The First Cut [Paperback]

Peter robinson (Author)

Product Details

• Paperback
• Publisher: Harper; First U.S. Edition, first Printing edition (1990)
• ASIN: B002ODBM1M
• Average Customer Review: 2.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (10 customer reviews)

More About the Author

Peter Robinson's award-winning novels have been named a Best-Book-of-the-Year by Publishers Weekly, a Notable Book by the New York Times, and a Page-Turner-of-the-Week by People magazine. Robinson was born and raised in Yorkshire but has lived in North America for over twenty-five years. He now divides his time between North America and the U.K.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

21 of 23 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A psychological thriller from the creator of Inspector Banks, September 22, 2004

By 

L. Kornblum (Tempe, Arizona) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The First Cut: A Novel of Suspense (Paperback)

This, the fifth novel by Peter Robinson, was originally published in England as Caedmon's Song. It is not part of Robinson's Inspector Alan Banks series but is a suspenseful psychological study of a young university student, Kirsten, who is brutally attacked and mutilated and must start her life over again with a new, darker perspective. Interwoven with Kirsten's story is the story of Martha, a mysterious young woman who arrives in Whitby, on the Yorkshire coast, intent on a grim pursuit of her own.

Gradually the two story lines converge in a fascinating narrative pattern. This is a haunting psychological suspense story that is difficult to put down. The author is a master of describing the Yorkshire scenery, here leaving behind the dales of his earlier novels to depict a brooding and picturesque coastal town that previously inspired Bram Stoker while he was writing Dracula.

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A One Sitting Read, March 26, 2006

By 

H. F. Corbin "Foster Corbin" (ATLANTA, GA USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The First Cut (Paperback)

A young final-year English student is viciously attacked and left for dead by her assailant in a deserted city park as she is walking back to her flat from a end-of-year student party. There are practically no clues and the victim has little memory of what happened. Peter Robinson creates here a wondrously psychological and suspenseful tale of one woman's attempt at trying to put the pieces of her shattered life back together and her quest for revenge.

This novel is rich in detail. Normal families and tourists are contrasted with the victims whose lives will never be the same again. Mr. Robinson makes the Yorkshire coast come alive. One can taste the bad food that England is famous for. His attention to detail is beautiful. There are "orderly riots of roses." A character's [Keith's] eyes "really were a sharp blue, as if he had spent so much time staring into blue skies and oceans that they had taken their color from the water and air." And Robinson describes the moon as "almost three-quarters full. . . It seemed to float there like an incandescent jellyfish just below the water's surface."

Mr. Robinson artfully weaves together the stories of three women-- Martha, Kirsten and Susan-- into a page-turner climax, and makes interesting observations along the way on Thomas Hardy. It's obvious-- at least in this case-- that revenge is often neither pretty nor precise, but oh, so final.

You'll read this novel in one sitting.

11 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars tale of two victims, October 29, 2004

By 

A. Christie "bibliofiend508" (Plano, TX United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The First Cut: A Novel of Suspense (Paperback)

THE FIRST CUT is an early work from Peter Robinson sans Alan Banks. It is a psychological thriller that alternates the narrative between two surviving victims of "the Student Slasher", a serial killer who brutalizes female university students in a grisly manner. This is tightly woven, suspenseful story of revenge told in tandem from two perspectives until they merge for a satisfying climax.