Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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62 of 69 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Stunning!, 2 Jun 2006
I think this is the book I have looked forward to most eagerly in the last year, having been bowled over by the first two Simon Serrailler books. And I wasn't in the least disappointed. If you liked the first two, which you really do need to have read before starting this one, you will love, love, love this book. It's got a twist to rival the twist in The Various Haunts of Men - and no, I am not even going to hint at what it is! -, the characterisation of Simon and his family, not to mention the new major characters, both good and bad, continues to fascinate, the plot is as gripping as the first two books, and the atmosphere is beautifully done. I can't be too specific because I don't want to spoil any of the surprises Susan Hill has in store for her readers. But I do highly recommend this book and hope very much that we don't have to wait a whole year for no. 4 in the series!
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6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:
2.0 out of 5 stars
Unsatisfying., 9 Jun 2008
All was going well with this book for some time. The characters are obvious stereotypes, but I quite warmed to them and their storylines and found the crime storyline interesting and a page turner.
It all fell apart for me because I kept waiting for an amazing twist that never happened (this must have been the small twist near the beginning of the book which, while cleverly done, wasn't the genius that I was expecting, so I assumed that there must be a better one coming towards the end to justify the hype. There wasn't). The book isn't given a proper ending and I was really hoping that all the various characters and storylines would end up intertwining, but no, this didn't happen either. I was left feeling cheated, as if I'd wasted my time on a 'story that never was'. A shame because it started promisingly and I really wanted to know more.
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43 of 50 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
STUNNING THIRD SERRAILLER NOVEL, 14 Jun 2007
This brings the first 3 books in Hill`s Simon Serrailler trilogy to a close in a stunning story. It has one of the best 'chase' scenes I have read in a thriller - I won`t give it away but it involves cliffs, a raging storm and a helicopter rescue. The saga of the missing children which was unresolved at the end of the previous book, THE PURE IN HEART is brought to a terrible conclusion here and there is a terrific twist. Otherwise, we spend more time with Serrailler`s family and meet a character I really hope Hill brings back in any future books - the young woman priest Jane Fitzroy, who has a feisty yet vulnerable character and is one of the most interesting of her good range of women in these books.
I find this series unusual - there is never gratuitous violence - Hill understates and this actually makes more impact than detailed descriptions. There is a moral thread too and lots of well developed side-characters to give a richness and depth to the books.
I hope there are more to come but meanwhile,if you have not yet read any Serrailler novels don`t start with this, begin at the beginning with THE VARIOUS HAUNTS OF MEN. Susan Hill is an incredibly versatile writer - from Booker shortlisted literary fiction to homely country stories to children`s books and one classic ghost story - to crime. I rate the Serrailler books up there with the best and this is a genre Hill is beginning to make her own.
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