Ritual [Paperback]

Mo Hayder (Author)

Product Details

• Paperback
• Publisher: Bantam Press (2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0553817949
• ISBN-13: 978-0553817942
• Product Dimensions: 4.2 x 1.6 x 6.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 9.9 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (21 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,812,800 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

7 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars gritty urban English police procedural, September 6, 2008

By 

Harriet Klausner - See all my reviews
(#1 Hall OF FAME REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Ritual: A Novel (Hardcover)

Still grieving the loss of her parents in an accidental drowning two years ago in Boesmansgat (Bushman's Hole) in Africa, police diver Sergeant Phoebe "Flea" Marley recovers from Bristol Harbor, a detached hand; no other body part is found. The hand's fingerprints identify the limb belonged to heroin addict Ian "Mossy" Mallows.

The obvious drug connection is explored by Detective Inspector Jack Caffery; Flea investigates a seemingly loose thread tied to the African witchcraft of muti that she knows from her parents deaths in the Kalahari Desert. It uses body parts as part of the rituals. The two cops soon change their minds about finding a corpse as evidnce begins to point towards the victim being alive. They also conclude that the muti ritual is a sleight of the hand (no pun intended) ploy to cover up even more nefarious plans.

This gritty urban English police procedural hooks the audience from the opening dive until the final confrontation as the two cops uncover a case tied to illegal drug usage and the torture side of muti before realizing there is much more to the investigation. The story line is fast-paced as the readers wonders along side of Caffery and Marley what is going on especially when they feel strongly the victim is breathing. Fans will appreciate this strong investigative thriller (see THE TREATMENT and BIRDMAN; neither read by me) as Mo Hayder provides an enjoyable whodunit that focuses on learning what was done.

Harriet Klausner

7 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars (4.5) "There's a whole universe out there... a universe of horror and despair darker than he's ever dreamed possible.", August 17, 2008

By 

Luan Gaines "luansos" (Dana Point, CA USA) - See all my reviews
(TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (VINE VOICE)    (HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Ritual: A Novel (Hardcover)

Two characters are critical to the accelerating tempo of this compelling thriller: Sergeant "Flea" Marley of Bristol's Underwater Search Unit and DI Jack Caffrey, newly seconded to the Major Crime Investigation Unit, a man who has seen his share of agony and human depravity in his work, recently transferred from London to Bristol. This is an unlikely pair, the jaded, world-weary Caffrey and a twenty-six year old diver still angst-riddled from her parents' accidental diving death in a treacherous pool in the Kalahari Desert. Long enamored of diving, as were her parents, Flea is more at home in the water, even the murky Avon, its penetrating silence one of the few places she feels close to her mother and father. Used to recovering floaters and suicides, Flea is a bit discomfited to discover a hand- no body- just a hand and that neatly severed at the wrist. Surgically removed. When the other half of this pair is unearthed soon after, the search centers around the missing body that matches the hands.

Essentially, Flea's part of the investigation is finished, but she remains fascinated by the implications of this strange discovery, her curiosity exacerbated when she learns of a possible link to the arcane practice of muti, an African method of healing through medical witchcraft using harvested body parts. Such a practice, though outrageous, is not beyond the pale in Bristol's crime and drug-infested underworld, a growing immigrant community and the drug-addicted disenfranchised that wander decaying slums blighted by opportunistic crime. When Caffrey connects the crimes to Mossy, a missing heroin addict, the detective's personal demons are awakened, delivering Jack to the shadowed places in his mind he has so far failed to escape, geographic or no. Coming together in like purpose, Flea and Jack stand on the cusp of a scenario neither of them could have imagined: "You're looking for death".

Not since Dan Simmons' Carrion Comfort have I enjoyed such a compelling catalog of depraved human behavior, the evil perpetrated on the addled brains and desperate needs of society's unfortunates. Not content with the nightmarish jungle they enter in search of the missing addict, Hayden incorporates the painful internal dramas both Flea and Caffrey navigate daily, she since her parents' untimely death, he since a family tragedy in his youth. Literally two lost souls, the protagonists are drawn together in a tale that colludes with their own emotional journeys, yet promises respite from their burdens at the end of a traveling circus of horrors. Deeply creepy, Hayden inhabits this genre, the underground warrens of dissolute human behavior the perfect canvas for extraordinary depravity and exploitation. Never having read Mo Hayen until now, this novel exceeded my expectations, a tale littered with the detritus of an indifferent society bled dry by greed. There is ugliness and violence, but it is never gratuitous. Be prepared: the only way out is through nature's grotesquerie. Such a walk on the wild side should always be accompanied by involuntary shudders, if only to remind us that our capacity for outrage remains intact. Luan Gaines/ 2008.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars It's Witchcraft, December 16, 2008

By 

Ted Feit (Long Beach, NY USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: Ritual: A Novel (Hardcover)

It's with mixed feelings that I approach this review: The novel is meticulously written, fascinating and suspenseful. Yet, it was a slogging read, slow and tiring to go through. And I wonder why. I have no answer. Maybe it's just a personal reaction.

The novel is straightforward enough. It has the elements of a police procedural, introspective insights into the lives of the protagonists, characters that are different and well-drawn. And yet it seems to drag on slowly. At the heart of the mystery is the discovery by the police diving team of a severed hand in Bristol harbor in England. A matching hand is found buried nearby in the dirt by the entrance of a restaurant. Thus, the stage is set for the search for the victim dead or alive and the reason for detaching the hands.

We learn about African rituals and diving, perhaps more than one would like. The depth of the novel is certainly there, and yet my reaction is, unfortunately, restrained. I would recommend reading the book if you don't mind a slow read.