The Reckoning
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Book Description
The new psychological thriller, featuring Maeve Kerrigan, from the bestselling author of THE MISSING and THE BURNING
Product Description
To the public, he's a hero: a killer who targets convicted paedophiles.
Two men are dead already - tortured to death.
Even the police don't regard the cases as a priority. Most feel that two dead paedophiles is a step in the right direction.
But to DC Maeve Kerrigan, no one should be allowed to take the law into their own hands. Young and inexperienced, Kerrigan wants to believe that murder is murder no matter what the sins of the victim. Only, as the killer's violence begins to escalate, she is forced to confront exactly how far she's prepared to go to ensure justice is served...
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
5 of 5 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback|Amazon Vine™ Review
(What's this?)
I chose this book after reading the author's previous novel, The Burning. Whilst I'd quite enjoyed it, it wasn't the best crime thriller I'd ever come across, so I was expecting this one to be of a similar standard. However, I was pleasantly surprised that this book is much better than The Burning, in fact I really enjoyed it.
The story again follows young DC Maeve Kerrigan, who is assigned a case where a convicted paedophile has been horribly tortured and killed. When two more bodies quickly appear, Maeve realises she is dealing with a brutal killer who is targeting child abusers for a specific reason.
Although this is a fairly hefty novel at almost 500 pages, I whizzed through it. Each time I put it down I couldn't wait to continue with the story, which is much faster paced than The Burning, which I found a little slow at times. A lot happens in The Reckoning, in fact the plot is rather intricate, and features a lot of different crimes that are somehow all connected, from rape to kidnap and murder. The story moves a long way from the initial killings to the shocking resolution of Maeve's case. Some of the crimes here are brutal, and I must admit I shuddered a few times.
As well as the murder case, we also see Maeve's fledgling relationship with her colleague Rob Langton develop, although there are a few false starts along the way. Maeve is a great central character for a crime thriller, different from the usual middle aged divorced men or women with young children struggling against the weight of the crimes they investigate. Whilst Maeve finds it hard to deal with some of the crime scenes, she is still young enough to be enthusiastic about her job, and isn't yet fatally jaded like so many literary detectives.
My only, very slight, criticism, is that the whole story is told from Maeve's perspective, except for a couple of chapters very late on that are from Rob's POV. Whilst this is necessary for the plot, as Maeve isn't present at several important moments, it does distract a bit from the story.
I've already ordered Jane Casey's first book on the strength of this one, and look forward to the next one.
The story again follows young DC Maeve Kerrigan, who is assigned a case where a convicted paedophile has been horribly tortured and killed. When two more bodies quickly appear, Maeve realises she is dealing with a brutal killer who is targeting child abusers for a specific reason.
Although this is a fairly hefty novel at almost 500 pages, I whizzed through it. Each time I put it down I couldn't wait to continue with the story, which is much faster paced than The Burning, which I found a little slow at times. A lot happens in The Reckoning, in fact the plot is rather intricate, and features a lot of different crimes that are somehow all connected, from rape to kidnap and murder. The story moves a long way from the initial killings to the shocking resolution of Maeve's case. Some of the crimes here are brutal, and I must admit I shuddered a few times.
As well as the murder case, we also see Maeve's fledgling relationship with her colleague Rob Langton develop, although there are a few false starts along the way. Maeve is a great central character for a crime thriller, different from the usual middle aged divorced men or women with young children struggling against the weight of the crimes they investigate. Whilst Maeve finds it hard to deal with some of the crime scenes, she is still young enough to be enthusiastic about her job, and isn't yet fatally jaded like so many literary detectives.
My only, very slight, criticism, is that the whole story is told from Maeve's perspective, except for a couple of chapters very late on that are from Rob's POV. Whilst this is necessary for the plot, as Maeve isn't present at several important moments, it does distract a bit from the story.
I've already ordered Jane Casey's first book on the strength of this one, and look forward to the next one.
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback|Amazon Vine™ Review
(What's this?)
