RITUAL - MO HAYDER
November 8th 2008 05:53
REVIEW
Phoebe “Flea” Marley, a police diver, recovers a severed human hand from the Bristol harbour and forensic testing shows that the amputation took place while the victim was still alive. The search for the body, dead or alive, leads Flea into dark corners of the world of African muti (traditional medicine) where human body parts are valued for their supposedly magical properties. *Before long, DI Jack Caffery arrives on the scene. He has transferred from London, lugging a load of emotional baggage and Flea is instantly attracted to the dark-haired loner; as he is to her. She is still grappling with grief and her own guilt over the deaths of her parents and Caffery carries the burden of memory, of the long- ago disappearance of his brother whom he believes was abducted by a paedophile. *The hands (a second is discovered) are identified as belonging to a young drug-addicted male prostitute named Mossy and the search for both victim and perpetrator connects to Flea’s world in more ways than one. *Ritual held my interest from start to finish (I took it with me on a long walk because I didn’t want to stop reading). Mo Hayder has constructed a plot that proceeds at a natural pace, easily accommodates uncensored descriptions of bloody violence and neatly intersects several threads of action. The characters are all distinguishable and individual so, even though Flea Marley comes across as a bit of a drip - in spite of her expertise - she’s a likeable and believable drip. Jack Caffery, on the other hand, has undeniable charm. In her notes at the end of the novel, Mo Hayder has this to say about her creation: 'Detective Inspector Jack Caffery is my poster boy. My beau, my BF, my petit copain. In him I was writing myself a fantasy lover…I was intrigued by a man who illustrated the dichotomy in a world where law and order increasingly tread a hazy line, where the protector can be the aggressor, the public servant the criminal. Jack Caffery is constantly challenged to define himself as good or bad.’ *She elaborates on the appeal of this character and describes how many readers have approached her to tell her how much they fancy Jack Caffery. What greater acknowledgement of a creation of real substance could an author ask for? *My one criticism of Ritual is that the character of Walking Man seems extraneous. This wise tramp has the obvious function of revealing Jack’s history and his pre-occupations, but still he seems unnecessary. *The media release for Ritual calls it the ‘terrifying opening novel in the Walking Man series’ so presumably this character, based on a real-life tramp that Mo Hayder encountered, is to be further explored. Perhaps his relationship with Jack Caffery will develop more satisfactorily in the next novel.
Phoebe “Flea” Marley, a police diver, recovers a severed human hand from the Bristol harbour and forensic testing shows that the amputation took place while the victim was still alive. The search for the body, dead or alive, leads Flea into dark corners of the world of African muti (traditional medicine) where human body parts are valued for their supposedly magical properties. *Before long, DI Jack Caffery arrives on the scene. He has transferred from London, lugging a load of emotional baggage and Flea is instantly attracted to the dark-haired loner; as he is to her. She is still grappling with grief and her own guilt over the deaths of her parents and Caffery carries the burden of memory, of the long- ago disappearance of his brother whom he believes was abducted by a paedophile. *The hands (a second is discovered) are identified as belonging to a young drug-addicted male prostitute named Mossy and the search for both victim and perpetrator connects to Flea’s world in more ways than one. *Ritual held my interest from start to finish (I took it with me on a long walk because I didn’t want to stop reading). Mo Hayder has constructed a plot that proceeds at a natural pace, easily accommodates uncensored descriptions of bloody violence and neatly intersects several threads of action. The characters are all distinguishable and individual so, even though Flea Marley comes across as a bit of a drip - in spite of her expertise - she’s a likeable and believable drip. Jack Caffery, on the other hand, has undeniable charm. In her notes at the end of the novel, Mo Hayder has this to say about her creation: 'Detective Inspector Jack Caffery is my poster boy. My beau, my BF, my petit copain. In him I was writing myself a fantasy lover…I was intrigued by a man who illustrated the dichotomy in a world where law and order increasingly tread a hazy line, where the protector can be the aggressor, the public servant the criminal. Jack Caffery is constantly challenged to define himself as good or bad.’ *She elaborates on the appeal of this character and describes how many readers have approached her to tell her how much they fancy Jack Caffery. What greater acknowledgement of a creation of real substance could an author ask for? *My one criticism of Ritual is that the character of Walking Man seems extraneous. This wise tramp has the obvious function of revealing Jack’s history and his pre-occupations, but still he seems unnecessary. *The media release for Ritual calls it the ‘terrifying opening novel in the Walking Man series’ so presumably this character, based on a real-life tramp that Mo Hayder encountered, is to be further explored. Perhaps his relationship with Jack Caffery will develop more satisfactorily in the next novel.
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