Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #5051 in Books
• Published on: 2008-03-10
• Binding: Hardcover
• 416 pages

Amazon.co.uk
When it comes to crime novels designed to chill the blood in their unblinking treatment of the darkest recesses of human behaviour, Mo Hayder is unquestionably in the forefront of British practitioners in the field. What is even more striking is the fact that more than any other female writer, she is moving comfortably in the bloody territory that has long been the traditional prerogative of male writers, and never for a second allows her writing to be any less disturbing than that of her male confrères.

Ritual is par for a course where this writer is concerned: a tough, scarifying novel, delivered with maximum narrative rigour. A police diver discovers a severed human hand in Bristol's floating harbour. Shortly afterwards, another hand -- from the same victim -- is found buried underneath a restaurant. The severed hands are those of a young heroin addict who has recently gone missing from the Bristol drugs scene. A police diver, Flea Marley, finds herself joining forces with DI Jack Caffrey, recently seconded to the Major Crime Investigation unit. Jack is attempting to come to terms with the murder of his brother, but finds himself more than occupied with the details of the death of Mossy, the young heroin addict. It appears that the latter has become embroiled in a sinister black market trade stemming from Africa, where the value of human life is held at less than nothing. Jack and Flea form an uneasy alliance, tackling together a world steeped in the most appalling torture and abuse of human life. Those who have read the powerful predecessors to this novel (such as Birdman and The Treatment) will know what to expect. Mo Hayder is always reliable in delivering riveting (if deeply uncomfortable) reads. --Barry Forshaw

LONDON LITE, 4 March 2008
'There's something almost feral about her fiction compared with other British crime writers. She may be foxy but she's also bloody scary'

DAILY MIRROR, 7 March 2008
Expect plenty of blood, gore and black magic'

Customer Reviews

Lets hope therest of the series is better...
I normally love Mo Hayder books and I was looking forward to her latest but I was left feeling very disappointed after reading this one. The main character Jack Cafferty seems like a completely different man and the other leading character (Flea) is just weird. I found that I didn't really understand how all the characters fitted together. The `Walking Man' seemed not to be important but clearly he will be involved in the future books. I did find the topic of African Rituals very interesting and I was gripped by the scenes with Mossy in his lair. The story was easy to follow even though the timeline jumped around although I found it predictable and was not surprised by the ending. It's just frustrating because we know that Mo Hayder can do better.

A gripping read
I really enjoyed this book. Even though it didn't quite match the graphic horror of Birdman or The Treatment, it could still chill my blood. Mo Hayder writes about an unusual killing (or is it???) when a human hand without a body is found. Jack Caffery, who we know from the earlier books mentioned, is assigned the case; his first after his relocation to Bristol. I also enjoyed his new partner, a police force diver. Her position in the Force gave the story a different angle over other, similiar books. I didn't want to put it down. It certainly isn't your typical mystery novel.

What a disappointment
Let me start by saying that I love Mo Hayders books, she goes where no female author has gone before. So when I saw that she had written another Jack Caffery novel I was eagerly expectant, but what a disappointment, at no time did this grip me, easily put down and a bit of a chore to pick up. I couldn't relate to any of the characters, they all seemed rather two dimensional, normally you can see a character in your mind, get a flavour of the person, but not this time, I actively dislike Flea the new female police diver, and even Jack seemed oddly insubstantial. And as for The Walking Man, Walk away!
The whole book had an ethereal unworldly feel to it, apparently this is the first novel in a series featuring the walking man. I'm afraid the second book will have to improve greatly to make me want to stick with a whole series of novels.
Mo Hayder has earned the right to produce the odd duff story, all authors throw at least one out, but she could lose a lot of fans by perpetuating the error.