I was looking forward to reading this book, as I have read Jane Casey's previous two crime fiction novels and enjoyed them both. This is the second to feature DC Maeve Kerrigan and the various characters on the police team she works on and I can certainly see more to come featuring Maeve. The book is fairly chunky, but I found myself moving through it at quite a pace, especially as there are more than a few cliff-hanger endings to chapters.
The unsavoury issues covered in this book are many; initially we have the torture and murder of paedophiles, but this aspect of the story is over way before the half way mark, after which a bigger picture is revealed. We then go on to abduction of minors, imprisonment and gangland killings to name but a few. These are not subject matters for the faint hearted, but the violence is not gratuitous and the human implications of these subjects are brought home.
My only criticism (and this is minor) relates to Kerrigan herself, she is a likeable and believable heroine but the protracted periods of self-doubt grated at times. It is obvious she is a talented and beautiful woman, respected by her colleagues, but her lack of self esteem didn't need to be hammered as firmly home as it was at times. The portrayal of the turmoil of her on-off relationship with Rob Langton is convincingly portrayed though.
As is often the case with these crime and police fiction, the plot twists and turns are at times incredulous and at others predictable, but Jane Casey is not too guilty of this. The loose ends are neatly tied up at the end of the book and the case infiltrating Maeve's personal life was inevitable, but the fleshing out of the various characters on Maeve's team; Langton, Godley, Liv and Derwent especially, make this a group of people you feel you know and I'm sure we'll be seeing more of them in the future.
The unsavoury issues covered in this book are many; initially we have the torture and murder of paedophiles, but this aspect of the story is over way before the half way mark, after which a bigger picture is revealed. We then go on to abduction of minors, imprisonment and gangland killings to name but a few. These are not subject matters for the faint hearted, but the violence is not gratuitous and the human implications of these subjects are brought home.
My only criticism (and this is minor) relates to Kerrigan herself, she is a likeable and believable heroine but the protracted periods of self-doubt grated at times. It is obvious she is a talented and beautiful woman, respected by her colleagues, but her lack of self esteem didn't need to be hammered as firmly home as it was at times. The portrayal of the turmoil of her on-off relationship with Rob Langton is convincingly portrayed though.
As is often the case with these crime and police fiction, the plot twists and turns are at times incredulous and at others predictable, but Jane Casey is not too guilty of this. The loose ends are neatly tied up at the end of the book and the case infiltrating Maeve's personal life was inevitable, but the fleshing out of the various characters on Maeve's team; Langton, Godley, Liv and Derwent especially, make this a group of people you feel you know and I'm sure we'll be seeing more of them in the future.
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback|Amazon Vine™ Review
(What's this?)
Having taken a chance on a few authors I'm not familiar with, the premise of this one enticed me enough to order it; I'm glad I did, as it's a corker.
Two paedophiles have been tortured and murdered and DC Maeve Kerrigan is sent along to investigate under the watchful eye of DI Josh Derwent, a male chauvinist of the highest order. Derwent believes female police officers' only place in the force, "sorry, service" as he later spits out, is to look attractive and not to think for themselves. Whereas Derwent and most others decide at the earliest opportunity that the two victims, soon to be joined by a third, got what they deserved, Kerrigan finds a certain amount of sympathy and resolves to find the perpetrator (s). When they're bought to book, the reason behind the crimes instigates a kidnap inquiry, which soon turns into a murder investigation.
As other's have commented, towards the end of the book, the story is from the point of view of Rob Langton, Kerrigan's `sort of' boyfriend. Maybe it could have been written in a different way so the whole thing was from her perspective, but it doesn't detract from what's between the pages (lest the reader get confused, the font is slightly different for the two chapters he `narrates').
There are a number of things to enjoy about this book: it's set mostly in south London, around the Brixton/Clapham area with the occasional foray across the river to Hampstead and Enfield, which makes a rather pleasant change from all those detective novels set in Los Angeles or New York; other than a brief dip in the action, it moves along at a fast pace, and swear words are kept to a minimum. Though I realised someone else was involved, it kept me guessing until the final couple of pages (and I'm glad I was wrong with the character I suspected); the irony Casey's novel shows is that no matter how big and tough a villain might think he is, they still need the very people they purport to detest; the police. It also made me want to turn the page to find out what happened next.
