Customer Reviews

Aftermath

5 star:		(16)
4 star:		(7)
3 star:		(6)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

"Aftermath" is the most recent entry in the British police procedural featuring Superintendent Alan Banks. For those of you who have followed this series, you are in for quite a surprise.

Peter Robinson has done what very few authors of a series have been able to accomplish. He has taken a very popular series of books that were on the cozy side and with each succeeding book made the stories deeper and more meaningful and the characters richer and more complex. With this book, he has passed over from the rather mild British police procedural into the realm of Val McDermid land. In a brutally graphic manner, Mr. Robinson tells his story about a serial rapist and murderer while exploring child abuse, sexual exploitation, espousal abuse and the very dark side of the human psyche.

Along the way, Mr. Robinson adds more layers to the straight forward Alan Banks we met in the earlier books. We have come to discover that this is a complicated man who is in conflict about his broken marriage and the demands of his job. Mr. Robinson has paid the same attention to each character in this book, creating a rich and multi-dimensional cast of players.

One can only applaud him for taking this series in a totally new direction. I imagine it is not that easy for an author to fiddle with a wildly popular series. Mr. Robinson took that chance and we, the readers, are the beneficiaries of his willingness to explore new vistas.

I have run out of superlatives to describe Peter Robinson, who is arguably one of the finest writers of British police procedurals, on par with P. D. James and Ruth Rendell at their best. I have read ten out of the eleven Inspector Banks novels that Robinson has written over the years, and I have enjoyed most of them immensely.

In Robinson's latest novel, "Aftermath," Alan Banks is Acting Detective Superintendent in Yorkshire, substituting for his ailing boss. Banks is depressed and on the verge of career burnout. He smokes and drinks too much, he gets too little sleep, and he is overwhelmed by the demands of his job. In addition, his love affair with Detective Inspector Annie Cabbot is not going well. Banks is still grieving over his separation from Sandra, his wife of twenty years, and he has little time or energy to invest in social relationships.

Banks's life soon goes from bad to worse. He is caught up in the case of the Chameleon killer, a man who abducts and murders teenaged girls. The case appears to be solved when two detective constables respond to a call about a domestic disturbance. The constables open the door, only to find a house of horrors, and they discover the identity of the man who appears to be the Chameleon killer.

Those of us who know Peter Robinson quickly realize that the case is just beginning. Who is Terence Payne, the biology teacher who apparently abducted, raped and murdered the young girls? What role, if any, did Terence's wife, Lucy, play in her husband's heinous crimes? Was Lucy a victim of spousal abuse herself, too frightened to tell the police what her husband was up to, or is she hiding something about her own shadowy past?

As usual, Robinson creates a large cast of fascinating and believable characters, such as Maggie Forrest, a domestic abuse survivor who champions the cause of Lucy Payne, and Police Constable Janet Taylor, who stands accused of using excessive force while subduing Terence Payne.

Robinson brilliantly explores the theme that police officers who invest themselves in their jobs pay a huge emotional and physical price. He also studies the ways in which people handle personal crises and traumas, and the devastating effects of violence on people's lives.

With brilliant psychological insight, an unerring ear for dialogue, clever plotting and compassion for the human condition, Robinson has written a breathtaking novel of suspense. I recommend "Aftermath" unreservedly.

Robinson does a fabulous job of combining some of the realistic
details of violent crime, and police work, along with making
the story an entertaining read.
There is a fine line between the technical details of crime and
police work, on the one hand, and the entertaining, readable
story-telling on the other, but this author knows exactly how
to handle this line, and "Aftermath" is a masterpiece of combining the 2 facets of crime-writing.
This book contains a few necessary "dirty" details, but no more
than is required for this story. Anyone who complains about too
much detail of blood, vicious and depraved motives, and twisted
personalities have no concept of what is present in genuine
crime and the shocks real police officers encounter.
The author touches on, and explores a bit, the very complex
questions of the level of responsibility of a woman involved in
a bloody crime along with her male partner. The fact that he
doesn't present some veneer-thin explanation, that might be
easy to understand, shows his understanding of the difficulty
of explaining and categorizing some of these relationships.
Robinson has said this novel wasn't based on the infamous Bernardo-Homolka case in Ontario, but there are some very
parallel facts present, and we should give credit for some
inspiration from a very real, and more horrific, case than his
work here could convey.

Here is a work that is thought-provoking, realistic and quite
entertaining. Most highly recommended.

