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The Point of Rescue
 
 

The Point of Rescue (Paperback)

by Sophie Hannah (Author)
3.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (29 customer reviews)
RRP: £7.99
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The Point of Rescue + Hurting Distance + Little Face
Price For All Three: £14.05

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Product details

  • Paperback: 464 pages
  • Publisher: Hodder Paperbacks (7 Aug 2008)
  • Language English
  • ISBN-10: 0340933127
  • ISBN-13: 978-0340933121
  • Product Dimensions: 19.6 x 12.8 x 2.4 cm
  • Average Customer Review: 3.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (29 customer reviews)
  • Amazon.co.uk Sales Rank: 5,480 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

    Popular in this category:

    #3 in  Books > Fiction > Authors, A-Z > H > Hannah, Sophie

Product Description

Amazon.co.uk

Sophie Hannah’s debut thriller novel, Little Face, immediately marked her out as a particularly penetrating and insightful practitioner of the psychological crime novel, with a skill for getting into the minds of her beleaguered characters, a skill she continued to polish in its successor, Hurting Distance. Her second book was a particular achievement, given that so many second novels fail to live up to the promise of their predecessors. And here is Sophie Hannah's third novel, The Point of Rescue, and it might be argued that it is her most accomplished book yet.

A woman is watching a report on television of the death of a mother and daughter; apparently both had died at the mother's hand. Also on the screen is the surviving member of the family, a widower described as Mark Bretherick. Watching with her husband, the woman, Sally, has to bite back the words that spring to her lips: this man is not Mark Bretherick! How does she know? Because she had enjoyed a brief sexual affair with the real possessor of that name some time before -- an affair (needless to say) she has not revealed to her husband. Sally is forced to hang on to her secret, and she anonymously informs the police that all is not as it appears to be in this case.

It is Sally's plight that so comprehensively engages the reader here, but readers of the earlier books by Sophie Hannah will be pleased to note the reappearance of her reliable copper Simon Waterhouse, who ensures that the sequences involving the investigation are quite as compelling as the those of a woman desperately trying to keep her indiscretion secret (while doing the right thing).

On the evidence of these three books, Sophie Hannah has a long career as a novelist ahead of her (perhaps to run in tandem with her alternative career as a poet). --Barry Forshaw --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.



Review

'Sophie Hannah just gets better and better, with experience adding rocket fuel to her already high-octane yarns . . . Brilliantly cunning and entirely unpredictable.' (Guardian )

'The tension is screwed ever tighter until the final shocking outcome'

(Barry Forshaw, Daily Express )

'Sophie Hannah's ingenious, almost surreal mysteries are so intricately constructed that it's impossible to guess how they will end . . . A compelling and disquieting story, told with the author's usual panache.'

(Susanna Yager, Sunday Telegraph )

'Every so often a writer comes along whose freshness and originality blows the competition out of the water.. .Genuinely gripping, full of the unseen and yet fitting twists and turns that make good quality crime fiction such a pleasure' (Yorkshire Post )

'Hannah doesn't allow the tension to slacken for a second in this addictive, brilliantly chilling thriller.' (Marie Claire Book of the Month )

'Brilliantly creepy'

(Red Magazine )

'I'm surprised I had any nails left by the end of this addictive thriller.' (Eve )

'This disturbing tale is a cut above the average crime thriller, with an intelligent and inventive plot that raises questions about identity, guilt and the taboo of unfulfilling motherhood.' (Psychologies )

'A great read and an involving thriller' (She )

'Hannah's gift for creating real, three-dimensional characters and placing them in extraordinary situations results in a thriller so entertaining you might consider sharing it with everyone one you know... But I suspect, instead you'll keep it to yourself and read it again and again.'

(Daily Record )

'For those who demand emotional intelligence and literary verve from their thrillers, Sophie Hannah is the writer of choice. THE POINT OF RESCUE, her third, combines a creepily irresistible page-turner with an exploration of motherhood's taboos.' (Justine Jordan, Guardian )

'Hannah is an expert in creepy scenarios and plot twists that keep you guessing until the last page. The tension doesn't slacken for a second.' (Grazia )

'Hannah has established herself as a writer of offbeat thrillers that skilfully play on contemporary anxieties about motherhood and marriage. What keeps one reading is the creepy plausibility the author brings to her portrayal of a mind unhinged by the demands of parenthood.' (Christine Koning The Times )

'Hannah constructs a thriller that twists and turns satisfyingly through a series of ever-more surprising revelations.' ( The Sunday Times )

'Tension, thy name is Sophie Hannah. In THE POINT OF RESCUE, murder, false identity and infidelity are thet tools Hannah deploys to create a plausible but edge-of-your-seat read.'

(Independent )

'The new, queen-in-waiting of psychological crime.'

(Maxim Jakubowki )

'Statistics show that more and more women are committing acts of "family annihilation". In THE POINT OF RESCUE Sophie Hannah tackles this distressing subject with sensitivity, while spinning a cracking story.'

(Daily Telegraph )

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What Do Customers Ultimately Buy After Viewing This Item?

