Birdman

Rating:
Summary: Started as a page turner; gruesome details made it too gross
Review: I picked up the book because I am researching first time authors to learn what is now being accepted for publication and what the major houses are willing to gamble on when dealing with an unknown author. I learned that grossness sells. The story was well told for the most part but the level of sordid detail was not necessary to the story. The ending was extremely weak and I felt as though the author had read a "how to" book that dictated all the loose ends must be dealt with before the reader finishes the last page. The ending was not satisfactory on any level. The book will do well with those readers who like the sordid killer mentality. It may even be a good movie but the subject matter really turned me off.

Rating:
Summary: A Nail-Biting Page Turner Up All Night Read
Review: The riveting psychological thriller is one of the best I have read in a while. If you enjoyed Church of the Dead Girls or The putrification Ceremony you will love this one! If you would like to read this do not read the reviews at the Amazon UK site. They give away the plot and who-done-it! The atmosphere and area of Greenwich and the Millenium Dome are wonderful insights for us anglophiles in the US! Enjoy, but remember, you won't sleep till your finished tonight!

Rating:
Summary: Fly away Birdman.
Review: Yipes. What an ugly little book this is. Not that the gruesomeness affected me so much but the fact that someone has not only tried to stake out Thomas Harris' territory but also his terse, diamond-like prose. And not done it very well either. That is the core of my complaint: It's a been-there, done-that situation told in a manner that is not entirely original. Sorry.

Rating:
Summary: Graphic and fast paced
Review: I have been waiting and waiting for this book. I finally finished it in 2 days. It was a great book. Mo Hayder made a fantastic debut with this novel.

I must warn you though, you need a strong stomach for some of the very very graphic scenes that Hayder's describes. In fact one was so awful, I actually felt nauseous. Nonetheless the plot is fantastic and well constructed.

I can't wait for the next one.

Rating:
Summary: Birdman. A Dark Read.
Review: Chilling. Having just returned from Greenwich and her new Millennium Dome site, I found Mo Hayder's writing most realistic. A page turner, but with slow contemplation and thought allowed between the lines. I await this writer's next offering with excitement.

Rating:
Summary: A Big Disappointment
Review: I have been trying to get to read this book for over a month and really looking forward to it. I am in about 5 book clubs so had to do my re- quired reading first......finally....I got to read it...and was very disappointed..It started off well, Jack Caffey is a great character and I just know a series can be built around him.. the action was pretty good but as it went on, the detail became gross....actually gross is an understatement.......unnecessarily ugly with descriptions of what the serial killer did to his victims and what he said, also. It was as if the author just wanted to shock and stun her audience....I kept waiting to see why the serial killer was this way, what was his background, more characterization...but it didn't happen.. His ugly words and indescribable actions towards his victims played center stage...I am in a True Crime book club and have, over the years, read about many of our infamous serial killers....this book did not afford me any information....it was just very very UGLY. When I first started to read Birdman, I thought, "Well, here's a great new author, she has signs of making if big.." Now I don't know...I do know I will not read her next [e-mail]

Rating:
Summary: I couldnt put this book down
Review: I bought this book on holiday in the USA although it turns out i could have got it cheaper in England but i don't resent the money since it was a compulsive read. what they call a page turner. I don't read a lot in this genre, but I would say it was absolutey riveting and it had me by the neck from the beginning (even if it was bit technical)I admit I hadn't read all the hype like the other reviewer bu even if I had done I would still think it was brilliant. I didn't sleep a wink after and now I'm looking for any more by Mo Hayder.

Rating:
Summary: Strange
Review: Mo Hayder's Birdman is very good book that can be gross,disgusting and sometimes grusome. I enjoyed this book and in a wierd way I liked the main Character British Detective Jack Caffrey even though he can be crazy at times. This was a great thriller/Mystery straight untill the very last sentence on the very last page.

Rating:
Summary: Unoriginal thriller even when you don't know twists.
Review: Necrophilia, drug abuse and serial murder - with my busy social life I hardly have time to read! This is simply this year's "Every Dead Thing", a hyped novel which no way compares with "Red Dragon, Silence..". Sold in the UK with a money back guarantee if it's not as good as Thomas Harris could be seen as debased currency given the pathetic "Hannibal" but this reads more like a Lynda LaPlante (Prime Suspect) script idea. The hero carries next to nothing interesting with him (the baggage from his past is dull) and the book lacks flavour overall. Surely a first-time writer could offer us some popular culture references to give the novel some sense of being fresh. She also falls into the genre traps of making it a man on man duel with a threat to loved ones. The final scenes won't live long in my memory as they are clumsy. Do great thrillers really need a money back offer? I'm glad I hadn't read the other reviews which give away the plot - I don't even read the jacket for fear of spoiling the story. Some of these reviews should carry plot warnings.

Rating:
Summary: unfufilled promise
Review: Starts out well, nice to have the added twist of a partners in crime, but the character development of the other killer isn't there;his psyche is only sketchily hinted at....I feel this book has been highly overrated.