Customer Reviews
Gripping - By: Donald Thompson, 14 Dec 2008 
I never liked the Series which was made of this book. I think it had a lot to do with the casting. So I approached the book with some apprehension. But I admit I was gripped by the end of the first chapter. The story itself, a take on the invisibility of the serial killer if his victims disappear lends itself to the modern era. It also takes a risk or two with the idea of celebrity & fame. In its central character, Dr. Tony Hill, McDermid has created a believable, but fallible hero. The story moves briskly, from a training exercise to a real life manhunt. The characters although rounded are never overstuffed asin some psychological thrillers. The ending although predictable, is well handled & uses what tension is available to it well. My only dislike is the epilogue. It tends to undermine the work which has gone before it too easily. Also, do real policemen not swear?
Even if you've watched the TV series this is worth a read - By: Snapdragon, 21 Mar 2008 This is the second of Val McDermid's Tony Hill novels. Hill has been asked to head up a Profiling Task Force, where young & talented officers will be taught profiling skills under his watchful eye. A routine classroom exercise resultsin one of the officers being murdered & Hill reunites with his friend & past partner, Carol Jordan.
I had watched the TV series before I came to this book & was a little hesitant, knowing that I already knew who the murderer was. However, I would still say that this book deserves a read. It is very well paced, the characters are interesting & rather than revealing the murderer at the end, we witness them carry out their crimes learning more about their motivations. The plot turns are also slightly different to those of the TV show, which kept it interesting for me!
Very enjoyable & well written. Recommended.
Great read - By: Ms. S. Takyar, 05 Jan 2008 I picked up this book at my local bookshop more for its synopsis that a knowledge of Val's previous writing & I have to say that I wasn't disappointed. The story is gripping with the reader gaining the perspective of both the killer & the detectives as the search is on for the latest victim. I couldn't put this book down but i was a little disappointed with the open ending.
Looking now at the glowing recommendations of Val's other books, I for one will certainly be buying them!
Happy reader - By: G. Dymond, 03 Jan 2008 
I prefer to read than write, so simply put ,an excellent work.
Val McDermid does it YET again!
Allin my household who have read this have been impressed.
THEY ARE NOT easily pleased.
A very worthwhile buy!
Great but slightly disappointing - By: F. Luchetti, 03 Oct 2007 
This is the secondin the series of Psychologist,Tony Hill & DCI Carol Jordan.
Tony & Carol are joined together on the hunt of a serial killer who also murders one of Tony's own team.
I found this a great,psychological chiller that captures the deviant mind of a killer but was slightly disappointedin the fact that the killer is known to the reader from the very beginning (I prefer to be kept guessing on who the killer is until the end).
