by Mark Billingham
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by Mark Billingham
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by Mark Billingham
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by Mark Billingham
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by Mark Billingham
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Product Description
Amazon.co.uk Review
The art of inducing fear in a reader via the printed page is a speciality of only a few skilled craftsmen. Mark Billingham is such an author, and Sleepy Head is such a book. The blurb on the jacket warns that we are in for a disturbing experience and that is precisely what we get: "He doesn't want you alive. He doesn't want you dead. He wants you somewhere in between".
Review
"Night, night sleepyhead" - a soothing reminder of childhood bedtime. But not here. Here, it is the prelude to an unspeakable horror which, if the perpetrator gets it right, leaves the victim alive but no longer in control or, if wrong, leaves the victim dead and the killer full of anger at his failing. This first crime novel from best-selling author Mark Billingham, introduces renegade cop, DI Tom Thorne and his sidekick DC David Holland. Thorne is taunted by the ghosts of those recently killed and, following his gut instinct, turns his back on standard police procedures to go it alone, putting himself and those closest to him in danger. Now the killer wants him. Thorne is the one who's attention he is after and whose intelligence he respects. As Thorne's personal life becomes inextricably linked to the murder hunt, the pressure mounts and the tension builds till the cataclysmic finale. Flicking between narratives of Thorne, the killer and the prone, surviving victim, Billingham holds the attention throughout and demonstrates his skill at writing a tight, fast-paced and increasingly horrific plot. This is an excellent novel showing all the signs of a talent that will become a major force in crime fiction. - Lucy Watson
The modern whodunnit, these days, has evolved into a whydunnit so it is an ambitious task Billingham has set himself to combine the best elements of the two subgenres of the murder mystery and come up with something that feels fresh, original and gripping in turns. The fact that he mostly pulls it off in his debut novel is testament to his ability to understand the mechanics which keep a reader hooked. The plot is riveting, there is a terrifying twist which turns the notion of the murder mystery on its head and the characterisation, though far from perfect, is more than adequate. Where the faults which mark a debut novel show however lie in the central character. DI Tom Thorne sounds and looks like a walk-on, walk-off character in any TV police drama and with him, Billingham has failed to skirt the trap of cliches, right down to the broken marriage and string of failed relationships. Nevertheless Billingham's effort is not to be underestimated. His is a voice to watch for the future. (Kirkus UK)
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The art of inducing fear in a reader via the printed page is a speciality of only a few skilled craftsmen. Mark Billingham is such an author, and Sleepy Head is such a book. The blurb on the jacket warns that we are in for a disturbing experience and that is precisely what we get: "He doesn't want you alive. He doesn't want you dead. He wants you somewhere in between".
The killer who Billingham's protagonist Tom Thorne is up against is a particularly creepy specimen: he has savagely killed three victims but his fourth, although alive, is perhaps not so fortunate. She has undergone a deliberately induced stroke and although all her senses are intact, she is totally unable to move or communicate. This hideous condition, called Locked-in Syndrome is, however, quite possibly the killer's first miscalculation ... or is it? Soon the dogged Thorne (given to distrusting his own abilities) is playing a cat-and-mouse game with a psychopathic killer. And the brilliant and sadistic killer is just as interested in leading Thorne a merry dance as he is in fulfilling his degraded obsessions.
All characterisations here are spot-on, even the killer (although one wonders just how many more hyper-intelligent psychopaths readers will be prepared to take) while the British setting is handled with intelligence, the horrific set pieces with real élan:
His head moved up, through the hole and into bright white light. He blinked quickly to adjust and opened his eyes. Thorne's last thought, before his body turned ice cold and began to shake quietly, was that he'd been right to be afraid...--Barry Forshaw
Review
"Night, night sleepyhead" - a soothing reminder of childhood bedtime. But not here. Here, it is the prelude to an unspeakable horror which, if the perpetrator gets it right, leaves the victim alive but no longer in control or, if wrong, leaves the victim dead and the killer full of anger at his failing. This first crime novel from best-selling author Mark Billingham, introduces renegade cop, DI Tom Thorne and his sidekick DC David Holland. Thorne is taunted by the ghosts of those recently killed and, following his gut instinct, turns his back on standard police procedures to go it alone, putting himself and those closest to him in danger. Now the killer wants him. Thorne is the one who's attention he is after and whose intelligence he respects. As Thorne's personal life becomes inextricably linked to the murder hunt, the pressure mounts and the tension builds till the cataclysmic finale. Flicking between narratives of Thorne, the killer and the prone, surviving victim, Billingham holds the attention throughout and demonstrates his skill at writing a tight, fast-paced and increasingly horrific plot. This is an excellent novel showing all the signs of a talent that will become a major force in crime fiction. - Lucy Watson
The modern whodunnit, these days, has evolved into a whydunnit so it is an ambitious task Billingham has set himself to combine the best elements of the two subgenres of the murder mystery and come up with something that feels fresh, original and gripping in turns. The fact that he mostly pulls it off in his debut novel is testament to his ability to understand the mechanics which keep a reader hooked. The plot is riveting, there is a terrifying twist which turns the notion of the murder mystery on its head and the characterisation, though far from perfect, is more than adequate. Where the faults which mark a debut novel show however lie in the central character. DI Tom Thorne sounds and looks like a walk-on, walk-off character in any TV police drama and with him, Billingham has failed to skirt the trap of cliches, right down to the broken marriage and string of failed relationships. Nevertheless Billingham's effort is not to be underestimated. His is a voice to watch for the future. (Kirkus UK)
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