Blind Fury [Hardcover]

Lynda La Plante (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: July 5, 2011

Close to a motorway service station, the body of a young woman is discovered. She appears to have no family, no friends, no one to identify her. DI Anna Travis is brought onto the team of investigators by DCS James Langton, who already suspects that this recent case could be linked to two unsolved murders. As more evidence is discovered the team realise that they are contending with a triple murder investigation -- and no suspect. Anna's blood runs cold when she receives a letter from a murderer she helped to arrest. He makes contact from prison insisting that he can track down their killer, but will only talk to Anna herself. Does he really have an insight into another killer's mind, or is he merely intent on getting into hers?

--This text refers to the Paperback edition.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"Gripping...Increasingly complex.” --PublishersWeekly.com

"Lynda La Plante practically invented the thriller." -Karin Slaughter, author of Broken

“Masterful writing, a superbly crafted plot, nail-biting suspense.” —Booklist (starred review), on Deadly Intent

“La Plante has created another damaged heroine almost as appealing as her inimitable Jane Tennison.” —Publishers Weekly, on Clean Cut

“For those who love mysteries but wish Patricia Cornwell had a dirtier mind.” —Los Angeles Times, on Above Suspicion

“The quintessential police procedural, with a flawed heroine and enough dark twists to keep even the seasoned mystery fan off balance. A must for fans of British cop stories.” -Booklist

“This tear-away thriller will keep you awake at night, prying your closing eyes open with toothpicks, to get to the next clue.…A rip-roaring, can’t-put-it-down read.” –Suspense magazine --This text refers to the Paperback edition.

About the Author

Lynda La Plante's fourteen novels, including the Prime Suspect series, have all been international bestsellers.  She is an honorary fellow of the British Film Institute and a member of the UK Crime Writers Awards Hall of Fame.  She was awarded a CBE in the Queen's Birthday Honours list in 2008.  She runs her own television production company and lives in London and Easthampton, New York.  Visit her website at laplantebooks.com.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 512 pages
• Publisher: Touchstone; Reprint edition (July 5, 2011)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1439139318
• ISBN-13: 978-1439139318
• Product Dimensions: 8.1 x 5.3 x 1.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (13 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,981,729 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars exciting Brit police procedural, July 1, 2011

By 

Mark P. Sadler "Reviewed by Mark P Sadler" (Tucson AZ) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Blind Fury (Paperback)

In this sexually charged thriller Detective Inspector Anna Travis, finds herself leading the investigation of the murders of three women whose bruised and raped bodies had been dumped in a field close to the M1, the major thoroughfare between London and Manchester. All the girls had the same MO and no DNA had been left at the scene.
Carefully piecing together the clues, digging up dirt in places the former investigator missed, Travis has to work carefully not to antagonize the crew she was working with as well as keeping her former lover, and now boss, at arm's length. The evidence mounts and they run into increasing dead end after dead end until a letter arrives from Cameron Welsh, a prisoner who Travis previously helped put away for sexual homicide. Welsh is kept under close surveillance in a top security wing at Barfield Prison in Leeds.
Welsh claims to have information to help solve the murders. Is this just a bored prisoner looking for sexual kicks of his own or does he really have knowledge on the subject that will help another young lady from meeting a similar fate?
During her trips to Barfield Prison, Travis is subjected to all manners of disgusting tirades from Welsh, who does however, prove to be useful in some of the scenarios he poses, and at the same time Travis falls hard for the young prison guard Ken Hudson. In the process of falling head-over-heels for the guard, she finds evidence which suggests that perhaps he may be involved in the disappearance of the murdered girls.
This tear-away thriller will keep you awake at night, prying your closing eyes open with toothpicks, to get to the next clue. Definitely a rip-roaring, can't-put-it-down read.
Blind Fury

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Sadly, this book was just middle of the road for me., July 30, 2011

By 

Cheryl Koch (CO) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Blind Fury (Paperback)

Detective Anna Travis has a serial killer on her hands. Someone is targeting prostitutes and killing them. The latest victim was found naked and by a truck stop. Anna and the rest of her unit have tried everything to identify the woman but she is a Jane Doe. With the trail growing cold, Anna's boss is feeling the pressure to crack the case and soon. So when opportunity presents itself to Anna in the form of an offer from inmate, Cameron Welsh offering to help Anna track the killer, she can not pass up the invitation.

I had high hopes for this book and it did have glimmer of brilliance but it was far and between for me. I found Anna frustrating. I kept yelling at her to wake up and grow some, you know what. For instance, when she was interviewing a gal that she knew was lying, she just took the woman's word and left. Later when she and another detective were talking, she said that she bet that the gal threw away the suitcase after I left. If Anna believed that the woman had the suitcase, than why did she not sit in her car and wait for the woman to toss it and than go through it? Another instance: Anna went back to the woman later and once again questioned her, the gal shock an article of the victim's clothing in her face and Anna did not ask to look at it. She just apologized and left. In addition, there was a lot of dissecting about why the killer would target prostitutes but not a lot of action going on. Sadly, this book was just middle of the road for me.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Unraveling murder, July 13, 2011

By 

Roslyn Abell (chicago, IL United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Blind Fury (Paperback)

Blind Fury
Lynda La Plante

Detective Inspector Anna Travis is brought on to the team investigating the death of a young girl. Soon it becomes apparent in comparing past murders with the same MO that the team is caught up in the pursuit of a serial killer, who has raped and murdered at least 2 young Polish girls and one older woman.

This very well written, multifaceted story, with pages of plot description rather than insipid dialogue is what I liked most about the author's style. The reader follows the team and Anna as they unravel scant clues by hard rigorous police work to find the person responsible for these hideous crimes. Although the plot deals with violent deaths, there is no unnecessary violence for violence sake, just descriptions of past killings.

La Plante has the talent to convey Anna's feeling about all the characters we are introduced to. This creates three-dimensional real life characters that move the story along. The police characters are hard, gritty and determined to find the killer. The serial killers are antagonizing and sinister. The psychological games they play foreshadow catastrophic events. The investigating team using Cameron Welsh instead of an official profiler, causes continual tension. He is a prisoner locked in a top security facility for his past sexual homicides. He also harbors a fixation on DI Travis since meeting her at his arrest.

Anna is at the point in her life that she is living her job 24/7. She has no friends outside work and of course no romance in her life to interfere with this 24/7 routine until midway into the story.

It's a joy to read a book with such exquisite writing and plotting that keeps you turning the pages well past bedtime.