Ritual: A Novel
Sep 2008 · Grove/Atlantic, Inc.
4.1star
16 reviews
Ebook
416
Pages
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About this ebook
A murder leads detective Jack Caffery into England’s drug underground in this “brilliant, dense, scary” crime thriller in the Edgar Award–winning series (The Globe and Mail, Toronto).
Nine feet under water, police diver Flea Marley closes her gloved fingers around a human hand. The fact that there’s no body attached is disturbing enough—until the discovery of the matching appendage a day later. Both hands have been freshly amputated, and there are indications that the victim was still alive when they were removed.
Newly seconded to the Major Crime Investigation Unit in Bristol, DI Jack Caffery soon establishes that the hands belong to a young man who has recently disappeared. As Caffery and Marley search for the rest of the victim—and for his abductor—they journey into the darkest recesses of Bristol’s underworld, where drug addiction is rife, street kids sell themselves for a hit, and a disturbing occult ritual may be making an unexpected appearance.
“Hayder . . . moves to another level in this spellbinder. With characters so complex, so fascinating that they could populate a dozen novels . . . Definitely one of the best crime novels of [the year].” —The Globe and Mail
“Ritual moves from the eerie and dangerous to the downright ferocious as steadily as an oncoming train . . . You’re going to love the ride.” —Jack Ketchum, author of The Lost and The Girl Next Door
“Superb . . . Hayder vividly evokes torture and drug abuse, but the violence is never gratuitous. Readers looking for visceral thrills need look no further than this gritty English series.” —Publishers Weekly, starred review
“Hayder . . . outdoes herself, flip-flopping the supernatural and the explainable like a cycle of poison and antidote that will remain with the reader long after the final page.” —Booklist, starred review
Nine feet under water, police diver Flea Marley closes her gloved fingers around a human hand. The fact that there’s no body attached is disturbing enough—until the discovery of the matching appendage a day later. Both hands have been freshly amputated, and there are indications that the victim was still alive when they were removed.
Newly seconded to the Major Crime Investigation Unit in Bristol, DI Jack Caffery soon establishes that the hands belong to a young man who has recently disappeared. As Caffery and Marley search for the rest of the victim—and for his abductor—they journey into the darkest recesses of Bristol’s underworld, where drug addiction is rife, street kids sell themselves for a hit, and a disturbing occult ritual may be making an unexpected appearance.
“Hayder . . . moves to another level in this spellbinder. With characters so complex, so fascinating that they could populate a dozen novels . . . Definitely one of the best crime novels of [the year].” —The Globe and Mail
“Ritual moves from the eerie and dangerous to the downright ferocious as steadily as an oncoming train . . . You’re going to love the ride.” —Jack Ketchum, author of The Lost and The Girl Next Door
“Superb . . . Hayder vividly evokes torture and drug abuse, but the violence is never gratuitous. Readers looking for visceral thrills need look no further than this gritty English series.” —Publishers Weekly, starred review
“Hayder . . . outdoes herself, flip-flopping the supernatural and the explainable like a cycle of poison and antidote that will remain with the reader long after the final page.” —Booklist, starred review
Ratings and reviews
4.1
16 reviews
Teri Alexander
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January 25, 2013
I am completely hooked. This is the third Hayder book for me. I am glad to have found this author and I look forward to catching up by reading more. Like the building of suspense.
Lisa Shadden
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February 5, 2013
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.
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