Rating: 
Summary: better than Birdman!
Review: If possible, this is a much better read than Birdman. I
don't agree that only the strong-of-heart can read Mo
Hayder. She's an excellent writer, and the psychological
side of the mysteries she writes is just as compelling
as the murders themselves. Birdman was a little hard
to take, but this is a really wonderful read, and I, for one,
can't wait for her next one.
Rating:
Summary: Not an easy ride, but worth the trip
Review: In many ways, this is not an easy book to read. THE TREATMENT is emotionally powerful -- sometimes overwhelmingly so. You *feel* and cry and can really *be* with the story. The author seems to have taken her time writing this book and it shows.The first thing that struck me was the dialogue. It's so natural, it's almost like reading transcripts of real life conversations. The author uses imagery and dialogue tie-ins to effective use. The story starts out slowly -- a little too slowly for my taste. But past a certain point, the suspense picks up as though stung by a whip, and from there rarely slows down. My main complaint is that there's too much going on. There's so much to keep track of -- so many story lines -- it's easy to forget important clues that need to be resolved. Also, beware that this is an almost unbearably ugly story involving pedophiles. After having read too many thrillers whose endings are a big let-down, I'm happy to say that this ending doesn't disappoint. It's...well, I went through a gamut of emotions because of the way it ends. Like I said, not an easy book to read. But if you want a reading experience that hits you in the gut, go for it.
Rating:
Summary: A merciless thriller
Review: In the heat of the London summer, Mr and Mrs Peach are discovered imprisoned in their house in Brockwell Park. They have been bound and beaten and their son is missing. Jack Caffery is to investigate but the similarities to events in his own past make it difficult for him to consider this new crime with the necessary detachment. A nightmare is about to begin...
This novel by Mo Hayder is truly intense, even horrifying at times and certainly unforgettable, though nothing for the faint hearted!
Rating:
Summary: A Parent's Worst Nightmare
Review: Mo Hayder once again brings us into the dark world of DI Jack Caffrey. This time the case revolves around another madman capable of unspeakable acts of perversion. While not quite as gruesome as "Birdman", the mental imagery in "The Treatment" is equally disturbing. Jack is brought to the edge of his own sanity, as he cannot ignore the case's apparent connection to the disappearance of his own brother decades earlier. Another well written page turner by Ms Hayder, I look forward to the next installment. Once again a warning, like "Birdman" this novel is not for the squeamish.
Rating: 
Summary: Not as good as Birdman, but still fine.
Review: Mo Hayder, The Treatment (Dell, 2001) The last page of The Treatment, Mo Hayder's second (and, according to interviews, final) Jack Caffery novel, is likely to leave readers screaming in frustration. It wouldn't surprise me to find out she'd been abducted by some crazed male version of Stephen King's Annie Wilkes and held against her will until she promises a third novel tying up the loose ends left at the conclusion of this book. We are an impatient lot, we mystery readers, and we don't want the questions left unanswered. More fool us. The end of The Treatment, as with the whole latter half of the book, is wonderfully written, a cracking good mystery that does her debut novel, Birdman, justice. Unfortunately, it's prefaced by the first half, which does nothing much justice. The book starts slow. Did I mention slow? I mean slow. Proust could have given Hayder some pacing lessons in the opening chapters. We are reintroduced to Jack Caffery, just about a year after the events in the final pages of Birdman. He's still Jack Caffery, jaded, not sleeping well, far too thin for his own good, unable to figure out how to make a relationship work, and completely obsessed with his job. his time, his job involves figuring out what happened to a child who was abducted from his home after the abductor had stayed in the house for three days. Readers of Birdman will recognize that this is ground Jack Caffery will not want to tread. (There is also, in the opening chapters, a piece of misdirection that is blatant, after one finishes the book, and very badly handled. A few points off for lack of editing.) We then spend the next hundred fifty pages or so getting to know the principals and a few ancillary characters; while character development is never a bad thing, it's as if the plot slows to a crawl while we get to know the folks, and then takes off again in a rocket halfway through. Credit goes, though, to the fact that it does take off again. Readers of Birdman will want to pick this one up to close the book on the unanswered questions left from that novel (and really, when it comes right down to it, you know, deep in your gut, the answers to those questions left at the end of The Treatment); those who have not yet been introduced to Hayder will definitely want to go with Birdman first. *** ½
Rating:
Summary: The cure for thriller seekers
Review: Ok, so I read Birdman and was impressed enough to try Hayder's second, and... it impressed yet again. I have to say this is one of the best thrillers I have ever read, I'm sure you've heard that before, but I was genuinely interested in what was going to happen.
I thought the story was excellent, I thought the characters were excellent, I thought the descriptions were excellent. It was detailed enough that you got the inside of police work but not so much that it dragged the book down, the back ground story of Caffery was well developed and very interesting, and how it all came together was very well done. The only problem? I had with the book was... the killer. When it came down to who it was, well, I was less than enthused, but, I didn't care, the rest of the book was more than strong enough to carry on. I didn't care who it was, but what they did and how and to who, and the chase and the detective's story and and and and...
I certainly recommend it, but I suggest reading Birdman to get more of the story on Caffery and how it back fills (more on his current girlfriend and how that came about as well as his obsession).
Rating:
Summary: The cure for thriller seekers
Review: Ok, so I read Birdman and was impressed enough to try Hayder's second, and... it impressed yet again. I have to say this is one of the best thrillers I have ever read, I'm sure you've heard that before, but I was genuinely interested in what was going to happen.
I thought the story was excellent, I thought the characters were excellent, I thought the descriptions were excellent. It was detailed enough that you got the inside of police work but not so much that it dragged the book down, the back ground story of Caffery was well developed and very interesting, and how it all came together was very well done. The only problem? I had with the book was... the killer. When it came down to who it was, well, I was less than enthused, but, I didn't care, the rest of the book was more than strong enough to carry on. I didn't care who it was, but what they did and how and to who, and the chase and the detective's story and and and and...
I certainly recommend it, but I suggest reading Birdman to get more of the story on Caffery and how it back fills (more on his current girlfriend and how that came about as well as his obsession).
Rating: 
Summary: WOW!
Review: One of the best reads ever! As with Mo Hayder's first book, this one is pretty graphic, but with a tense, taut, twisting storyline that can't be missed. This book packs a wallop. While not for the faint-hearted, the the characters will make you like them or hate them and the ending put chills down my spine. To really get to know these characters I strongly suggest you read her first book, "Birdman".
Rating:
Summary: One of the best
Review: The one word I would use to describle this book is harrowing. All of the characters are fully realized and flawed in some way, as in real life. The story is engrossing -- so much so that I know this one will stay with me for a long time.
Rating:
Summary: This one should scare even the most hardened reader.
Review: The Treatment is a tense, terrifying novel that vastly improves upon its original. I never thought I'd read another book that would scare me out of my wits, but this one certainly did. I read it on the ninth floor of a hotel and was still checking out the window to make sure somebody wasn't dangling off the roof and looking in! (You'll have to read the book to know what I'm talking about).
No, it is not a book for those with weak stomachs. It deals with some very heavy themes, which is what makes it so scary. Hayder is also able to strike a refreshing balance between exploring her characters' private lives and the crime at hand. No soap opera at the expense of plot here, a problem that befalls many crime novels of late. I hope Hayder returns to the crime genre and Det. Caffrey soon, because I've yet to find another novel that has scared me as much as this one.
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