Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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11 of 12 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
OUTSTANDING, 4 Nov 2006
Val McDermid is one of the very best thriller writers of our time, and although I have only recently finished reading this 1997 novel, it must rank as representative of VM at the peak of her abilities. Wire in the Blood is really hard to fault, and it's one of the very few books that I have read that isn't something to do just to pass the time - no, it's worthy of top choice on any list of means of entertainment. Cancel all appointments and read this first, it's amazing value!
Val is confident enough to name the killer on the first page yet develop and sustain tension for the reader until the very last one. Furthermore she has the ability to create and develop several characters that the reader can truly believe in, and build up a sense of strong like or dislike for more than one. The bad guy is one Jacko Vance, our feelings of hatred for him perhaps cleverly manipulated by the author by way of his iconic status as an adored public hero within the context of the story. The question is how will he be stopped? Fortunately his adversaries are the Hill-Jordan team, which might sound a little Formula One for anybody new to this series but in fact Home Office profiler/psychologist Dr Tony Hill and DCI Carol Jordan are in every sense a well-matched pairing, each with their own wardrobe skeletons and worthy of keen reader attention be they working alone or together. It's perhaps worth mentioning that Tony Hill is possibly the only male character in this story who comes out with any sense of respect or integrity, outnumbered as he is by several shining female roles. Even then, his potential status as Leading Man is undermined by his apparent impotence and subsequent inability to consummate the relationship that exists between he and Carol Jordan, who we assume has no such incapacities. There are more than a few lesbian references or characters which does call to question the accordant leanings of the writer, which I occasionally found distracting, but that's nitpicking in truth - this is a taut, well-paced thriller that makes for a great introduction to anyone new to Val McDermid.
I own all four of the Hill-Jordan novels but unfortunately I have read them in the wrong chronological order...just my luck to begin with the most recent (The Torment of Others), with its references to events in Berlin that I was yet to discover in the third in the series (The Last Temptation). That's what I'm reading right now immediately after finishing Wire in the Blood, and it's every bit as good as the others. Val McDermid is without doubt one of my favourite writers of crime thrillers and I recommend her work unreservedly.
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21 of 24 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A great book that's impossible to put down., 12 Jun 2001
After reading The Mermaids Singing by the same author I was extremely hesitant about this one, the second in the series and hopefully not the last, could she do it again? The answer is an emphatic YES, another brilliant piece of fiction! The style of this book, which involves the same characters (Tony Hill and Carol Jordan) as the last one, is completely different in that the killer is unusually revealed before the story begins. Even so the tension Val McDermid creates as the team close in on their man is incredible. The refusal of the Police to believe that someone as famous and 'nice' as Jacko Vance could be involved in murder, despite the building evidence, is as frustrating for the reader as for Tony Hill. Will they save the latest victim despite having to work without the help of the Police? While I still think that The Mermaids Singing has the edge this is another great book.
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8 of 9 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Outstanding, 28 Jan 2006
Val McDermid is one of the very best thriller writers of our time, and although I have only just finished reading this 1997 novel, it must rank as representative of VM at the peak of her abilities. Wire in the Blood is really hard to fault, and it’s one of the very few books that I have read that isn’t something to do just to pass the time - no, it’s worthy of top choice on any list of means of entertainment. Cancel all appointments and read this first, it’s amazing value!Val is confident enough to name the killer on the first page yet develop and sustain tension for the reader until the very last one. Furthermore she has the ability to create and develop several characters that the reader can truly believe in, and build up a sense of strong like or dislike for more than one. The bad guy is one Jacko Vance, our feelings of hatred for him perhaps cleverly manipulated by the author by way of his iconic status as an adored public hero within the context of the story. The question is how will he be stopped? Fortunately his adversaries are the Hill-Jordan team, which might sound a little Formula One for anybody new to this series but in fact Home Office profiler/psychologist Dr Tony Hill and DCI Carol Jordan are in every sense a well-matched pairing, each with their own wardrobe skeletons and worthy of keen reader attention be they working alone or together. It’s perhaps worth mentioning that Tony Hill is possibly the only male character in this story who comes out with any sense of respect or integrity, outnumbered as he is by several shining female roles. Even then, his potential status as Leading Man is undermined by his apparent impotence and subsequent inability to consummate the relationship that exists between he and Carol Jordan, who we assume has no such incapacities. There are more than a few lesbian references or characters which does call to question the accordant leanings of the writer, which I occasionally found distracting, but that’s nitpicking in truth – this is a taut, well-paced thriller that makes for a great introduction to anyone new to Val McDermid. I own all four of the Hill-Jordan novels but unfortunately I have read them in the wrong chronological order….just my luck to begin with the most recent (The Torment of Others), with its references to events in Berlin that I was yet to discover in the third in the series (The Last Temptation). That’s what I’m reading right now immediately after finishing Wire in the Blood, and it’s every bit as good as the others. Val McDermid is without doubt one of my favourite writers of crime thrillers and I recommend her work unreservedly.
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