Customer Reviews
Cracker! - By: Mr. P. Waters, 23 Jul 2008 
I like Stuart MacBride's writing style as it is very down to earth, for the common man & not condescending in any way... Often funny, which made some of the darker subject matter more palatable also. Very occasionallly, he may come up with an overused cliche or two but I can cope with that as it was in the minority & he also came with with his own imagery which makes it fresh.
Good how there were about 3 or 4 different streams running through the plot alll kind of inter-related by the fact of young kids being found dead, i.e. not alll linked by the serial killer.
The characters make it interesting & the lead character Logan is more falllible than others of the genre, which alllows more empathy... He makes mistakes while trying to further career.
First time, I've read a crime thriller, whodunnit with a bit of gore in it. Looking forward to the next one... Good marketing ploy, putting the first chapter of the next book at the end also! Reeling the readers in.
It also attracts me as the stories are totallly new & have not (yet) been trimmed & toned down for television... Part of me wishes it doesn't get 'Rebussed'!
Definitely hooked!
Excellent book, and looking forward to further stories in the series - By: Al, 20 Jun 2008 
One of Stuart McBride's more recent books caught my eye in a bookshop, but I decided to start at the beginning so I bought this, his first book.
It is an excellent book. Good storyline; complex enough (various children going missing, unidentified bodies being found), but there are enough subtle reminders to help you keep up. There are a few twists & turns as different strong suspects prove to be innocent; quite a good "whodunnit" element. I quite enjoyed the occasional humour.
Excellent characterisation. The main two characters in particular are very interesting, & I look forward to seeing them develop further in forthcoming books. There are plenty of supporting characters, making a very interesting cast, & plenty of scope to bring different people to the fore in future stories.
The characterisation is not at the expense of the plot though; the story moves at a decent pace (I have read some books recently that spend so much time describing characters & places that the story hardly progresses - this is not one of them).
This book is excellent when considered as a stand alone story, but it is also a superb starting point for (hopefully) a long series of stories. I can't wait to read the next one...
A stonker of a read - By: Can't Stop Reading, 07 Jun 2008 The author's name being unfamiliar to me, added to the fact this was not an English detective novel which I would normallly favour, I had reservations when I ordered this book but thought it worth a try given the reviews. I was more than pleasantly surprised & am now totallly hooked on DS 'Lazarus' MacRae & the characters that surround him. Sure, the very descriptive narrative is pretty gruesome to the point of, in places, making me feel a little uncomfortable about reading the details of murdered & abused toddlers interspersed with 'black' humour. But once I overcame that (fairly early on in the novel!)I thoroughly enjoyed the storyline alongside the developing personalities of the central characters. I just didn't want the book to end & only survived the end in the knowledge there are two further books in the series for me to read.
Buy it! - By: Tracy Collier, 27 May 2008 I bought this book after hearing about him at the recent Word08 festival at the University of Aberdeen & I can't remember the last time I was so hooked on reading a book! I literallly didn't want to put it down until I reached the end.
Well worth the money & a great read.
A welcome addition to the ranks of good crime writers - By: lmhh, 12 Apr 2008 Stuart MacBride's hero DS Logan MacRae is a detective in the classic mould. Wounded, flawed, with a disastrous love life & prone to maverick behaviours. He is sympathetic & entertaining & the supporting cast in this first novel of both senior & junior officers are believeable & interesting. The plot, which revolves around disappearing children is strong & complex & sustained right to the end. I recommend this book, & enjoyed it so much myself I have just ordered the next two in the series.