Acting Detective Superintendent Alan Banks has the challenge of his career with the discovery of a serial killer. It appears at first that the only thing that remains is to gather evidence and to determine if PC Janet Taylor used excessive force in subduing the apparent killer. Several difficult areas are explored: the serial murders around which the story is centered, together with child abuse, torture, domestic violence, and the excesive force question which might be worth a book on its own. Aftermath is as much the story of PC Taylor, Lucy Payne, and Maggie Forrest as it is of Banks. What happens to these three women is the "aftermath" of the title and stems from the abuse suffered years earlier by Lucy. How Robinson handles the issues and their fates is the true indicator of his mastery of the police procedural.

Robinson does not ask the reader to suspend disbelief; his novels are firmly grounded in reality with believable, all-too-human characters and events which are, unfortunately, all to familiar to our world. (Didn't we in my neck of the woods just go through the Sniper Case?) The impact Robinson's books have on the reader come from the way he handles these characters and events. In the hands of another writer Banks' problems with his divorce from Sandra, his tenuous relationship with Annie Cabbot and the ambivilence he feels toward Jenny Fuller, not to mention his own professional stresses, would be a big bore. Here each character is developed and displayed with mastery. A growing mastery as Robinson has (to borrow from the editorial review) grown before the reader's eyes from the first Banks novel, Gallows View.

I disagree with those who find this book boring, although I did find a few pages with what seemed to be padding, as with Maggie and her shrink. However, the other complaint, that Banks' personal life and relationships are irrelevant, misses the point: Banks the private man cannot be separated from Banks the investigator; these interpersonal relationships define him as much as his work defines him. Altogether a rewarding read and I look forward to the next installment.

Like another reviewer, I was hoping that this book would live up to the promise of the superb In a Dry Season, one of the best-crafted mysteries of recent years. It did not. The outcome was fairly predictable and some of the issues far fetched. For example, when a serial killer goes after two police officers with a machete (in the first chapter) and kills one, he gets severely beaten by the 2nd officer who is fighting him off with only her baton. We are expected to believe that this policewoman would be under a serious cloud with her career threatened and life destroyed because she inflicted serious injuries on her attacker. I found this simply unbelievable. Even in Britain, she would be considered a hero, not a criminal.

I was also quite disturbed by the graphic descriptions of the serial killer's activities, especially the first scene. It was grotesque but didn't seem to serve much purpose.

Until now, each Robinson book seemed better than the last. I hope he can pick up on that trend.

"Aftermath" by Peter Robinson is an excellent and precise look at police procedure. More accurately, it is a look at what happens after the police have 'nabbed' the wrongdoer, but when there are still loose ends and niggling doubts about the case at hand. As usual Peter Robinson has written a wonderfully crafted novel that is an absolutely compelling and absorbing read.

When probationary PC Janet Taylor and PC Dennis Morrisey respond to the call to checkout the Payne residence because of a report of suspected domestic abuse, they little expect the horror that awaits them. They find Lucy Payne, badly beaten up in the hallway, and a crazed Terry Payne in the basement, armed with a machete. He attacks them, and mortally wounds PC Morrisey; and while PC Taylor does manage to subdue him, she has to use extreme force in order to do so. For the paramedics and the police who respond to the 'officer down' call, the sight of a badly beaten and concussed Terry Payne, and that of Taylor drenched in Morrisey's blood is horrendous enough, however a further grisly find also awaits them in the basement: the body of a young dead girl, tied to a bed. It looks as if unwittingly, Taylor and Morrisey had stumbled onto the lair of the Chameleon, a sadistic serial murderer and rapist who, magically, over a period of months was able to kidnap young teenage girls off the streets, without ever having been seen or detected. Acting Detective Superintendent Alan Banks has been in on the case from the very beginning, and is jubilant that Payne has finally been apprehended (even if he is currently in a coma). However, a few things niggle at Banks. The biggest being exactly what role Payne's wife, Lucy, played in this horrifying crime. Was she, as she claims, the extremely fragile and abused wife who knew nothing of her husband's exploits? Or was she a reluctant accomplice? Or was she something much, much more? Banks cannot shake the conviction that Lucy was a lot more involved in the crimes than she is letting on. But evidence is in short supply. With time running out, Banks enlists the help of an old friend, forensic psychologist Jenny Fuller, to help unravel the enigma of Lucy Payne.

