Best friends, Kieron and Josh, are playing in the park and decide to play hide and seek in the woods. Both boys run into the the woods, but only one of them comes out again.

What happened in the woods, and who has taken Kieron?

People who love crime thrillers and psychological thrillers. People who already love Tom Thorne.

Getting to see Tom Thorne when he was younger. Understanding him a bit better. I also loved all of the references to 1996, when the story is set. It was a great nostalgic ride!

Reading about Kieron being held captive. Also, it took me a little while to get into this book. But, once I was in, I was in!

Re-read 'Speepyhead.' It's been at least twenty years since I first read it.

Excited. Tense. Sad.

Mark Billingham had a career in stand up comedy, and switched to writing crime novels around twenty years ago. And, oh my goodness, what a good switch!

It is gripping in the most part. The ending has a fantastic twist.

If you are triggered by child abduction stories or mistreatment of children, don't read this.

This is the prequel to Mark Billingham's first Tom Thorne novel, 'Sleepyhead.' However, it is the 17th Tom Thorne book, so we are reading about a man who we already know really well, and we get to see some of the reasons why he is as he is. It is great to see Thorne with his mother and father.

While I love the excitement in this novel, my favourite thing has to be the 1996 setting. Billingham includes a ton of subtle references that put those of us who are old enough to remember the time right back in the time of Euro '96, when England lost (yet again!) to Germany on penalties in the semi final. I loved all the references to the football. It pulled me back in time, and I loved that.

Meeting Phil Hendricks for the first time was brilliant. He and Thorne didn't exactly hit it off at first. But, pretty quickly, they became good friends through a love of football.

We get meet Thorne as a Detective Sergeant, and we learn about the first case that he wasn't able to solve. It is a harrowing case, and it gives us a good insight into his motivations and neuroticisms.

The plot itself ... I guessed who had taken Kieron pretty early on, as I think a lot of people will. So that wasn't ingenious. However, there is a huge twist at the end that. I did not see coming. It was very clever, and I actually gasped when I read it. It was very nicely slotted in.

This is definitely not a book to read if you are triggered by stories with mistreatment of children. I mean, there isn't a lot of the book where this is mentioned, but when it is, it is harrowing. There is also some bad language, so if you don't like that, don't read this. Again, there isn't a lot, but there is enough to upset someone who is offended by it. Also, don't read if you don't like scenes of violence. (But, for all of these things, you probably aren't going to pick up a book like this if you don't like them.)

Reading this book has made me want to continue reading the Tom Thorne books. I think this is number seventeen in the series, and I have only read the first seven because, while I have most of the books, I try to space them out so that I always lots more to read. I generally only read one a year, but I might make an exception this time around. (I did skip to this book because it was a prequel to the first book, so it didn't need to be read in order. Plus, my friend gave me this book and told me I had to read it because it's "bloody brilliant." And, well, who am I to argue?)

If you haven't read any Mark Billingham before, 'Sleepyhead' is the best place to start. That book is pure genius. I don't remember the exact blurb, but it is something like, "Three people have died at the hands of the same person. But, with the fourth victim, something goes wrong, and they survive, albeit, in a vegetative state. But when Thorne investigates, he comes to realise that, actually, the fourth victim is the one the perpetrator got right. Not wrong." Actually, that is nothing like the actual blurb, but it is what I remember of the book.

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Created May 11, 2024 at 2:57am • Submit your own review...