4.5 stars - As many twists as the sewer system
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First Sentence: I remember someone once telling me that you know it's cold when you see a lawyer with his hands in his own pockets.
DI Victor Ruiz is pulled from the Thames, nearly dead, with a serious gunshot and transient global amnesia.
Three years previous, 7-year-old Mickey Carlyle disappeared from within her building. A neighbor was convicted and everyone assumed Mickey was killed. Victor never believed Mickey was dead.
With the help of his friend, clinical psychologist Joseph O'Loughlin, Victor's memories return that he was shot helping deliver a ransom for Mickey's return. Now convinced she is alive, not even those trying to kill him will stop Victor until he finds her.
Robotham set the hook with the first paragraph and kept me on the line until the very end. It is a gritty, fast paced psychological thriller, as well as a police procedural, but there is much more to it than that.
The characters are well developed; you learn the backgrounds of each as they story unfolds. I particularly enjoyed that Joseph O'Loughlin, the protagonist from Robotham's first book, played a significant role in this book as well.
I learned about the London sewer system and underground rivers, and transient global amnesia, which was fascinating.
The plot was as twisty as the sewer system and kept surprising me all the way to the end. This was a great read and an author I'm so glad I found.
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Gripping, but not without details to improve
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There are critics who decide if a book is worth reading after a few pages, and thus use this to improve their chances against the old adage: so many books, so little time. These people would definitely have to keep on reading this novel, since Robotham catches our attention right from page one, with Inspector Ruiz on the verge of death after being shot in the leg and staying in the Thames for some time.
Ruiz's problem is not only the shooting, but also the fact that he lost all his memories regarding the event and the things that led to it. Thus starts a quest to find out what happened and how he got there. This is not an easy one, since he has to deal with superiors that suspect him of foul play, an old case involving the disappearance of a little girl, and some ruthless gangsters that will not back down, no matter what.
The process by which Ruiz starts remembering the past is extremely interesting, and this is helped by the first person narration in the novel. The involvement of a psychologist also helps uncover aspects of Ruiz childhood that are troubling for the inspector and help the reader understand this character better. There are a couple of points in which the novel comes up short though. Having an inspector that is close to retirement age, and with a wounded leg, involved in fights with younger people, chasing suspects, squeezing through sewers, and evading snipers, is a little too unrealistic for my taste. Also, I felt that close to the end of the novel, the intensity of the plot drops abruptly and this leads to a contrived solution.
Nevertheless, the negative points are more than outweighed by the good ones. This is a very good read and I recommend it to lovers of the psychological thriller genre.
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A rose by another name
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This is actually 'The Drowning Man' under another title.
An excellent book but if you have read this one do not buy 'Lost'
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Great story
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We met Det.Ruiz in the author's previous book "Suspect",but here he is the main event,and what an event he is!He is much more interesting than the insipid Doctor who was the feature character of "Suspect".His mother is a gypsy who spent time in the concentration camp brothels for German officers...and Ruiz is the product of one/some of those liaisons.Tortured with guilt about his father(s),unable to hang onto his own wife and children,and absolutely driven to find the perpetrators of any crime he investigates.Wow!He is the kind of cop you want on your side.
More stories about Ruiz,please?
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A fast-moving and interesting read
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A cop is nearly killed and is still suffering recent-term amnesia when he leaves hospital. He is made to feel very unwelcome by his superiors who believe he remains stupidly obsessed with trying to find a girl long given up as missing or dead. He tries to recollect what happened to him and to find the link, if any, to the missing girl - he does this with unofficial help, having lost his position on the force, and the support of friends and even some aides. This is a very well-constructed story, with plenty of twists and turns, which keeps you guessing until the end. The writing is unexceptional but contains it share of wit and the story-line development and characterisations are impressive : it would be difficult not to warm to Vincent Ruiz and his Professor friend Joe. There must therefore be a sequel looming and I very much look forward to it. 9/10
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