Rating: 
Summary: Chilling!
Review: (for obvious reasons I will not go into the plot)Mo Hayder proves, once again, that reading her books before going to bed is definitely NOT clever. A chillingly good thriller, with a plot that is, sadly, quite believable. Bits and pieces slowly fall into place and there are just enought twists and turns to keep you interested. Jack Cafferry is far from perfect, but his flaws make him what he is. Yet again we are left to wonder-do monsters like this really exist? and hope that they are just figments of a brilliant imagination. Read it.
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Summary: Mo Hayder, please don't start taking Prozac........
Review: ....because your twisted mind is just far too entertaining. All I can say is Thomas Harris has nothing on her. I read 333 pages of The Treatment in ONE SITTING. I could not put this book down. I obsessed at work all day about going home to finish it. And when I did I was not disappointed. I am begging my fiance to read this book so I can talk about it with someone b/c its killing me. Birdman was excellent, but The Treatment is beyond words. I can't wait to see what she has planned for us next.
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Summary: The Scariest Book I've Ever Read...
Review: ...and I read 3-4 books a week, many of them in the suspense genre.
I read The Treatmeant last summer, after having finished Birdman, a novel I did not particular care for. Why I picked up The Treatment, I guess we will never know. I will say the murderer in Hayder's Birdman came as a surprise to me, which is fairly a fairly unusual event when it comes to me and mystery novels.
Anyway, while I may not have found the characters completely loveable (though I admit, they were realistic), or the language totally politically correct (I know, picky, picky!), it's been five months since I read The Treatment and I can still vividly remember scenes from it. I can remember lying it my own bed, holding flipping the pages, shaking, falling asleep, having nightmares that were actual scenes from the book....and eventually, being so outraged at the ending I wanted to hunt down Mo and throttle her by the neck!
Kudos to Ms. Hayder to writing such an original book. For all her obsessive fans who've already read both Birdman and The Treatment, Tokyo is a fantastic book, and is currently out in the UK. I highly recommend it.
Rating:
Summary: Amazing Read!
Review: A few years ago, Mo Hayder shocked readers with her truly amazing debut effort Birdman. Her follow-up, The Treatment, reteams the reader with Jack Caffery, a London DI who once again finds himself on the trail of a sadistic killer. Only this time, the murders hit a little too close to home. A man kidnaps an entire family and then performs horrible acts on them. Jack needs to find the killer before he takes over another family. But at the same time, Jack has to face his past. When he was younger, his older brother disappeared and was presumably kidnapped by one of Jack's neighbours. When this man dies, Jack is thrown back into his past and forced to come face to face with the demons that have been haunting him ever since his brother disappeared. This is a very realistic thriller that will shock, excite and trouble you all at once. It is amazingly well written and it is very powerful in its realistic portrayal of human emotions and of violence. Though the book is often gory, the violence is written with tact and skill; the book has enough darkness to shock the reader but never repulses him. The plot is very intricate and full of believable twists and turns. You'll never be able to guess what's coming next. Mo Hayder is the brightest new voice in the mystery/thriller field. I cannot wait to read her next book. There is no doubt in my mind that The Treatment will be the best mysetery of the year.
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Summary: A STUNNING PORTRAIT OF CRIME
Review: British author Mo Hayder transfixed chiller fans with a stunning portrait of a psychopathic killer in her popular debut novel, "Birdman" (1999). With "The Treatment" she turns her attention to pedophilia, and recounts villainy in stark forensic detail. Jack Caffery, the jaded, street-wise detective from Hayder's previous work, returns to investigate a heinous crime which very much reminds him of an event in his own childhood. It is a warm, beautiful summer in South London when a young couple, Alek and Carmel Peach, are found bound and near death in their home. They have been savagely beaten, but even more frightening is the disappearance of their young son, Rory. Caffery pulls out all stops in his attempt to find the missing boy. The detective is torn as past memories and the present crime seem to converge in his mind. When the child's butchered body is discovered, South London is turned upside down in an effort to locate the sadist capable of such an offense. Grisly at times? Yes. Suspense filled and impossible to put down? Also yes. "The Treatment," a bestseller in England, will surely win more fans for Hayder in the colonies. - Gail Cooke
Rating: 
Summary: British pedophilia
