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Dying Light

Author: Stuart Macbride
Publisher: HarperCollins Publishers Ltd
Category: Book

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Rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars

34 reviews
Sales Rank: 134613

Media: Hardcover
Pages: 432
Shipping Weight (lbs): 1.5
Dimensions (in): 9.2 x 6.3 x 1.7

ISBN: 0007193157
EAN: 9780007193158
ASIN: 0007193157

Publication Date: May 2, 2006
Availability: Usually dispatched within 1-2 business days

Also Available In:

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•	Audio CD - Dying Light
•	Audio Cassette - Dying Light

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Customer Reviews: Read 29 more reviews...

5 out of 5 stars

Thoroughly recommended April 10, 2008
Logan McRae is confined to DI Steel's `Screw-Up Squad', investigating a series of horrific murders against Aberdeen's prostitutes, as a maniacal arsonist is terrorising the city. He is in a full-blown relationship with Watson, something begun in COLD GRANITE.

What is interesting is that the author manages to mix things up a bit in terms of his style. It still feels like a series, but offers a different approach which keeps the reading experience fresh. The gallows humour is as evident as before, and Steel, who also features in BROKEN SKIN gets her first outing here. She is a nice contrast to Logan's old boss, Insch, and behind her raucous humour and crass one-liners is a decent, if not terribly efficient police officer.

MacBride hasn't created the usual loner, maverick plod in Logan McRae, whose flashes of inspiration pull the elements together and saves the day. It is a bold move, which is one of the great appeals of the series. McRae is likeable and believable, not adverse to making mistakes, though clearly better at his job than some of his superiors. It is the sympathetic and human core to the novel which keeps the more outre characters in check, although that said, Steel almost steals the show.

The story elements are artfully handled and he is not afraid to leave certain things hanging at the end, which again is the sign of a writer writing with confidence.

Some scenes cut through the black-humour of the dialogue. The newly-orphaned kid, who is no angel, but faces a life in care. The scene is delivered so poignantly, that it reminds you that behind the thrills and spills of the crimes committed, that the victims are soon forgotten. Another scene involves one of the supporting cast that will have you wincing.

Top marks and I would recommend the other two, as well. Can't wait for the new one.

4 out of 5 stars

Pretty good, but.... March 3, 2008
OK, there's a lot in this book that I like and on the whole, I enjoyed reading it. However, I can't help wondering where Macbride goes from here. Logan himself is likeable enough but in Insch in 'Cold Granite' and Steel in this one, he seems to have created cliched figures which he won't be able to develop. One eats sweets, the other smokes, both swear a lot. I'm also a bit worried about the gore. Bits of this one are quite bad - one in particular - is he going to go down that road in future books? i.e. even more graphic descriptions of what decaying flesh looks/smells like. I hope not. There's a lot of humour here as well, though much of it 'black'. I'll give No3 a go but it's going to be make-or-break as far as this reader's concerned.

5 out of 5 stars

MacBride rocks.......................... February 23, 2008
As one born and bred in Aberdeen - where the weather is not that bad - this book is a worthy sequal to "Cold Granite".Here we have the return of the sweetie-guzzling D.I. Insch and the chain-smoking D.I. Steele. Local police hero D.S. Lazerus MacRae, is up to his eyes in murder, and the story twists and turns but never bores. Never short on humour, the characters are so natural and one feels one is at the scene. I would argue a little about the geography of the place, but much rebuilding has taken place so who knows.
This book not easy to lay down and I look forward to the third in the series.
Well worth reading.

5 out of 5 stars

Best book I have read like this since early Rebus February 17, 2008
1 out of 1 found this review helpful

My Dad gave me this, and before starting, my expectations were fairly low as I hadn't heard of Stuart MacBride. Having a read over the back cover, it sounded like a Aberdeen version of Rebus... and to be honest it turned out like that. Early Rebus though - the real hard-core stories. I immensely enjoyed this book, from the characters, to the whodunnit, the twists and turns. I found myself entirely engrossed.
Without giving much away, one encounter between DI Insch and a local doctor about the time of death of a suspect was achingly funny. Just ordered the next one!!

3 out of 5 stars

Not as strong as expected February 10, 2008
1 out of 1 found this review helpful

There are very many positive reviews of this book and few which rate it negatively. My expectations were therefore high.

I found the first few hundred pages to be very slow (of the `....and then he went to eat a burger....' variety), although the last third or so is quite fast-moving as DS Logan McRae and his colleagues try to wrap up a few crimes. Logan is flawed but very likeable.

But this is basically a police procedural, set in Aberdeen, with some pretty nasty crimes, and language to match, both of which provide some realism. But none of the crimes are complex enough to really challenge the police and lift the level of intrigue for the reader.

The writing is unexceptional but there are some good witty lines in the mix.

In summary, this was an easy read, but certainly not worth writing home about. 7/10