[KSJ]≫ Libro Birthdays for the Dead Stuart MacBride 9780007344178 Books

Birthdays for the Dead Stuart MacBride 9780007344178 Books

Download As PDF : Birthdays for the Dead Stuart MacBride 9780007344178 Books

Birthdays for the Dead Stuart MacBride 9780007344178 Books

Yikes. This was sure a 180 from the Logan McRae series. Bloody, dark and utterly relentless.... and yet? I liked it more then the McRae series. Now, don't judge Stuart MacBride by this book. I would seriously suggest reading the McRae series first, because Birthdays for the Dead is not a book that leaves you with a "warm fuzzy".

Birthday's follows Ash Henderson, a cop who is a 'good guy' but lacking in certain moral areas. It doesn't help that he is in-debted to the local mob. Add in a psychopath killer who sends the victim's parents explicit photos of children, and the fact that one of the missing children is Ash's, and Ash is lucky to not just have a mental breakdown. Now lets get to it:

Positives:
+ The writing. While i always thought the McRae novels were hit-or-miss in this aspect, Birthdays for the Dead knocks it out of the park. The best thing about mystery novels is trying to come up with a solution before the book gives it to you. This book is great at that, it lays out scenarios that had me going "it has to be xxx", then "xxx" is arrested by Ash, and turns out not to be the guy. This makes for an enjoyable, on-the-edge-of-your-seat read.
+ The characters. Ash and Alice are both interesting characters. The character development of the two as the novel progressed was worth seeing. As they are put through tougher and tougher situations, the layers are stripped away and the characters gain depth- instead of falling flat.
+ The plot. Unique enough to be interesting, but not over the top.

Negatives:
- Cringe-worthy violence (like seriously, if violence/gore turns your stomach, do NOT read this one)
- No warm-feelings at the end of this one.
- There were a few boring why-is-this here moments with side characters (ie: Rhona/Shifty) that felt like filler that could of been left out.


Tags : Birthdays for the Dead [Stuart MacBride] on Amazon.com. *FREE* shipping on qualifying offers. The gritty new standalone crime novel from the No. 1 bestselling author of Shatter the Bones and Dark Blood Detective Constable Ash Henderson has a dark secret! Five years ago his daughter,Stuart MacBride,Birthdays for the Dead,HarperCollins,0007344171

Birthdays for the Dead Stuart MacBride 9780007344178 Books Reviews

First off, this is my first novel by MacBride so I have nothing to compare it with. However, it is one of the best novels of its kind I have read though I hope the police in this story are not typical of the far-from-London law enforcement in Great Britain. DC Ash Henderson has to deal with murderous loan sharks out to break his legs (or worse), a police profiler so fearful she provides comic relief in the story, and the dark secret that the serial killer he is pursuing made his older daughter one of his victims. Perhaps my genuine love for stories that shed light on different cultures made this a more interesting read, but by the final third, I could not put it down.

Like the British version of the TV series Shameless, getting used to the British slang (undefined in ) was off putting, but once the story started rolling, I forgot about it. If this is a lesser MacBride novel, I can't wait to read one of the great ones.
Stuart MacBride is a genius. There, I've said it. HOWEVER, even geniuses can make mistakes, and this time around, I think MacBride made the mistake of going too far into the dark, unrelentingly depressing world he created, without providing the comic relief readers have come to expect in his books. I found myself longing for something, anything, to provide a bit of balance with the grim, gritty, violent, seemingly hopeless nature of this tale. Did that keep me from turning those pages? No, not at all. In fact, as with all of MacBride's books, I devoured this one. In fact, I will probably read the sequel as well. So, I can recommend this book, but with reservations. Reader beware It is incredibly violent, and 'watching' the main character experience so much violence was difficult for me. It also explores the fine lines between right and wrong and vengeance and justice, without providing any easy solutions for the reader to glom onto. It, sadly, lacks the wry humor of MacBride's Logan McRae series. It is, nevertheless, a fascinating and well written mystery thriller.
Very well written book. Great characters, as always.

SPOILER!

