Birdman

Mo Hayder

May 2012 · Grove/Atlantic, Inc.

About this ebook

A serial killer stalks the streets of London in this “top-notch debut thriller”—the first Jack Caffery novel from the acclaimed author of Gone (Kirkus Reviews).
 
In his first case as lead investigator with London’s murder squad, Det. Inspector Jack Caffery is called on to investigate the murder of a young woman whose body has been discovered near the Millennium Dome in Greenwich, southeast London.
 
Mutilated beyond recognition, the victim is soon joined by four others discovered in the same area—all female and all ritualistically murdered. And when the postmortem examination reveals a gruesome signature connecting the victims, Caffery realizes exactly what he’s dealing with—a dangerous serial killer.
 
A finalist for the Edgar Award, Birdman explores the darkest reaches of the human mind and introduces a fascinating detective to the world of British crime fiction.
 
“Treading the grisly path blazed by Thomas Harris in 1981 with Red Dragon, promising newcomer Hayder crafts a blood-curdlingly creepy debut thriller.” —Publishers Weekly, starred review
 
“A deftly plotted assault on the nerves . . . Birdman preys on the reader’s expectations expertly, and Hayder handles her story’s complicated time scheme with enviable assurance. Graphic, disturbing, splendidly readable.” —Kirkus Reviews

Ratings and reviews

This was a pretty good book, but I was a little frustrated at times. At first I had some trouble with some of the terminology and department structure. Ford Sierra? What's that? After finally figuring out it's Greenwich, England and not Greenwich, Connecticut it made more sense. Still, the amount of slang terms used had me opening up the internet to see what a punter or a tom was. The main story was good and well paced, though I didn't really care about the side story of Caffrey's personal life. The last 50 pages or so were really fast paced and just flew by. It is a bit on the graphic side. The eBook was formatted well, with only a couple of small annoyances. Towards the end there weren't always breaks between paragraphs when switching from one scene to another. There was only one noticeable spelling/grammar error.

A fairly well written crime/detective novel. The fullness of the characters, and their relationships with each other make this book above average in this genre.

Mo Hayder is my new favorite author.

About the author

Mo Hayder has worked as a filmmaker, Tokyo nightclub hostess, and English language teacher in Asia. She is also the author of Birdman; The Treatment; The Devil of Nanking, winner of the Elle Magazine crime fiction prize; Pig Island, shortlisted for the Barry Award for Best British Crime Novel; Ritual, shortlisted both for the CWA Ian Fleming Steel Dagger award and for the coveted Theakstons Old Peculier Crime Novel of the Year Award; Skin; and Gone; as well as the winner of the 2011 Crime Writers' Association Dagger in the Library award for outstanding body of work. She lives in England.