Ritual |
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Mo Hayder
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Pages: 416 (Hardcover)
ISBN: 0593056418
Pub: Bantam Press
Pub date: 2008-03-10
Amazon.co.uk Sales Rank: 61
Editorial Review:
When it comes to crime novels designed to chill the blood in their unblinking treatment of the darkest recesses of human behaviour, Mo Hayder is unquestionably in the forefront of British practitioners in the field. What is even more striking is the fact that more than any other female writer, she is moving comfortably in the bloody territory that has long been the traditional prerogative of male writers, and never for a second allows her writing to be any less disturbing than that of her male confrères.
Ritual is par for a course where this writer is concerned: a tough, scarifying novel, delivered with maximum narrative rigour. A police diver discovers a severed human hand in Bristol's floating harbour. Shortly afterwards, another hand -- from the same victim -- is found buried underneath a restaurant. The severed hands are those of a young heroin addict who has recently gone missing from the Bristol drugs scene. A police diver, Flea Marley, finds herself joining forces with DI Jack Caffrey, recently seconded to the Major Crime Investigation unit. Jack is attempting to come to terms with the murder of his brother, but finds himself more than occupied with the details of the death of Mossy, the young heroin addict. It appears that the latter has become embroiled in a sinister black market trade stemming from Africa, where the value of human life is held at less than nothing. Jack and Flea form an uneasy alliance, tackling together a world steeped in the most appalling torture and abuse of human life. Those who have read the powerful predecessors to this novel (such as Birdman and The Treatment) will know what to expect. Mo Hayder is always reliable in delivering riveting (if deeply uncomfortable) reads. --Barry Forshaw
Reader Reviews:
The first in a promising new series - 'The Walking Man' (2/2 people found this helpful)
In her previous book (the fairly bad 'Pig Island') Mo Hayder depicted mystical/supernatural events which eventually proved to have a much more commonplace rationale behind them.
There's more of that in here, where she focuses on African folklore and tribal rituals and it's refreshing to see her debunking this kind of thing. When I began reading I thought the book would prove to be heavily supernatural, but this proves erroneous: 'Ritual' is more or less a straightforward crime novel
Bafflingly billed as the first in 'The Walking Man' series it actually features this character in only a few non-crucial scenes; he's not central to the plot or in fact necessary at all other that to introduce us to him. What she does do however is bring back the police detective Jack Caffery - last seen in 'The Treatment' - and a new character, the flawed, 29 year old police diver Phoebe 'Flea' Marley, who has demons in her past just like Caffery.
There's one or two loose ends left dangling - particularly relating to Jack Caffery - but no doubt these will be further explored as the series develops.
Mo Hayder is a very talented writer and has at least one great book in her. This isn't it, but it's a decent enough read and genuinely creepy in parts. A nice start to a series that could develop into something special.
ritual by Mo Hayder (0/1 people found this helpful)
Been waiting ages for her 3rd book and i read Ritual took 1day to read it and in a way i was a little bit dissappointed only a little bit,wheres Ewan thats all i want to know its killing me not knowing if he ever gets found and will Jack ever find peace.Then again if Ewan was found in Ritual then she wouldnt write any more books so nice one Mo keep us guessing about Ewan i only read ur books to see if Jack finds his brother,but dont drag it out lol.......
Her best book yet! (1/1 people found this helpful)
I've read all of Mo Hayder's novels; Ritual is a gripping novel of ritualistic crime set in Bristol (!) with wonderful sub-plots featuring a new character "Flea Marley" and my old favourite "Jack Caffrey". Fab - forget the American wannabees - this is crime fiction at its best!
Top Drawer Crime Fiction (16/23 people found this helpful)
British crime novelist Mo Hayder is nothing if not versatile. Since leaving school at fifteen, she has had a number of jobs, some mundane, others exciting. She has worked as a barmaid, security guard, film-maker, hostess in a Tokyo club and a teacher of English as a foreign language, quite a mixed bag to be on anyone's c.v. She now, among other things lectures on a Creative Writing course.
Mo Hayder's style of writing is gritty and to the point and keeps the reader wanting more. It is good honest crime fiction without too many frills. Many fictional books, particularly crime novels have peaks and troughs in them. Not so the author's. She does an excellent job of keeping her character's interesting and the storyline believable. Her books are extremely graphic and are not for the faint-hearted, the author does not protect the reader from the violence and sordidness that is after all true crime and there is no reason why she should.
The above synopsis provided by Amazon is more than adequate for anyone interested in knowing more about the storyline and needs no additional information from me.
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Categories
Amazon.co.uk places this book into the following categories:
Books -> Subjects -> Crime, Thrillers & Mystery -> Thrillers
Books -> Subjects -> Fiction -> Authors, A-Z -> H -> Hayder, Mo
Books -> Subjects -> Fiction -> General
Books -> Subjects -> Fiction -> Contemporary Fiction: 1970 Onwards -> Popular Fiction
Books -> Special Features -> New Releases
Books -> Refinements -> Language (feature_browse-bin) -> English
Books -> Refinements -> Age (feature_two_browse-bin)
Books -> Refinements -> Format (binding_browse-bin) -> Hardcover