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Review
It's perhaps fitting that for McDermid's 25th novel she's revisited her most thrillingly murderous creation, Jacko Vance (Daily Mirror )
Val McDermid's 25th novel is stunningly good, but it comes with a health warning. It is truly disturbing (The Times )
McDermid never pulls her punches in her graphic descriptions of the evils men (and women) inflict on each other (Irish Independent )
Her writing is taut, her plotting pacy... McDermid is particularly good at analysing human damage and its effects (Scotsman )
To write one brilliant book is hard. To write 25 is a miracle. That is what Val McDermid has achieved over the course of her career and it's why she is a much-loved legend in the literary world...the pace here is flawless and the various storylines are expertly interwoven...a superb crime novel (Sunday Express )
Val McDermid's 25th novel is stunningly good, but it comes with a health warning. It is truly disturbing (The Times )
McDermid never pulls her punches in her graphic descriptions of the evils men (and women) inflict on each other (Irish Independent )
Her writing is taut, her plotting pacy... McDermid is particularly good at analysing human damage and its effects (Scotsman )
To write one brilliant book is hard. To write 25 is a miracle. That is what Val McDermid has achieved over the course of her career and it's why she is a much-loved legend in the literary world...the pace here is flawless and the various storylines are expertly interwoven...a superb crime novel (Sunday Express )
Book Description
The unforgettable, gripping new Tony Hill and Carol Jordan novel
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
18 of 18 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
Retribution-1. Something justly deserved; recompense.
2. Something given or demanded in repayment, especially punishment.
Jacko Vance, a serial killer of seventeen teenage girls, and a police officer, has escaped from prison where he was sentenced to life. He was once a British Television Presenter and an almost Olympian athlete. He may be the most diabolical and ruthless killer that Val McDermid has introduced to her many readers. Jacko was introduced in the second book by DCI Carol Jordan, leader of the MIT, or 'minorities integration team'. She is stationed in northeast England in the city of Bradfield. She also introduced us to Tony Hill, a psychological profiler, who has appeared along with DCI Jordan in the past six books, Val McDermid is one of the more inventive and exciting mystery thriller writers from the UK. Her name excites visions of her readers sitting for long periods of time, red sleepless eyes, and extended periods of tachycardia.
We begin with Jacko Vance and his years in prison planning his escape. He has assistance from the outside, millions of dollars placed in off shore accounts, and people who believe he is innocent. He also has inside help from other prisoners who will do anything for money. His plans are so efficient, timely and well thought out that I found myself fascinated and entranced with his character. He tells his story from his personna, and we get to examine his thought process. He is a charmer and is able to convince almost any woman what he wants them to believe about him. Tony Hill knows him all too well, he and DCI Jordan were the essential law enforcement officers to put him in prison. Now he has escaped and they may be at the top of his list for Retribution.
At the same time, DCI Jordan, finds her department is about to be dismantled due to budgetary effects. She and her group have solved every serial murder case and other cases brought her way, and her boss feels she is too expensive. Well, she has shown him up in every case, that may be the real problem. DCI Jordan has found a new position in a city near-by. Tony Hill has also decided to move with her. They have a very complex relationship, loving friends, impotence by Tony is mentioned, and we wonder if the sexual failure has become the real problem for them. Whatever, they work well together, and seem to solve most of the cases that come their way. As one of DCI Jordan last cases comes a serial killer who is murdering prostitutes and leaving a tattoo on their wrists. Jordan and her team are on it. Simultaneously trying to hunt down Jacko before he kills again.
Val McDermid keeps the novel moving quite adeptly between both cases. She has the ability to convey such caring of her characters that we become very fond of them. We like the entire MIT team, and we dislike the villans and the upper echelons of police who try to hinder investigations so they won't show up as fools. It is the relationship between Carol and Tony that we most care about. They are both damaged souls from their past and their work. We think they belong together, but at the same time, wonder if they are too damaged to have a true relationship with anyone.
The ending left me feeling a little 'verklempt'. I am not sure where this series is going, but we do know that much is left unresolved, which opens the door for at least one more book with DCI Carol Jordan and Tony Hill.
Highly Recommended. prisrob 10-28-11
Fever of the Bone: A Novel
The Mermaids Singing (Dr. Tony Hill and Carol Jordan Mysteries)
2. Something given or demanded in repayment, especially punishment.
Jacko Vance, a serial killer of seventeen teenage girls, and a police officer, has escaped from prison where he was sentenced to life. He was once a British Television Presenter and an almost Olympian athlete. He may be the most diabolical and ruthless killer that Val McDermid has introduced to her many readers. Jacko was introduced in the second book by DCI Carol Jordan, leader of the MIT, or 'minorities integration team'. She is stationed in northeast England in the city of Bradfield. She also introduced us to Tony Hill, a psychological profiler, who has appeared along with DCI Jordan in the past six books, Val McDermid is one of the more inventive and exciting mystery thriller writers from the UK. Her name excites visions of her readers sitting for long periods of time, red sleepless eyes, and extended periods of tachycardia.