But, after an entire BOOK of the LEAD DETECTIVE trying to find his kidnapped daughter before it's too late... HE'S TOO LATE? Is this the author trying on a curve ball? The new dictum that "not every crime novel has to end happily" modernism? Because, here, it's AWFUL, ILL-USED, and INAPPROPRIATE! Okay, so don't solve a CASE. BUT TO HAVE THE WHOLE BOOK BE ABOUT THE LEAD DETECTIVE DESPERATELY TRYING TO FIND HIS ONLY REMAINING DAUGHTER (his other daughter was killed by a serial killer), only for him to discover -- AT THE LAST MINUTE -- that she, TOO, is DEAD? Tortured and cut and raped and DEAD? WITHIN THE LAST MINUTE! WHY? What PURPOSED is being served. TWO DEAD DAUGHTERS! One killed by the serial killer that HE failed to catch, one killed by a COPY-CAT of the FIRST serial killer that he had NO WAY of knowing even EXISTED! MUCH too harsh. Far too Brutal. And COMPLETELY unnecessary. It was PUNISHING. I felt punished by the author. I felt abused. Crime books are all about JUSTICE. Yes, JUSTICE can (and should) be blind, can be hard to locate, may be resonant only in the larger scheme, it could be thematic rather than procedural. But, in fiction; EFFORT EXPENDED MUST DICTATE RESULT. And. our detective/father did everything and BEYOND that he could ever have done to find his SECOND kidnapped daughter; ALIVE AND WELL! He DESERVED it! We DESERVED it! But, oh well, you chose to have him miss saving his beloved second daughter by mere SECONDS. TWO daughters DEAD. That's the way life works sometimes. BUT, NOT LITERATURE. Sure, Dorothy could have been BEHEADED by a psycho-Munchkin before returning home, Boo Radly COULD have gone on a post-Halloween killing spree, Scrouge COULD have woken up Christmas morning, snuck into Tiny Tim's room and SMOTHERED him... BUT THEY DID'T! For THAT kind of dark ending (David Fincher's "Seven"), the ENTIRE BOOK (or film) must be a treatise on despair! Must EARN it's final sorrow by building to it throughout, so there's a kind of INEVITABILITY to the horror. A greater lesson or comment on the human condition. The lesson here? "If you shoot yourself in the foot, the subsequent limping will probably make you JUST late enough to save your daughter's life."

END OF SPOILER

So, as much as I love this writer and his series, I"d skip this one. If I want to be hit in the face with an emotional baseball bat, I'll read Kafka.
Yikes. This was sure a 180 from the Logan McRae series. Bloody, dark and utterly relentless.... and yet? I liked it more then the McRae series. Now, don't judge Stuart MacBride by this book. I would seriously suggest reading the McRae series first, because Birthdays for the Dead is not a book that leaves you with a "warm fuzzy".

Birthday's follows Ash Henderson, a cop who is a 'good guy' but lacking in certain moral areas. It doesn't help that he is in-debted to the local mob. Add in a psychopath killer who sends the victim's parents explicit photos of children, and the fact that one of the missing children is Ash's, and Ash is lucky to not just have a mental breakdown. Now lets get to it

Positives
+ The writing. While i always thought the McRae novels were hit-or-miss in this aspect, Birthdays for the Dead knocks it out of the park. The best thing about mystery novels is trying to come up with a solution before the book gives it to you. This book is great at that, it lays out scenarios that had me going "it has to be xxx", then "xxx" is arrested by Ash, and turns out not to be the guy. This makes for an enjoyable, on-the-edge-of-your-seat read.
+ The characters. Ash and Alice are both interesting characters. The character development of the two as the novel progressed was worth seeing. As they are put through tougher and tougher situations, the layers are stripped away and the characters gain depth- instead of falling flat.
+ The plot. Unique enough to be interesting, but not over the top.

Negatives
- Cringe-worthy violence (like seriously, if violence/gore turns your stomach, do NOT read this one)
- No warm-feelings at the end of this one.
- There were a few boring why-is-this here moments with side characters (ie Rhona/Shifty) that felt like filler that could of been left out.