Finished Sa 7/28/12
My post on Good Reads:
This is Val McDermid's twenty-fifth novel, and the seventh in the 'Carol Jordan/Tony Hill' series. This novel concerns serial killer, Jacko Vance. This man is a notorious English killer, and was caught by Tony Hill and Carol Jordan many years ago, but he was able to insinuate himself into a minimum security section of the prison and was then able to engineer an escape. Jacko Vance was an Olympic athlete who lost an arm, yet went on to become a serial killer of young teenage girls. And, all the while enjoying a very successful English television career. Jacko is carrying out bloody and devastating acts of revenge against Tony, Carol, and people who turned against him before he leaves England to disappear with his sizable fortune. This is the primary focus of the novel, but McDermid does feature one other killer, Eric Fletcher, who murders prostitutes. This man sexually abused his daughter, and she later began working the streets as a hooker. He is killing prostitutes to get her to quit 'the life'. This sub-plot added little to the overall thrust of the novel, and probably could have been left out.
The novel is compelling and the characters are well-developed, and it's a very engrossing read. This is my first book by Val McDermid, and I think I would have enjoyed it more if I had started with the first novel in the series. There is quite a bit of back-story between criminal profiler, Tony Hill, and detective Carol Jordon in THE RETRIBUTION, and it might have been easier to absorb if I had more familiarity with these two characters, but this is only a minor complaint.
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