We begin with Jacko Vance and his years in prison planning his escape. He has assistance from the outside, millions of dollars placed in off shore accounts, and people who believe he is innocent. He also has inside help from other prisoners who will do anything for money. His plans are so efficient, timely and well thought out that I found myself fascinated and entranced with his character. He tells his story from his personna, and we get to examine his thought process. He is a charmer and is able to convince almost any woman what he wants them to believe about him. Tony Hill knows him all too well, he and DCI Jordan were the essential law enforcement officers to put him in prison. Now he has escaped and they may be at the top of his list for Retribution.
At the same time, DCI Jordan, finds her department is about to be dismantled due to budgetary effects. She and her group have solved every serial murder case and other cases brought her way, and her boss feels she is too expensive. Well, she has shown him up in every case, that may be the real problem. DCI Jordan has found a new position in a city near-by. Tony Hill has also decided to move with her. They have a very complex relationship, loving friends, impotence by Tony is mentioned, and we wonder if the sexual failure has become the real problem for them. Whatever, they work well together, and seem to solve most of the cases that come their way. As one of DCI Jordan last cases comes a serial killer who is murdering prostitutes and leaving a tattoo on their wrists. Jordan and her team are on it. Simultaneously trying to hunt down Jacko before he kills again.
Val McDermid keeps the novel moving quite adeptly between both cases. She has the ability to convey such caring of her characters that we become very fond of them. We like the entire MIT team, and we dislike the villans and the upper echelons of police who try to hinder investigations so they won't show up as fools. It is the relationship between Carol and Tony that we most care about. They are both damaged souls from their past and their work. We think they belong together, but at the same time, wonder if they are too damaged to have a true relationship with anyone.
The ending left me feeling a little 'verklempt'. I am not sure where this series is going, but we do know that much is left unresolved, which opens the door for at least one more book with DCI Carol Jordan and Tony Hill.
Highly Recommended. prisrob 10-28-11
Fever of the Bone: A Novel
The Mermaids Singing (Dr. Tony Hill and Carol Jordan Mysteries)
23 of 24 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
I first discovered Val McDermid's Tony Hill & Carol Jordan series about 7 or 8 years ago and I have been a dedicated fan ever since. The Retribution is not only the latest in the series of seven books but it also reintroduces one of the serial killers from a much earlier book The Wire in the Blood - the evil and twisted Jacko Vance. To be honest, I could barely remember a thing about that book so it wouldn't make any difference to reading this book out of sequence if you haven't read McDermid's earlier ones yet.
Jacko Vance is clever - brillianlty clever and charming to boot. He has spent the last 16 year behind bars for the murder of a teenage girl (although he murdered many, many more but the prosecution couldn't prove it). In The Retribution, Vance escapes from jail (no spoiler - it's in the blurb) and is hell bent on payback to those who landed him in prison in the first place, including both Tony Hill and Carol Jordan. At the same time, another serial killer is on the lose in Bradfield killing prostitutes and Detective Carol Jordan's team set out to track him down.
The fact that both these stories are running in tandem with each other means that not enough time was devoted to either. The prostitute killer felt almost like an afterthought and his ultimate capture was bordering on eye-rolling. The sotry of Jacko Vance's escape and revenge would have been more than enough to keep us on the edge of our seats and, at times, I was. Waiting to see who would feed Carol Jordan's cat (it will make sense when you have read it, I promise) had my pulse racing overtime and trying to figure out who was next on his hit-list was great stuff. Jacko Vance is such a brilliantly evil character that despite his psychopathic nature, I wanted to spend more and more time in his company in the book; I had to know what he was thinking and planning on doing next and loved seeing how he doesn't see anything wrong with himself, just everyone else. However - and it's with a heavy heart that I write this, being such a fan - I felt that this book wasn't on a par with others in the series. In fact, Beneeth the Bleeding (two books earlier) was also somewhat lacking and I wonder if Tony Hill and Carol Jordan are finally running out of steam..... or maybe McDermid is?
Despite my overall enjoyment of the book, I was left with a feeling that the ending was rushed and that the prostitute killer had almost been forgotten and that Hill and Jordan were not acting completely in character. As for the end....it felt so implausable that I almost saw the character involved as a charicature of themselves, complete with moustache-twirling "mwahahahahaaa". The book also ends very abruptly, almost like the end of a chapter than the end of a book and it left me with a feeling of "now what?" rather than satisfaction.
