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The Burning Girl
 
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The Burning Girl (Paperback)

by Mark Billingham (Author)
3.6 out of 5 stars See all reviews (24 customer reviews)
RRP: £6.99
Price: £4.37 & eligible for Free UK delivery on orders over £5 with Super Saver Delivery. See details and conditions
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Frequently Bought Together

The Burning Girl + Lifeless + Lazybones
Price For All Three: £13.93

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  • This item: The Burning Girl by Mark Billingham

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    Dispatched from and sold by Amazon.co.uk.
    Eligible for FREE UK delivery on orders over £5 with Super Saver Delivery. See details and conditions

  • Lifeless by Mark Billingham

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Product details

  • Paperback: 448 pages
  • Publisher: Sphere; New edition edition (16 May 2005)
  • Language English
  • ISBN-10: 0751534897
  • ISBN-13: 978-0751534894
  • Product Dimensions: 17.4 x 10.8 x 2.8 cm
  • Average Customer Review: 3.6 out of 5 stars See all reviews (24 customer reviews)
  • Amazon.co.uk Sales Rank: 6,133 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Product Description

Amazon.co.uk Review
With The Burning Girl, Mark Billingham steps away from the inventively vicious serial killers of his earlier thrillers to have his police detective Thorne investigate something equally unpleasant--the men who kill for money not kicks and the gangsters who ruthlessly employ them. Thorne's retired friend Carol put Rooker away years ago for setting fire to a girl--whom he mistakenly believed to be the daughter of gang-boss Kelly; the girl did not die, then, but wished she had. Now someone is ringing Carol, saying it was them that burned the girl, and Rooker is promising to tell the truth; Ryan, Alison Kelly's ex-husband and her father's chosen successor, is caught up in gang warfare with a new North London Turkish mafia. As always, Billingham delivers psychological insights you half wish you didn't have, along with a profound sense of just how far the damaged Thorne will go in the name of justice. Anyone who knows North London will recognise this as being as atmospheric as it is moody--Billingham continues to develop from book to book. --Roz Kaveney --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

Review
'A disturbing and ruthlessly compelling novel.' Sunday Express 'Murder and mystery do not come better than this.' What's On in London 'Brisk, racy read.' The Times 'Assured and shocking thriller.' The Guardian 'A cunning variation on the serial-murder theme.' Sunday Telegraph 'Scary, pell-mell, cliff-hanging thriller.' Literary Review

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What Do Customers Ultimately Buy After Viewing This Item?

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74% buy the item featured on this page:
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Customer Reviews

24 Reviews
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 (6)
4 star:
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 (10)
2 star:
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Average Customer Review
3.6 out of 5 stars (24 customer reviews)
 
 
 
 
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

 
8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars As good as expected, 8 Dec 2004
By pboropixie (Peterborough, UK) - See all my reviews
This review is from: The Burning Girl (Hardcover)
I only discovered Mark Billingham earlier this year and since then have read all his four books. The latest addition to the Thorne series is a welcome addition to the earlier ones, and (in my opinion) is not inferior in any way. The plot kept my interest and kept me guessing until the end. I enjoyed the development of the regular characters and the new characters were believable.

But, if Mark Billingham is reading this, in future books please, please, please do not use so many ellipses...!

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7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars A great police procedural, 18 Jul 2004
This review is from: The Burning Girl (Hardcover)
Mark Billingham has offered up a slightly different style of novel this time, much more character driven, with less focus on the thriller elements that have made his previous novels such edge-of-your-seat gripping reading.

Focussing on a gang war within London, Billingham takes the opportunity to discuss doing what is right, and allows DI Thorne to to share some more noble, esoteric views about where it is that you must draw the line in the quest to ensure a civil, ordered society. Considering the actions that Thorne himself takes in the latter portion of the book, this is more than a little ironic (although those actions too do stretch the limits of credulity). The "burning girl" of the title, and the quest to find out who set fire to her, is much more of a sub-plot, and the reveal at the end somewhat anti-climactic.

In an attempt to explore more of Thorne's character, I think Billingham has sacrificed the thriller aspects of his story. While still a good read, I hope he goes back to basics in his next novel.

I hope also that it's not a long time coming.

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32 of 37 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars Story about an 'old flame' isn't Mark's hottest novel, 24 Jun 2005
By OEJ (England) - See all my reviews
(TOP 100 REVIEWER)      
Mark Billingham is one of those authors on my 'Buy Everything he Writes' list - he made a strong impact on me with his earlier works (Sleepy Head, Scaredy Cat and, in particular, Lazy Bones) and I will definitely order his new novel Lifeless; to be honest though I didn't think The Burning Girl is Mark's best effort, not up to the high standard of his previous contributions to the DI Thorne series. He's one of few writers I know to actually be able to instil a sense of fear using no more than the written page, and capable of creating some pretty sinister, dark characters too. The Burning Girl, however, in spite of some trademark nasty scenes, didn't have that same fear-factor that I kind of expected - although I thought that the examinations of Thorne's character were rather better executed than in (for example) Scaredy Cat.

For anyone who has bought The Burning Girl as their first foray into the writing skills of Mark Billingham, I would urge them to buy all three of this previous novels because in my humble opinion they are each considerably better. I hope that those high standards return in Lifeless - I'm sure they will.

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Most Recent Customer Reviews

4.0 out of 5 stars A POT BOILER, YES - BUT A DAMNED GOOD ONE AT THAT!!!!!
This really is a page turner from Mark Billingham - His latest, In The Dark, despite it's promise, dissapointed me, BUT this is excellent. Read more
Published 7 months ago by Adam Jackson

3.0 out of 5 stars Okay, but not great
Don't get me wrong, I love Mark Billingham. But this steps too far away from the "Thorne trying to solve a murder" plots of the earlier books. Read more
Published 9 months ago by H. Butler

4.0 out of 5 stars Bruised by the murky world he inhabits
Thorne's patch is London and it's obvious that Billingham knows the territory and describes it well. Read more
Published 16 months ago by R. Nicholson-morton

4.0 out of 5 stars Fourth Book in the Series

Mark Billingham was born and brought up in Birmingham. Having worked for some years as an actor and more recently as a TV writer and stand-up comedian his first crime novel... Read more
Published 20 months ago by J. Chippindale

3.0 out of 5 stars Not His Best
I found that this book was not as enjoyable a read, as some of his other books, most notably Scaredy Cay and Lazy Bones. Read more
Published 20 months ago by J.Flood

3.0 out of 5 stars A Book that Lacks Spark
20 years ago a girl was set on fire whist talking to friends in a playground. The man who confessed to the attack is nearing his time of parole and he now wants to tell the... Read more
Published 20 months ago by Sam

3.0 out of 5 stars A page-turner but with too contrived a plot
The problem I have with this book is that the book jacket blurb bears little resemblence to the actual plot of the book. Read more
Published on 6 Jun 2007 by tybalt-quin

2.0 out of 5 stars Does Not Leave you holding your breath for the next one.
Well its been a long time since I have read a Mark Billingham novel. To be honest it will be a long time since I rush out and buy another one. Read more
Published on 20 Mar 2007 by D. Newstead

1.0 out of 5 stars what a load of rubbish
Having read and enjoyed all the previous Mark Billingham books i was looking forward to this one, what a disappointment, no suspense, no twists or turns and a crap ending, i was... Read more
Published on 29 Nov 2006 by C. HUTCHINSON

3.0 out of 5 stars A Good Read
The Burning Girl was a good read however in comparison with his previous books it seemed to lack something. Read more
Published on 27 Jul 2006 by Emma Davy

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