The Retribution by Val McDermid

The Retribution by Val McDermid
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Time taken to read - 1 day

Pages - 402

Publisher - Little Brown and Company

Blurb from Goodreads

There is one serial killer who has shaped and defined police profiler Tony Hill's life. One serial killer whose evil surpasses all others. One serial killer who has the power to chill him to the bone: Jacko Vance. And now Jacko is back in Tony's life - even more twisted and cunning than ever before.

My Review

I have only ever read 1 or 2 of McDemids books before, this one is 7th in a series. Whilst I didn't have any problems following the plot, I do feel I should have read the others before hand as there is history between some of the characters. Tony Hill is a profiler and very good at what he does, he is the main character along side Carol Jordan. Carol has a serial killer on the streets, taking out prostitutes and she may just need Tony's help. However a bigger killer is on the streets, Jacko Vance. Jacko is one of the worst killers they put behind bars and now Tony must focus all his attention on Jacko, before more bodies turn up.

Tony and Carol are complex characters, they are also involved although their relationship is on the down key. Carol is fiercely private, it is hard enough being a cop but to be a female and in charge of investigations, she has more to lose than the men in the department. It is a busy story, two killers, Tony & Carols relationship and the sidelines of everything going on between. However, McDermid makes it flow well and keeps you interest in all aspects of the story.

I think I will probably go back and get the earlier books in the series and maybe re read this one. Whilst I enjoyed the pace and how the story was done, I feel if I read the others I would have got a better insight into some of the actions of the characters.

There is quite a bit of gore involved so not for the faint hearted and some of the behaviours or choices or the characters annoyed me. I did question would someone behave in such a way and fiction isn't always what would happen in reality but it did annoy me in some aspects. The pace of the story changes also, it take a bit to get going and then it just seemed to speed up and end which also took a part of the enjoyment away for me. Still a good read and I do think this author is really talented at what she does, 3/5 for me this time though.

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