Verdict: A really good read, just not a great one. I felt a little short-changed which is disappointing as I always look forward to the latest book in the series so much. Will I read the next? Absolutely!
Jacko Vance is clever - brillianlty clever and charming to boot. He has spent the last 16 year behind bars for the murder of a teenage girl (although he murdered many, many more but the prosecution couldn't prove it). In The Retribution, Vance escapes from jail (no spoiler - it's in the blurb) and is hell bent on payback to those who landed him in prison in the first place, including both Tony Hill and Carol Jordan. At the same time, another serial killer is on the lose in Bradfield killing prostitutes and Detective Carol Jordan's team set out to track him down.
The fact that both these stories are running in tandem with each other means that not enough time was devoted to either. The prostitute killer felt almost like an afterthought and his ultimate capture was bordering on eye-rolling. The sotry of Jacko Vance's escape and revenge would have been more than enough to keep us on the edge of our seats and, at times, I was. Waiting to see who would feed Carol Jordan's cat (it will make sense when you have read it, I promise) had my pulse racing overtime and trying to figure out who was next on his hit-list was great stuff. Jacko Vance is such a brilliantly evil character that despite his psychopathic nature, I wanted to spend more and more time in his company in the book; I had to know what he was thinking and planning on doing next and loved seeing how he doesn't see anything wrong with himself, just everyone else. However - and it's with a heavy heart that I write this, being such a fan - I felt that this book wasn't on a par with others in the series. In fact, Beneeth the Bleeding (two books earlier) was also somewhat lacking and I wonder if Tony Hill and Carol Jordan are finally running out of steam..... or maybe McDermid is?
Despite my overall enjoyment of the book, I was left with a feeling that the ending was rushed and that the prostitute killer had almost been forgotten and that Hill and Jordan were not acting completely in character. As for the end....it felt so implausable that I almost saw the character involved as a charicature of themselves, complete with moustache-twirling "mwahahahahaaa". The book also ends very abruptly, almost like the end of a chapter than the end of a book and it left me with a feeling of "now what?" rather than satisfaction.
Verdict: A really good read, just not a great one. I felt a little short-changed which is disappointing as I always look forward to the latest book in the series so much. Will I read the next? Absolutely!
4 of 4 people found the following review helpful
Format:Kindle Edition
I won't go into the plot here, as many other people have described it. i will just say that, at the beginning of the book, i did not see how Jacko would be able to pull off his escape and planned retribution - but boy was i convinced by it all by the end of the book. Brilliant writing, sharp narrative and dialogue, interesting characters and a little bit of (gallows) humour along the way. enjoyably tense and a roller coaster. Brilliant.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
One for the die hard fans
I have read and enjoyed a few of Val McDermid's previous books. I was, however, disappointed by The Retribution and gave up on it after 100 pages or so. Read more
Published 11 days ago by pilatesforlife
what a disappointment
Good start, keeps you interested most of the time. I must agree with some of the other reviews that this book has a very poor and frankly unbelievable ending if you have come... Read more
Published 13 days ago by Brenda Ellis
Glad to see another Tony Hill book
This needs to be read in sequence of the other Tony Hill books, else it may not mean much. Excellently written (as always), good plot. Read more
Published 1 month ago by Keith Lawson
Tony Hill is back
A very good plot. A rapist & torturer escapes from a life without parole sentance. He goes after Carole Jordan & Tony Hill, targeting people or things they care for, and then aims... Read more
Published 1 month ago by Sharron
Not impressed
I was, and I repeat, was, a big fan of Val McDermid's books but the last two or three have been a huge disappointment and this one just about finished it for me. Read more
Published 1 month ago by SallyAnn
retribution
this was one of the best books i've read in ages ,a gripping story from the first page to the last,an intense insight of how a criminal mind works and the sheer disregard for... Read more
Published 1 month ago by bramwell
Retribution
Good storyline, with the usual strong characters, and was enjoyable right up to the end, which was a huge disappointment: it was entirely predictable and too abrupt, as if she was... Read more
Published 1 month ago by William Neil
val mcdermid's retribution
Brilliant book,as usual. It arrived well on time, and was a delight to read.
Thanks very much for such good service.
Thanks very much for such good service.
Published 1 month ago by Mrs. Elizabeth Kellett
Good
Val is a great read and this series is my favorite. I will buy as many as she writes, so keep them coming.
Published 1 month ago by Michael Matthews
Excellent book
Brilliant price , Excellent fast delivery. I couldnt wait to get my hands on Val Mcdermids latest enstallment of Dr Tony Hill. Read more
Published 1 month ago by jaffa
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