Written In Bone by Simon Beckett
Wednesday, 29 Aug 2007 15:59
Written In Bone is Sheffield-based Simon Beckett’s second crime thriller
Published by Bantam Press, out now, hardback, 346pp, £12.99.
In a nutshell…
Relentlessly realistic crime fiction thrills
What's it all about?
Forensic anthropologist Dr David Hunter, as a favour to a police officer, is on his way reluctantly to the remote Scottish island of Runa where he discovers a community riddled with dark secrets and death.
To add to Hunter’s woes, the fury of an Atlantic storm descends upon the island, cutting off all power and contact with the mainland, and there’s a killer on the loose.
Who's it by?
Author Simon Beckett is also a freelance journalist writing for national newspapers and colour supplements. Written In Bone is Sheffield-based Beckett’s second crime thriller after the well-received The Chemistry Of Death, and again features forensic anthropologist David Hunter.
As an example…
"Watching them all, warmly at ease with each other, I was suddenly acutely aware that I didn’t belong."
Likelihood of becoming a Hollywood blockbuster
Written In Bone has all the ingredients to become the thinking man's Die Hard, and given Tinseltown’s unending love affair with all things law and order it might be a good idea to start checking cinema listings.
What the others say
"I found it as exciting as his earlier one, but it lacks the novelty of that one." – Eurocrime.co.uk
"In this book he trots out cliché after cliché after cliché." – Medical Bookshop UK
So is it any good?
Sometimes reporters feel a sense of detachment, of being an outsider, and this feeling comes through the brilliant writing of author Simon Beckett, a freelance journalist himself, as he details the efforts of his literary creation, David Hunter, in investigating a grisly 'accident' among the close-knit community of a Hebridean island.
Beckett channels into this, his second thriller featuring David Hunter, the stylistic touches of old-time crime writers like Mickey Spillane thanks to punchy dialogue and tight descriptive work. When these elements are added to Hunter's fish out of water status and the imposing setting you cannot fail to be enthralled, repulsed and excited by this fast-moving, character-driven slice of pulp nouveau.
9/10
Lee Davis
Agree with this review? Have a different opinion? Let us know your thoughts (without being too abusive to our poor reviewers please) and we'll post the best ones on the site.
Write your comments below: