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Beneath the Bleeding

Author: Val Mcdermid
Publisher: Harper
Category: Book

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Rating: 3.5 out of 5 stars

18 reviews
Sales Rank: 739

Media: Paperback
Pages: 496
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.7
Dimensions (in): 6.9 x 4.3 x 1.5

ISBN: 0007243286
EAN: 9780007243280
ASIN: 0007243286

Publication Date: March 3, 2008
Availability: Usually dispatched within 1-2 business days
Shipping: International shipping available
Condition: A Brand new copy. Mailed the same working day.

Customer Reviews:

Showing reviews 6-10 of 18

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Val always keeps you reading April 23, 2008
0 out of 2 found this review helpful

If you're a fan of Val McDermid you will love this one too! A real page turner.

4 out of 5 stars

Above the Average March 7, 2008
3 out of 6 found this review helpful

Val McDermid has written some wonderful crime fiction tales in her time but she is probably best known for the series involving psychological profiler Dr Tony Hill and DCI Carol Jordan, based in the fictional Yorkshire city of Bradfield. Expectations are bound to be high for this, the fifth in the 'Hill-Jordan' collection of novels so far, following hot on the heels of the fifth in the associated Wire in the Blood TV dramatisations. In effect there are two stories running in parallel with each other, one the hunt for a serial killer and the other the search for a mass murderer, each person displaying very different methods but sharing an obsession for careful planning and forward thinking.

Knowing that the author herself recently went through considerable pain and discomfort as a result of major knee surgery, I cannot help but regard her decision to place Tony Hill in a hospital bed recovering from - guess what - major knee surgery for very nearly the entirety of this story's time span as something of an indulgence on her part, possibly a gesture of thanks to those who treated and cared for her, I don't know, but I got the impression that this strand of the plot was slightly at odds with everything else that was going on. It did however enable the author to introduce Tony Hill's mother in a thread that promised interesting developments but ultimately faded into insignificance. On the other hand it did offer an insight into the complicated personality of Dr Hill, and in that respect the mission was successful. Of course, anyone who has seen the Wire in the Blood series on TV will visualise actor Robson Green as Tony Hill in this book, personally I did not find this a distraction at all as the actor plays the part very convincingly.

The modus operandi of the serial killer is compared to a hypothetical character in an Agatha Christie novel, something of a cop-out in my opinion, so as to confess to such an analogy before the reader can make such an accusation. But the thoughts, emotions and objectives of the bomber are by comparison absolutely contemporary, relevant and described with chilling effect. It is almost uncomfortable to read at times as it feels like a peep into the mind-set of individuals responsible for suicide bombings (successful or otherwise) which is of course very much a happening-right-now issue in the world we live in.

Beneath the Bleeding is described on the back cover as 'The new Tony Hill thriller' but I consider that almost unfair, as in this, just as in the previous four in the series, Carol Jordan plays an equally important and leading role. At the end we are hardly any the wiser as to the status of their personal relationship, one which was rather strangely tested to the limit in this latest outing. I felt that Carol's animosity towards Tony for the majority of this story, in response to his efforts to solve the two murder hunts, lacked any real foundation. Carol and her team, despite their best efforts, continually made no progress at all while Tony was putting forward suggestions that Carol should have taken more seriously, based on their long-running professional respect for one another.

Hand on heart this is not quite up to the brilliant standard of THE MERMAIDS SINGING (the first in the Tony - Carol series, published in 1995) but no fan of Val's will be disappointed, she continues to demonstrate a highly professional approach to story-telling and she will surely gain many new admirers for her writing skills, especially in the crucial area of characterisation.

5 out of 5 stars

Ignore the other reviewers - Val is on top form February 3, 2008
5 out of 5 found this review helpful

I can't believe some people thought this wasn't Val at her best - why? Tony and Carol are satisfyingly and convincingly at loggerheads here, and Tony's confinement to a hospital add tension to the plot because he can't move (it's a bit like Hitchcock's 'Rear Window' - the sense of paralysis adds to the suspense). Great double-stranded plot, as readable as all Val's books. I didn't find Tony's icy mother entirely credible as a character, but still - few people can write thrillers as well as Val McD, and this one had a less guessable ending than 'The Torment of Others', in which I guessed early on who the psycho-killer was. Brilliant moment too, in this one, where one line of dialogue changes everything - can't say any more without giving away something crucial. Read it - it's fab!

2 out of 5 stars

Disappointing November 12, 2007
4 out of 4 found this review helpful

I was looking forward to this book and eagerly dropped another half way through when this arrived.

Unfortunatley it differs from previous Tony/Carol books. There's no real plot as such and we don't get an interesting killer or insights into their psyche. With Tony being sidelined he gets little to do but be perfect and right in every point he makes. The killings - such as they are - aren't particularly note worthy and both plot strands are wrapped up almost as an afterthought in the last few pages.

1 out of 5 stars

disappointing one from Val September 28, 2007
2 out of 4 found this review helpful

A die-hard McDermid fan I was eagerly anticipating the next installment in the Tony Hill/ Carol Jordan series. Unfortunately Beneath The Bleeding, depsite the great title, does not stand up in comparison to the previous books in the series. The style, literary panache and psycholgical insight are all down a level in Beneath the Bleeding. All in all it provides an average unmemorable read.
I will continue to read Val Mcdermid's books as when she is at her best she is unrivalled, but I hope her next book provides a return to form. This one felt a bit like she had to write it quickly without caring too much about the style or the characters.