Rate this book

Hautanummi (2011)

by Belinda Bauer(Favorite Author)

3.6 of 5 Votes: 1

languge

English

genre

Mystery & Thriller

publisher

Karisto

series

Exmoor Trilogy

review 1: It is difficult to give this book more than three stars. It should have been capable of more. The premise is excellent and it has the Moors as a backdrop. What else does a dark story dealing with dark subject matter need? Regrettably, the characters let it down for me. None of them have any life or drama in them, apart from the main character - a young boy - and perhaps the author intended it that way as it is a pretty desperate story: A young boy indulging a child-killer's whim by begging for the location of his dead uncle who was murdered by the man as a child... well, with that premise and the Moors to haunt it, and with the long shadow of British crime history (so far as the Moors Murderers are concerned) adding hidden impact to the novel, this really should have scare... mored the living daylights out of readers, psychologically and morally if not physically. But it didn't. I blame the directionless and monotone nature of the characters. Even the murderer seems a weak and only mildly threatening entity, despite his crimes. The final scenes didn't really seem to have any potency. In short, the writing was excellent and the premise faultless, but the lack of emotional punch - due, I believe, to the blandness and impotency of the characters - gave it a glass ceiling. It won't deter me from reading more from this author though. As I said, the writing was of a good quality, and a writer's skill with characters builds over time.
review 2: This 2010 CWA Gold Dagger award winning debut novel is different. Set in a made up village in Exmoor called Shipcott, which is a surname that means sheep shelter. It is not a typical thriller and probably lacks action, suspense and tension as it follows Steven Lamb, a twelve year old boy who lives with his mother, brother and grandmother. His uncle Billy disappeared when he was twelve and his body has never been found, but his trainers were found in a paedophile serial killer’s house. He is thought to be buried on the moors but his mother keeps looking out for him to return, while her family fractures around her. Steven digs holes on the moors looking for his uncle’s body in the hope that it will improve life at home. Realising how difficult this task is he writes letters to the serial killer, Arnold Avery, in the hope of finding the location, but Avery has other ideas. The story unfolds between Steven’s attempts to change things for the better in Exmoor and Avery’s dark attempts to satisfy his deranged desires in Dartmoor Prison. Disturbingly well written from both the young boy’s and the paedophile psycho’s views it examines the lingering damage done to one victim’s family and the risks to society still posed by an incarcerated serial killer. less

Download links for: Hautanummi

Advertising