The last of those is probably the most important. If what you're reading gives your mind's eye detailed images, it's a worthy read. This is!
Two paedophiles have been tortured and murdered and DC Maeve Kerrigan is sent along to investigate under the watchful eye of DI Josh Derwent, a male chauvinist of the highest order. Derwent believes female police officers' only place in the force, "sorry, service" as he later spits out, is to look attractive and not to think for themselves. Whereas Derwent and most others decide at the earliest opportunity that the two victims, soon to be joined by a third, got what they deserved, Kerrigan finds a certain amount of sympathy and resolves to find the perpetrator (s). When they're bought to book, the reason behind the crimes instigates a kidnap inquiry, which soon turns into a murder investigation.
As other's have commented, towards the end of the book, the story is from the point of view of Rob Langton, Kerrigan's `sort of' boyfriend. Maybe it could have been written in a different way so the whole thing was from her perspective, but it doesn't detract from what's between the pages (lest the reader get confused, the font is slightly different for the two chapters he `narrates').
There are a number of things to enjoy about this book: it's set mostly in south London, around the Brixton/Clapham area with the occasional foray across the river to Hampstead and Enfield, which makes a rather pleasant change from all those detective novels set in Los Angeles or New York; other than a brief dip in the action, it moves along at a fast pace, and swear words are kept to a minimum. Though I realised someone else was involved, it kept me guessing until the final couple of pages (and I'm glad I was wrong with the character I suspected); the irony Casey's novel shows is that no matter how big and tough a villain might think he is, they still need the very people they purport to detest; the police. It also made me want to turn the page to find out what happened next.
The last of those is probably the most important. If what you're reading gives your mind's eye detailed images, it's a worthy read. This is!
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
The Reckoning
Another brilliant read from Jane Casey....
Personally loving these books, and the character, Maeve, as she struggles being the "tougher than tough" female cop in a... Read more
Personally loving these books, and the character, Maeve, as she struggles being the "tougher than tough" female cop in a... Read more
Published 29 days ago by Fiona Massey
Fantastic crime read
This is Jane Casey's second outing for DC Maeve Kerrigan. In this one, Maeve and the team are involved in a hunt for the sadistic killer of paedophiles, which leads on to a search... Read more
Published 3 months ago by Nicola
A decent enough thriller
Someone is brutally murdering paedophiles. Given who, the victims are, the police are not massively concerned. Read more
Published 3 months ago by J.Flood
Gripping Page Turner
To the public, he's a hero: a killer who targets convicted paedophiles. Two men are dead already - tortured to death. Even the police don't regard the cases as a priority. Read more
Published 4 months ago by Lendrick
Becoming formulaic?
Jane Casey had something of a run-away success with her first crime novel, "The Missing". "The Reckoning" is her third published outing and features DC Maeve Kerrigan in a sequel... Read more
Published 5 months ago by Steve Benner
NOT MY FAVOURITE NOVEL - you may "like it"
"A convicted paedophile has been horribly tortured and killed."
Well I gave it a go but I was obviously too delicate a flower to "enjoy" this book! Read more
Well I gave it a go but I was obviously too delicate a flower to "enjoy" this book! Read more
Published 6 months ago by Bruce Boogie
I enjoyed it
Never really read anything by Jane Casey before. Its a pretty good read. Its not too difficult for the average joe to read and at the same time it has enough detail to keep some... Read more
Published 6 months ago by okely dokely Fezz
not bad in the end
I have had a little readers block this week and this turned out not to be the best book for this as it has taken me 7 days to get through this when normally it would take me 3 days... Read more
Published 6 months ago by Sian Louise
ok -but not by favorite author
new author to me, however I am not sure that it is my favourite author. THe story is sometimes awkward to read as it involves peadophophiles. Read more
Published 7 months ago by S. A. Broadhurst
Absorbing crime-thriller.
I quite enjoyed this; Casey is a new author to me so I can only judge her on this book alone.
The Reckoning is pretty much of the standard police procedural genre; it is well... Read more
The Reckoning is pretty much of the standard police procedural genre; it is well... Read more
Published 7 months ago by J. Mcdonald
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