This was my first read of Mark Billingham's novels and his character Detective Inspector Tom Thorne. Nearly ten years on now when this debut was launched and I am guilty of not reading many British authors when it comes to crime and thrillers, I have loved John Connolly and his character Charlie Parker and read quite a few in the series and read maybe one Ian Rankin. I am impressed, the was pace was good and he got me on the perpetrator of the murders I did not see it.This was my first read of Mark Billingham's novels and his character Detective Inspector Tom Thorne. Nearly ten years on now when this debut was launched and I am guilty of not reading many British authors when it comes to crime and thrillers, I have loved John Connolly and his character Charlie Parker and read quite a few in the series and read maybe one Ian Rankin. I am impressed, the was pace was good and he got me on the perpetrator of the murders I did not see it. When it comes to reading this genre I have tended to lean more to across the shores and to the U.S.A talent of writers, the U.K novels have increased in number over the years since Ian Rankin and Billingham's and their are plenty of tastes to satisfy. I wanted to get a taste of Tom's debut appearance before I jumped in to a recent release Bloodline which I received via the publisher's galley pre-release.Tom is a DI(detective inspector) who has his own regrets and has skeletons in the cupboard. He's failed in the past to act swiftly on a case and prevent a murder that haunted him for years that followed it. He has been divorced now five years and finds new love in this story. As he is one the chase of a murderer who's tends to want to inject his victims and drug them his life becomes more complicated and things get personal on this case. So far he is a clean DI no drugs, or excesses in alcohol or bribes. It's refreshing to read about my own turf roads and points of interest I know well compared to reading about the states from their writers which I have yet to visit. Just realized that a British TV drama was made of Sleepyhead i am looking forward to seeing it."He looked out of the window as the train rumbled across the Blackfriars rail bridge. If it was a different world south f the river, it was one with it's own dividing line. South-west was definitely the more gentrified, Clapham and Richmond and, of course, Battersea. There were nice areas of South-East London- he was fond of Greenwich and Blackheath- but, on the whole, that part of the city was a close as London got to a war-zone. south-east..... sarf-east London didn't need coopers, it needed United Nations peacekeepers. At that very minute in Bermondsey and New Cross there were characters propping up bars in dodgy boozers that would have made Slobodan Milosevic shit himself.""Margaret Byrne's house was a five-minute walk from the station. He didn't know the area well but it seemed amazingly calm and suburban, considering that Brixton was two minutes away. Thorne had been on the streets there in 1981. He had never felt so hated. He and many fellow officers had comforted themselves with the thought that it was no more than police bashing. An excuse to torch some flash cars and nick a few TVs. Events since then had made him realise he'd been wrong. Stephen Lawrence had changed everything.""He'd been at many such scenes in the past, far too many, but this was like watching the A-team work. There was a determination about the entire process that he'd seen only once before. There was no gallows humour. There wasn't a flask of TEA to be seen anywhere."http://more2read.com/?review=sleepyhead-tom-thorne-1-by-mark-billingham
Mmmm, I feel very torn with this review and I will tell you why. Having never read any of the Thorne series of books by Mark Billingham, I decided to make a marathon catch up session and start with his debut novel Sleepyhead (released in 2001). The synopsis sounded pretty amazing and I started the book with anticipation. The reason I say I am torn is because I have really conflicting emotions. The story, writing and plot was flipping amazing and it took me no time to devour the book. On the other hand I am still undecided about how I feel about Tom Thorne.As this is a debut, I know it takes time but for some reason I just didn’t get to grips with him that much. He is a D.I who takes his job seriously and in this current book it seems we are getting to know Thorne and the demons that he is battling (due to an earlier case). When Alison Willetts is found alive, following three murders, Tom finally feels like this is the break they needed. Sadly, and one of the most interesting elements of this book, is that although Alison lived, she has been left with ‘locked-in syndrome’. Alison knows exactly what is going on and is fully functional, she just can’t communicate. This in itself made a refreshing change to read about as it’s something that is scary and also something I’ve not read about before. The other thing I loved about this was that I spent literally the whole book questioning everything. Were my suspicions right? Was Throne wrong? Was he losing his marbles? Who else is shady? Yep, pretty much the standard thought process for many I would imagine. That alone is always a bonus as it feels like you are as in the dark as the D.I. I wouldn’t say this book was particularly gruesome, but there is an element of ‘fear’ about it. You know that shiver down your back type of fear you get? Yep, that one! Overall for the first in the series and his debut, it was a corker. The fact that I am 13 years behind everybody else means I have some serious catching up to do, and I have to say I’m rather looking forward to it!
What do You think about Sleepyhead (2003)?
I have to say firstly that I got this copy free from Amazon (as part of a promotion and this was my choice from 5 options). I'm so pleased that I choose this book as it's just my kind of read when it comes to detective novels.It had me guessing right to the end as to who the "killer" was and I did the usual of changing my mind a couple of times, but essentially I was convinced that same as Thorne... good job I'm not a detective in real life!I'll definitely put Mark Billingham on my "follow author" list and this should help to even up my tally between fantasy and thrillers as I seem to have too much <> fantasy on my to-read shelf at the moment. (It's not really that there is too much, it's just that it needs a bit more balance!)
—Vicii
Mark Billingham, Sleepyhead (Avon, 2001)What is it about British mystery authors cranking out excellent first novels? Nicci French, Mo Hayder, and Minette Walters have all waltzed down the pike in the last decade and taken the world by storm. Now you can add Mark Billingham to the list.Billingham's first novel, Sleepyhead, is about a truly twisted individual, even more twisted than Hayder's birdman-this one's dead bodies are failed experiments. What he's really after, he gets in Alison Willetts, a girl who is mysteriously left at a hospital suffering from what is known as locked-in syndrome, a type of stroke that leaves the victim fully conscious, but paralyzed and unable to communicate. The police find an ever-growing string of bodies as the killer attempts to duplicate his handiwork.Very well-paced for a book of its length, and very readable. Billingham knows where to put all the twists and turns. The characters are a little more wooden than one would expect, and a bit more predictable, but then mystery readers have been spoiled recently. (Odd, because Billingham has one of his characters remark early on that he doesn't fit the policeman-on-television stereotype; perhaps we're just used to that these days?) Still, this is a fast, fun read with some excellent twists. *** ½
—Robert Beveridge
This is a really good enjoyable crime thriller that has some good twists and turns although nothing particularly unique or stand out (this is not necessarily a bad thing mind). Tom Thorne is the lead detective on a murder investigation that throws up plenty of questions about the killer's real motives, especially when one of his victims survives but is trapped inside her own body. The case also gives Thorne plenty of flashbacks to a case long past that has haunted him in the intervening years. Of course there is the usual love interest thrown up by the case which clouds judgements and offers plenty of scope for conflict and debate. While this doesn't really offer anything new to the genre it is a good enjoyable read and I think I'll be looking out for more from this author in future. A nice break from those more taxing reads.
—Sam
