The Bones Beneath by Mark Billingham
Nov. 12th, 2015 11:07 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
quippeThe Blurb On The Back:
The deal.
Tom Thorne is back in charge – but there’s a terrifying price to pay. Stuart Nicklin, the most dangerous psychopath he has ever put behind bars, promises to reveal the whereabouts of a body he buried twenty-five years before. But only if Thorne agrees to escort him.
The danger.
Unable to refuse, Thorne gathers a team and travels to a remote Welsh island, at the mercy of the weather and cut off from the mainland. Thorne is determine to get the job done and return home before Nicklin can outwit them.
The deaths.
But Nicklin knows this island well and has had time to plan ahead. Soon, new bodies are added to the old, and Thorne finds himself facing the toughest decision he has ever had to make …
It’s immediately after THE DYING HOURS. The good news is that Tom Thorne’s been reinstated to the Murder Squad. The bad news is that Stuart Nicklin has promised to reveal the body of one of his earliest victims, but only if Thorne is part of his escort team. Although Thorne knows how devious Nicklin is, he’s got no choice. All he can do is put together his own team and hope to stop Nicklin before he can accomplish whatever he’s got planned. Because Nicklin’s always got something planned and he’s had a long time to put this scheme together …
The twelfth in Mark Billingham’s excellent TOM THORNE SERIES is a well-constructed psychological thriller that sees Nicklin and Thorne resume the game of cat and mouse that began with SCAREDY CAT. The mystery here all lies in trying to work out what Nicklin’s game is as he takes Thorne and his crew to Bardsey Island, off the Welsh coast. Although we learn more of Nicklin’s early life – his time spent in an experimental youth offender home and his friendship with a naïve young man called Simon – I did think those scenes slowed down the otherwise nail biting plot. Nicklin’s always been a creepy and ruthless enemy and he’s really allowed to enjoy himself here – his exchanges with Thorne ramp up the tension, especially because Thorne’s hamstrung in his ability to respond and Nicklin knows that. Also interesting is a possible romantic temptation for Tom in his team, which I wish had been explored further and hope will come up in future books. Where the book is weakest is in some of the detail with regard to how Nicklin set up his plans – as the different strands came together it felt a little too convenient at times and I’d have liked a bit more jeopardy and less inevitability. Given the open ending, this may be something that Billingham comes back to in future books, but to be honest I needed to see it here just so that I could fully buy into the plot. That said, the emotional fall out of Nicklin’s plan is credible and promises to have a continuing effect in the books to come, which I shall definitely be checking out.
The twelfth in Mark Billingham’s excellent TOM THORNE SERIES is a well-constructed psychological thriller that sees Nicklin and Thorne resume the game of cat and mouse that began with SCAREDY CAT. The mystery here all lies in trying to work out what Nicklin’s game is as he takes Thorne and his crew to Bardsey Island, off the Welsh coast. Although we learn more of Nicklin’s early life – his time spent in an experimental youth offender home and his friendship with a naïve young man called Simon – I did think those scenes slowed down the otherwise nail biting plot. Nicklin’s always been a creepy and ruthless enemy and he’s really allowed to enjoy himself here – his exchanges with Thorne ramp up the tension, especially because Thorne’s hamstrung in his ability to respond and Nicklin knows that. Also interesting is a possible romantic temptation for Tom in his team, which I wish had been explored further and hope will come up in future books. Where the book is weakest is in some of the detail with regard to how Nicklin set up his plans – as the different strands came together it felt a little too convenient at times and I’d have liked a bit more jeopardy and less inevitability. Given the open ending, this may be something that Billingham comes back to in future books, but to be honest I needed to see it here just so that I could fully buy into the plot. That said, the emotional fall out of Nicklin’s plan is credible and promises to have a continuing effect in the books to come, which I shall definitely be checking out.
Tom Thorne is back in charge – but there’s a terrifying price to pay. Stuart Nicklin, the most dangerous psychopath he has ever put behind bars, promises to reveal the whereabouts of a body he buried twenty-five years before. But only if Thorne agrees to escort him.
Unable to refuse, Thorne gathers a team and travels to a remote Welsh island, at the mercy of the weather and cut off from the mainland. Thorne is determine to get the job done and return home before Nicklin can outwit them.
But Nicklin knows this island well and has had time to plan ahead. Soon, new bodies are added to the old, and Thorne finds himself facing the toughest decision he has ever had to make …
It’s immediately after THE DYING HOURS. The good news is that Tom Thorne’s been reinstated to the Murder Squad. The bad news is that Stuart Nicklin has promised to reveal the body of one of his earliest victims, but only if Thorne is part of his escort team. Although Thorne knows how devious Nicklin is, he’s got no choice. All he can do is put together his own team and hope to stop Nicklin before he can accomplish whatever he’s got planned. Because Nicklin’s always got something planned and he’s had a long time to put this scheme together …
The twelfth in Mark Billingham’s excellent TOM THORNE SERIES is a well-constructed psychological thriller that sees Nicklin and Thorne resume the game of cat and mouse that began with SCAREDY CAT. The mystery here all lies in trying to work out what Nicklin’s game is as he takes Thorne and his crew to Bardsey Island, off the Welsh coast. Although we learn more of Nicklin’s early life – his time spent in an experimental youth offender home and his friendship with a naïve young man called Simon – I did think those scenes slowed down the otherwise nail biting plot. Nicklin’s always been a creepy and ruthless enemy and he’s really allowed to enjoy himself here – his exchanges with Thorne ramp up the tension, especially because Thorne’s hamstrung in his ability to respond and Nicklin knows that. Also interesting is a possible romantic temptation for Tom in his team, which I wish had been explored further and hope will come up in future books. Where the book is weakest is in some of the detail with regard to how Nicklin set up his plans – as the different strands came together it felt a little too convenient at times and I’d have liked a bit more jeopardy and less inevitability. Given the open ending, this may be something that Billingham comes back to in future books, but to be honest I needed to see it here just so that I could fully buy into the plot. That said, the emotional fall out of Nicklin’s plan is credible and promises to have a continuing effect in the books to come, which I shall definitely be checking out.
The twelfth in Mark Billingham’s excellent TOM THORNE SERIES is a well-constructed psychological thriller that sees Nicklin and Thorne resume the game of cat and mouse that began with SCAREDY CAT. The mystery here all lies in trying to work out what Nicklin’s game is as he takes Thorne and his crew to Bardsey Island, off the Welsh coast. Although we learn more of Nicklin’s early life – his time spent in an experimental youth offender home and his friendship with a naïve young man called Simon – I did think those scenes slowed down the otherwise nail biting plot. Nicklin’s always been a creepy and ruthless enemy and he’s really allowed to enjoy himself here – his exchanges with Thorne ramp up the tension, especially because Thorne’s hamstrung in his ability to respond and Nicklin knows that. Also interesting is a possible romantic temptation for Tom in his team, which I wish had been explored further and hope will come up in future books. Where the book is weakest is in some of the detail with regard to how Nicklin set up his plans – as the different strands came together it felt a little too convenient at times and I’d have liked a bit more jeopardy and less inevitability. Given the open ending, this may be something that Billingham comes back to in future books, but to be honest I needed to see it here just so that I could fully buy into the plot. That said, the emotional fall out of Nicklin’s plan is credible and promises to have a continuing effect in the books to come, which I shall definitely be checking out.
