This was such an awesome book! I would recommend it to anyone. Left me wanting to know more with every page :)

I've amassed a number of Peter Robinson's 'Banks' novels throughout the years, but I've never gotten round to reading one. This year I'm determined to get through some of my owned novels, so I found the oldest novel that I have in the series, and took the leap into the unknown world of a new author.

I have to say that I was really disappointed, and while I think I'll at least try the others in the series it won't be with enthusiasm.

Perhaps it was because this novel felt rather dated that I grew a little annoyed. Policemen using all sorts of wild techniques including a lot of harassment, and drinking every page despite being on duty. Perhaps I'm just a prude...

The plot was described as being about the kidnapping of Gemma, but this was overshadowed by the murder of Carl Johnson later in the novel. In fact, Gemma was mentioned so little in the latter parts of the novel that I'd forgotten she was still missing. There only seemed to be one character who actively cared about the little girl and spoke emotively about her, Gristhorpe. Even then he seemed more saddened by the fact that another Moors killer was on the loose rather than the fate of Gemma specifically.

I was surprised that so much of the novel was dedicated to Banks realising that his daughter was no longer a little girl, and yet he showed no sympathy or worry for Gemma who was actually a little girl. He often spoke about Gemma as though it were a foregone conclusion that she was dead and spent more time drinking and socialising than agonising over her disappearance. Usually kidnap stories are full of tension and emotion. Distressed relative, policemen rushing against deadlines to find the child before time runs out... there was none of this.

There was little tension in the novel because of the lack of emotional elements, but also there just seemed to be no 'big' plot points. There were few red-herrings, few twists or turns. Those suspected by Banks and his band of merry men turned out to be the bad guys. The pacing was slow and I found it very hard to maintain interest.

I really disliked how the 'suspects' were basically just people that Banks or Gristhorpe didn't like. There was absolutely no evidence against these men yet they managed to get warrants and generally just harass these men just because they didn't like them. It felt like a sham and not the result of detective work that one hunch paid off and the guy really was a suspect.

I also didn't connect with the characters very easily. They were all individuals in the department, there was no banter, friendliness or emotion. Banks made a rather blunt statement that he found Susan Gay cold and Richmond arrogant. Susan didn't like Richmond either. No one really seemed to get on and so there wasn't the tight-knit group feel that many police novels have.

I can't say that Banks was my favourite character at all. He was either drinking, whining about the fact that his family weren't on pause just waiting to come home every night but had their own lives, or wandering about the place.

There was just something rather distant and cold about the whole novel. The characters weren't vibrant enough to support and the plot was fairly scant and under-developed. There were no real red-herrings, no real issues faced. Everything was just 'okay'.

A brilliant piece of crime fiction. Peter Robinson never disappoints.

Suspenseful to the very end.