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12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
"If there is a hell, it's now and here.", June 13, 2010
This is a harrowing tale of child abduction on England's Cornwall coast that bridges 1995 to 2005, when Ruth Pierce, suffers the loss of her ten-year-old daughter, Heather, and survives the ordeal only to have another daughter, Beatrice, abducted at the same age years later. At the crux of the unfolding horror are an elusive pedophile, Mitchell Roberts, and the investigative team of DI Will Grayson and DS Helen Walker of Cambridge, the supporting characters idiosyncratic, bearing dark secrets of their own. Harvey, who has an impressive string of titles to his credit, is a prolific writer whose novels are defined by solid plots and a deep appreciation for the nuances of human behavior. The depth of characterization in Far Cry lends authenticity to what might have been a simple thriller. Harvey's story is peopled with a broad range of personalities, from the duplicitous Mitchell Roberts to Ruth Price/Lawson, a distraught mother reliving a nightmare, to the families touched by tragedy, whether random young girls who are the targets of a particularly heinous criminal and the gypsies who never stay in one place long and harbor a deep resentment for authority. Not the least of the beautifully nuanced characters is the relationship between Grayson and Walker, who tease each other mercilessly but are deadly serious when it comes to the welfare of children in danger. Will is a happily married man, Helen less affable of late, caught up in an inappropriate romance and the need to move on, to make a positive career move. From the traumatic disappearance of Heather and a school friend that leaves one girl alive and the other dead, to the unbelievable recurrence of the happily remarried Ruth's loss of her daughter, Beatrice, Harvey links past with present, exposing the thriving business of child pornography and the opportunism of the internet. Best of all, Far Cry is distinguished by the author's grasp of human behavior and the murky territory of best intentions and outright evil. Ruth's experience is shattering, her husbands, Simon and Andrew, unable to plumb the depths of her despair. These characters are flawed, prone to mistakes and overreaching, the plot taut and riveting from start to finish. From Will's exceptional wife, Lorraine, to his feisty partner, Helen, and his nemesis, Mitchell Roberts, Far Cry is a brilliant mix of human nature at its best and worst, the damaged and the damned. Luan Gaines/2010.
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4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Harvey doesn't travel well, September 28, 2010
John Harvey writes very, very well. His secondary characters are beautifully drawn and evoke commitment by the reader from beginning to end. That's where his work peaks. His investigators, Grayson & Walker, are shallow, barely credible, and invoke neither interest nor sympathy from the reader. This is a lot closer to chick-lit than a mystery. If you want chick-lit with an undertone of police procedural, it's a 5 star book. But if you want a mystery/procedural with villains and victims who ring terribly true and invoke your emotions, it's barely a 3 star. That's a judgment that reflects just how bad Harvey is with his portrayal of Grayson & Walker, but also testament to how well he can draw the reader into the thoughts and feelings of the other actors in the drama. It's hard to escape the feeling that he has lost faith in the notion that "civilized people" can pay and support decent folk to keep the barbarians in check. Grayson & Walker as agents of justice? One can only hope that either Harvey moves back to Nottingham, or better still, that Charles Resnick will transfer to Cambridge.
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1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
History Repeated, July 1, 2010
Ruth and Simon Pierce reluctantly allowed their daughter, Heather, to go on a camping trip with her best friend. She soon disappeared, her body later found in a shaft, the girl dead from a fall. The couple was divorced and Ruth remarried, soon giving birth to another daughter, Beatrice. Years later, this girl too disappeared, setting off a manhunt. DI Will Grayson is obsessed with the case and he suspects a recently released child abuser as having abducted the young girl. He and his partner, DS Helen Walker, conduct deep investigations into all aspects of past and present crimes. This is a police procedural at its best. John Harvey creates mountains of suspense, with enough twists and turns to keep the reader turning pages quickly. His command of language and character is flawless, and the plot impeccably constructed. The novel, 500 pages long, yet written with simplicity and economy, never bogs the reader down, and it is highly recommended.
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