The Point of Rescue
62% buy the item featured on this page:
The Point of Rescue 3.0 out of 5 stars (29)
£4.82
Hurting Distance
13% buy
Hurting Distance 4.2 out of 5 stars (40)
£4.37
Little Face
11% buy
Little Face 3.6 out of 5 stars (127)
£4.86
The Other Half Lives
11% buy
The Other Half Lives 2.6 out of 5 stars (40)
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Customer Reviews

29 Reviews
5 star:
 (5)
4 star:
 (7)
3 star:
 (5)
2 star:
 (7)
1 star:
 (5)
 
 
 
 
 
Average Customer Review
3.0 out of 5 stars (29 customer reviews)
 
 
 
 
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

 
36 of 41 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars Brilliant suspense thriller that fires on all cylinders, 3 Feb 2008
By Clare Hopkins (Southampton) - See all my reviews
This review is from: The Point of Rescue (Hardcover)
What would you do if someone was trying to kill you, but you couldn't go to the police because that would mean revealing a secret that might destroy your family, the very same secret that might be about to get you killed? That is Sally Thorning's predicament in 'The Point of Rescue' - a superb thriller that is flawlessly written, deeply intelligent, pacy, gripping and totally unpredictable. In some ways this is a traditional detective story, for there are police characters working on unravelling the various mysteries and the irresistible sense of a puzzle needing to be solved is paramount, but this is also a hunted-woman thriller, also a very sophisticated pyschological suspense novel, and a book about relationships and a woman's role in society. I read oodles of thrillers, and it's very rare to find any that pay as much attention to depth and layers and psychology (proper characterisation, I suppose I mean)as to the logic-puzzle-style plot. This is not a 'locked-room' mystery, as there's no locked room, but it has that same sense of things which seem impossible but we know they can't be, because they've happened...how will it be resolved? Sophie Hannah pulls several twists out of the bag and the end, and a few moments of blood-curdling horror as the reader becomes aware of the depths of suffering involved. Loved it!
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4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars Mixed feelings, 17 April 2009
After an intriguing start, the tragi-comedy of working mother's Sally's chaotic life was entertaining and an interesting use of rueful humour to convey the conflicts involved in trying to juggle children and a career. There were some ingenious plot twists - I can't say which genuinely surprised me, without giving too much away. I agree that some of them were implausible.

On the other hand, as with many such books, which will obviously gain a wider readership and massive earnings, I have to ask why the clearly talented author did not spend just a little more time on ironing out the flaws.

The diary entries rapidly became tediously repetitive and almost caricatures of the situation, although you could argue that was intentional. A more serious weakness was the unconvincing love interest between the two police officers, and their odd, inadequately explained and developed psychology. All the other policemen seemed to be caricatures.There was a tendency for key "information giving" conversations to drag on for an implausibly long time given the circumstances e.g one party had to rush off to a meeting, or was driving at high speed on a hunch to save someone's life.

I was also too often aware of the same rather cynical, sarcastic voice coming through too many of the characters. I had no objection to the voice itself, just suspected it was the author's own voice, and felt it needed to be attached to one or two characters, not most of them. I was also unsure about the frequent digressions into amusing but trivial asides at dramatic moments - this with the generally rather shallow and manipulative relationships between key players made me care too little about any of them, and led me to leave the book and move on too lightly.
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3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars Promised more than the writer could deliver, 22 Sep 2008
This book began well and I did struggle to put it down. It seemed like a standard page turner murder mystery. However as the mystery was solved I felt cheated because I didn't think the plot hung together at all.

The final few chapters really let me down. It just isn't plausible that the police did not find out the identity of Encarna's husband until the end. How difficult would it have been to find out who owned the house? Wouldn't the school have mentioned who the father was, what he did? Especially when he had been on the school trip at the centre of the enquiries with the headteacher etc. If you can't accept that then a lot of the book becomes pointless.

In addition, the central plot thread - that Sally Thorning had had an affair with this man just didn't ring true and I found her character as a whole very unconvincing.

The final page or so when Charlie Nailer speaks to her boss about the diaries seems like a paltry attempt to tack social comment onto what was a very flimsy and poorly constructed story.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews

2.0 out of 5 stars disappointing finish
I really got into this book and was looking forward to the 'twist' the blurb referred to- er.. where was it??? Read more
Published 3 months ago by Lulu

5.0 out of 5 stars Scary but gripping
A good book right from the outset. Scary in parts - particularly when you can relate to some of the thoughts. Well worth a read.
Published 7 months ago by small world

4.0 out of 5 stars Really good thriller
Sally had a fling a year ago, but hears on the news that a woman and child had been killed near where she lives, she knows the names, they are the wife and child of this man but... Read more
Published 8 months ago by M. Block

1.0 out of 5 stars Don't bother
Sophie Hannah is a talented poet, but crime writer she ain't. The Point of Rescue fails on many levels: plot, characters you don't care about one iota, and a style of writing... Read more
Published 8 months ago by Jl Adcock

1.0 out of 5 stars Very dissapointing!
After reading " Little Face " which was a brilliant read I really looked forward to reading " The Point of Rescue". Read more
Published 8 months ago by Izzy-Whizzy

2.0 out of 5 stars Starts well but ultimately disappoints
I'd never read anything by this author before so I was coming into this with fresh eyes and no pre-judgement. Read more
Published 9 months ago by Number 6

1.0 out of 5 stars Unbelieveable and disappointing
I bought this book because I thought it sounded like an intriguing thriller... a woman watching a news report about a mother and daughter found dead at their home is shocked to... Read more
Published 9 months ago by susie

1.0 out of 5 stars waste of time
I live in France and bought this book at liverpool airport on a return home visit, it is the most disappointing read that I can remember and so irritatingly trivial, I kept saying... Read more
Published 9 months ago by Mrs. Helen Gregory

1.0 out of 5 stars what alot of rubbish
Thought this was a really weak book. The computer diary stuff just doesn't make sense and Sophie Hannah seems to have swallowed and regurgitated every cliche every written about... Read more
Published 11 months ago by little elk

3.0 out of 5 stars Gripping, if orthodox, thriller.
There was a point in this book where, having been kept avidly turning pages for some time, a traditional character-in-peril plotline emerged. Read more
Published 11 months ago by AK 1957-05

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