat and heart-in-the-mouth entertaining.' --Gregor White, Stering Observer
Product Description
Glasgow is being terrorised by a serial killer the media have nicknamed The Cutter. The murders have left the police baffled. There seems to be neither rhyme nor reason behind the killings; no kind of pattern or motive; an entirely different method of murder each time, and nothing that connects the victims except for the fact that the little fingers of their right hands have been severed. If DS Rachel Narey could only work out the key to the seemingly random murders, how and why the killer selects his victims, she would be well on her way to catching him. But as the police, the press and a threatening figure from Glasgow's underworld begin to close in on The Cutter, his carefully-laid plans threaten to unravel - with horrifying consequences.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
9 of 10 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback|Amazon Vine™ Review
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Yet another first class novel based in Glasgow - where better. Glasgow is a city of hard men but it has a heart of gold, however, Craig Robertson does not touch on this virtue unlike Craig Russell did in "Lennox".
The story is told by the killer himself. His ramblings are bitter, but he does not come across as the psychopath that we may have encountered in books of a similar nature. I will not go into the story and spoil it for readers, but six murders are committed for no apparent motive. The city is in a state of terror and the police go round in circles looking for "The Cutter". Eventually they have to call in the big guns from Nottingham.. A clever criminal, the Cutter is always one step ahead and covers his tracks superbly.
Mr Robertson is a reporter for the "Sunday Post", one of Scotland's fabvourite newspapers, and he must have been very successful if his standard of writing is anything like that of this novel. The chapters are short and he does not keep the reader hanging on. The facts and observations contained therein are interesting and informative.
I found it very easy to read and did so in record time. To be truthful, I couldn't lay it down.
I do hope that more novels are to come from the pen of this promising newcomer to the crime genre.
I will certainly be watching out for them.
The story is told by the killer himself. His ramblings are bitter, but he does not come across as the psychopath that we may have encountered in books of a similar nature. I will not go into the story and spoil it for readers, but six murders are committed for no apparent motive. The city is in a state of terror and the police go round in circles looking for "The Cutter". Eventually they have to call in the big guns from Nottingham.. A clever criminal, the Cutter is always one step ahead and covers his tracks superbly.
Mr Robertson is a reporter for the "Sunday Post", one of Scotland's fabvourite newspapers, and he must have been very successful if his standard of writing is anything like that of this novel. The chapters are short and he does not keep the reader hanging on. The facts and observations contained therein are interesting and informative.
I found it very easy to read and did so in record time. To be truthful, I couldn't lay it down.
I do hope that more novels are to come from the pen of this promising newcomer to the crime genre.
I will certainly be watching out for them.
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
I wanted to like this book far more than I did. Crime thrillers set in Glasgow are just my cup of tea and this was told mainly from the point of view of the killer, with the only additional information coming from newspaper clippings. It was a book that just screamed 'me'. Unfortunately, I just didn't enjoy it as much as I expected.
The Cutter himself was quite an interesting character on paper, seemingly picking his victims at random. His methods of finding victims and killing them all differ. He even contemplates the thought of killing children, if his randomised methods happen to work out that way. However, I found him mostly unlikeable and unsympathetic, even after finding out his motives for killing. The only time I even remotely felt for him was when he was with his wife. Both of them were dealing, poorly, with personal tragedy. It was the only time he came across as human to me. Bad things happen to good people but most of them don't turn into serial killers so why did The Cutter? This was never really addressed sufficiently enough for me.
The characterisation of Glasgow was a complete cliché and didn't impress me at all. Gangsters, neds, drug dealers, addicts. All of them exist in Glasgow, as they do everywhere, but it's not what the city is all about. I do think that anyone familiar with Glasgow will get a lot more out of the story than those not. It mentions a lot of different places with little context as to where they are and I feel only a native or frequent visitor (I went to university in the city) would be able to place.
Another negative point for me was the mistakes in the book. From confusing the number of the person he was going to kill (one of his ways was to walk past people and count to a certain number, and that person would be his next victim) to misnaming a real-life murder victim that would take seconds to look up. The second was a big story in Scotland and the error jolted me right out of reading.
The novel, overall, wasn't bad. I enjoyed it enough to keep reading until the end but I was never really impatient to know what happened next.
The Cutter himself was quite an interesting character on paper, seemingly picking his victims at random. His methods of finding victims and killing them all differ. He even contemplates the thought of killing children, if his randomised methods happen to work out that way. However, I found him mostly unlikeable and unsympathetic, even after finding out his motives for killing. The only time I even remotely felt for him was when he was with his wife. Both of them were dealing, poorly, with personal tragedy. It was the only time he came across as human to me. Bad things happen to good people but most of them don't turn into serial killers so why did The Cutter? This was never really addressed sufficiently enough for me.
The characterisation of Glasgow was a complete cliché and didn't impress me at all. Gangsters, neds, drug dealers, addicts. All of them exist in Glasgow, as they do everywhere, but it's not what the city is all about. I do think that anyone familiar with Glasgow will get a lot more out of the story than those not. It mentions a lot of different places with little context as to where they are and I feel only a native or frequent visitor (I went to university in the city) would be able to place.
Another negative point for me was the mistakes in the book. From confusing the number of the person he was going to kill (one of his ways was to walk past people and count to a certain number, and that person would be his next victim) to misnaming a real-life murder victim that would take seconds to look up. The second was a big story in Scotland and the error jolted me right out of reading.
The novel, overall, wasn't bad. I enjoyed it enough to keep reading until the end but I was never really impatient to know what happened next.
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
I love this book, it is good how it is told through the killer's eye's. when I started I could not put it down. I can not wait to read what he write's next, It is hard to believe that this is his first book it is so well written. if you love a good crime book you defo need to read this
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
A good piece of writing...
Random is book like nothing I had ever read before and it has inspired me to read more books like it.
Published 2 months ago by Kira XIII
Definitely Worth the Read!
A great read, it is a well paced book and really keeps you moving through the story. I also liked the idea of this being from the killers point of view and not have too much from... Read more
Published 3 months ago by N. Bullock
Good psycho thriller
Good, but not the best thriller, would like to read more of his books before making my mind up with the author. Read more
Published 5 months ago by Helen
Random ..... Craig Robertson
Hooked on Scottish crime books and was given 'Random' as a bithday present ........ I had never heard of Craig Robertson before. Read more
Published 9 months ago by Clater
Craig Robertson left me gasping for breath...
... after a truly horrific scene involving inhaler abuse in his terrifying thriller Random! In it he serves up a cold blooded killer who appears at first to be selecting his... Read more
Published 11 months ago by Pamreader
Page-turning crime thriller with a unique perspective
The newspapers call him The Cutter. He prefers it to Jock-The-Ripper. He's a killer who selects his victims at random, narrating his methods and his motive to the reader as he... Read more
Published 12 months ago by quippe
Gruesome but great!
I bought this book in Cape Town whilst on holiday - I came upon it in a bookshop and thought it looked interesting - an odd place for a Glaswegian to pick up a book about Glasgow... Read more
Published 14 months ago by Country quine
brings Glasgow alive
An easy and quite interesting read. Having lived in Glasgow for many years, I have to say I did not realise how close I was, supposedly, to the underworld! Read more
Published 14 months ago by Aberter
A great debut
DS Rachel Narey has her work cut out trying to find a murderer the media have nicknamed "The Cutter". Read more
Published 14 months ago by Joanne266
Ohhh so good.
I bought this after reviews via Kindle discussion boards??? Yeah I know that's for ebooks, but I still buy good old Tree books, and I'm so glad I bought this.... Read more
Published 16 months ago by Knitsqein
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