Review: Detective Inspector Jack Caffery is summoned to investigate a revolting crime committed in Brixton, a middle class southern London suburb. A family, the Peaches, have been found manacled in their home. They've been beaten, starved and dehydrated and their 9 year old son, Rory is nowhere to be found. Caffery, a fixture on the AMIT (Area Major Investigation Team), has been tormented for nearly 30 years by the disappearance of his 9 year old brother Ewan. Ivan Pendericki, a portly aged neighbor and twice convicted pedophile, is suspected of the abduction but it's never been proven. Caffery has remained in the house he grew up in as means to continue the vigil for his long lost brother. Caffery and his superior the coarse but kind hearted, butch Chief Detective Inspector Danniella Souness are combing the crime scene for clues as to the whereabouts of Rory Peach. Through interrogation of the disoriented parents Alek and Carmel, they determine that the crime had been photographed and the house reeked of urine. Caffery, using all his investigative experience and through the use of body seeking dogs find the corpse of the young boy tied up in a tree in a nearby park. Forensic examination determines that the boy had been sodomized. While this has been discovered the unexpected suicide of the pedophile Pendericki, who had been scrutinized for years by Caffery, opens a new avenue of investigation. Pendericki, who has been harassing Caffery for years over the memory of his brother, leaves him a map leading him to a large stash of child pornography. Examining the videotapes lead him to a Tracey Lamb, who might have information about his brother Ewan. Eventally, it is learned that the man suspected of the crime, is called the "troll" and there is a history of similar crimes. We learn that these hideous repugnant acts have been committed by a demented psychopath to combat his impotence. These crimes represent "The Treatment" to cure his sexual inadequacies. Hayder pens a disturbing tale of the sleazy underbelly of the world of child pornography and pedophilia. She does an admirable job in illustrating the dichotomy in the distraught mind of Caffery between his brother's disappearance and his present case and the feelings they invoke.
Rating:
Summary: Head & Shoulders Above the Rest
Review: Finally, an heir to Thomas Harris! When you finish this one, and Hayder's equally enthralling previous novel Birdman, you'll come away thrilled (and asking when another Hannibal book will be coming our way).
I've been trying to think of an articulate way to describe why the Mo Hayder books stand out as scarier and more disturbing than other talented authors writing crime fiction today. I can't seem to do it. They just ooze a sense of uneasiness--about the main character detective, about the crimes committed, and about the motives of those characters close to our protagonist.
Hayder's criminals are perfectly portrayed--they are clearly sociopathic and twisted in ways no sane person can comprehend. Their proclivities are so original and horrifying--and yet the killers are not smugly laughing at the police and chasing down the main character like in so many more predictable novels. They are barely functioning misfits and outcasts, and their crimes are unique and disturbing.
I can't wait for the next installment in the series, and I'm excited about the U.S. release of Hayder's latest novel, Tokyo.
Rating:
Summary: Psycho (if only)
Review: Having read Birdman (and impressed by Mo Hayder's talent to write a shocker), The Treatment seemed to promise another dose of the same medicine. Unfortunately the book seems to centralise on the life of "the hero" DCI Jack Caffrey. The Treatment fails to derive the suspense and terror associated with a Paedophile intent on holding an entire family hostage, while oblivious to whether they live or die. Potentially a masterpiece, but Mo Hayder's publisher should have sent it back and asked for more.
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Summary: Another Chilling Winner!
Review: Hayder returns to her familiar character of Jack Cafferty, a tortured London detective, in this explosive sequel to the Birdman. Cafferty is on the trail of the troll, a ghastly little man who delights in torturing families in ways not appropriate to describe here. The clock is ticking and you can feel the tension mounting in the book as Hayder goes from one subplot to the next. Some people have criticized the many sublots in this novel, but I think they serve to build up the tension. Plots unfinished in the Birdman continue here. Hayder's character development, ear for dialogue, and knowledge of police procedurals come through crystal clear.
If you enjoy books like Silence of the Lambs, the novels of Patricial Cornwell or Kathy Reichs then you will enjoy this.
Keep a light on at night and disregard that scratching you hear in the attic....
Rating:
Summary: Best book I've read in years!
Review: I always read books in about 48 hours whether they are good or not. But this one kept me up and reading until my eyes wouldn't stay open anymore. While I slept, I dreamed about it. When I was awake, and tossing and turning, I thought about it. Needless to say, I finished the book in less than 24 hours. The story and characters are haunting, powerful and original. The ending is masterful...Unique for the genre, leaving the reader strangely satisfied, yet still wanting more. I have read some interviews of Hayder, where she indicates that this will be her last novel starring Caffery. After reading this novel, I do understand her decision - which, like the book's denoument, leaves her fans strangely satisfied, yet still wanting more. Because Caffery is a haunting, dark, complex character, yet at the same time, once you read The Treatment, his story has been told. I highly recommend this book, and I can't wait to see what Mo has in store for us for her next novel:) RE: the subject matter that some readers object to Yes, the content is disturbing, but those of us who devour these kinds of books not only are familiar with that, but EXPECT to be disturbed. That's what makes this genre so exciting and thought-provoking.
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