Once I started reading "Aftermath" I simply could not put it down. With each new chapter, fresh horrors were revealed, that kept me absolutely riveted to the page. "Aftermath" is not really an armchair detecting kind of mystery novel. It's more of a look at the truly dark and horrendous side of the human psyche. It is also a look at police procedure -- the never-ending interviews with suspects and potential witnesses, the collating of facts and forensic evidence, and the politics that dictates how an investigation will go. The pacing of the book was brilliant: Robinson juxtaposed the subplots that dealt with Dr. Fuller's investigation into Lucy's past, with those that dealt with Banks's private life, his tying up of loose ends in the case and the subplot that dealt with the police investigation into PC Taylor's excessive assault on Payne, and her spiraling descent into the depths of depression seamlessly. And each subplot was explored and developed beautifully.

"Aftermath" is a dark and disturbing novel but a truly exceptional read.

I have followed Robinson's Alan Banks through his entire Eastvale career in the previous books, and this current look into his life reassures me that Banks is continuing to mature in his profession and his private life.

As with all good mysteries, the plot is engaging, the story line compelling, and the suspense keeps the reader turning page after page, chapter after chapter long past the sensible time to turn off the light and catch a little bit of sleep before work the next day.

But in my estimation, a great novel's true value is not in its ability to entertain with the imagination, but instead to enrich with reality. That's what Aftermath does. Through the characters and events of this wonderfully crafted world, the introspective reader can learn and grow about self-destructiveness, noble character, honesty, duplicity, deadly misperceptions, kindness . . . . A truly rich mine of personal discovery and awareness that affects not only the lives of Robinson's characters, but also the lives of attentive readers.

I had a special interest in the aspect of the story dealing with satanic ritual abuse of children (SRA) since as an investigative journalist I was one of the first (in 1989)to uncover evidence that the almost fad-like scare was almost entirely urban legend fomented by irresponsible therapy and the completely unscientifically supported theory that SRA could be validated through "recovered memories" hidden by "robust repression." While my articles were vilified as satanic disinformation at the time, the tide has turned and most of the scientific, philosophy of religion, therapeutic, and media circles now concur with my initial findings (and those of other careful researchers). Unfortunately, many novelists haven't kept current nor thought critically about the issue and simply use it as a literary device, a convenient paradigm for grisly crimes and emotions of terror. By buying into such non-truth, their novels immediately throw the knowledgable reader like me into complete awareness that I'm not viewing a corner of reality put to paper but a "made up story." Thankfully, Robinson rises to the occasion and treats the issue with a sensitivity, thoughtfulness, and complexity that does justice to the truth without didactic preaching, black-and-white polarization, or cheap sensationalism.

Does anyone know Robinson's E-mail address or author's Web site? I would love to thank him for an excellent book that has made me a better person for having viewed the world of Eastvale and Inspector Banks through Robinson's eyes.

The title for my last Robinson review was that I was still waiting for the excellence of "In A Dry Season." I continue to wait. I have read all of Robinson's work and I just really didn't care too much for this book. Now to say why is difficult. It did keep me turning the pages. It did tackle some serious issues. However, I must admit that I am not the type who usually figures out any whodunit that I read. I read mostly for pleasure and don't tax my brain too much to figure out what happens. But this time I had figured it out halfway through the book, which didn't please me.

I thought the handling of the Annie Cabot/Banks relationship was in a word, lame. To me it was as though Robinson couldn't figure out where the relationship was headed so he ended it quickly. Can anyone say Susan Gay? She was Bank's former asscoicate who has disappeared from the last two novels. I suppose I also was tremendously disturbed by the content of some of the book. No, I am not a prude and no, I don't have my head in the sand in denial. I know these things exist I guess I don't enjoy reading about them (the perversity was too much).

So, Peter, I am still waiting...until next fall when your next novel comes out.

This mystery novel concerns detective work related to identifying a serial killer in the British Midlands. The protagonist is the police detective responsible for solving these crimes. Though he works hard at his job, he makes believable mistakes, particularly because of incomplete information from others and because of his own erroneous assumptions. The complications of his personal life don't help. The book initially succeeds in luring the reader into the same false lead to the killer. As the story develops, the identity of the real killer becomes increasingly obvious. There is a bit too much dialogue about police business. American readers may find the compulsive smoking and drinking somewhat retro.

...Peter Robinson's new mystery AFTERMATH not only succeeds--it succeeds masterfully. Alan Banks is back on the scene, doing his job. Robinson who could be basking in the glow from his recents awards instead tackles his most serious themes ever--domestic abuse, child abuse, torture, and sexual manipulation as well as murder. The crimes in the plot grow increasingly complicated as the book progresses, and Banks has his share of problems with the women in his life. AFTERMATH is dark. It is gritty. It may take place in the English countryside, but it ain't no cozy.