Sanctum [Import] [Paperback]

Denise Mina (Author)

Product Details

• Paperback: 368 pages
• Publisher: Bantam Paperbacks; New Ed edition (September 5, 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0553813293
• ISBN-13: 978-0553813296
• Product Dimensions: 4 x 1 x 7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 6.4 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 2.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,746,150 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Denise Mina was born in Glasgow in 1966. Because of her father's job as an engineer, the family followed the north sea oil boom of the seventies around Europe, moving twenty one times in eighteen years from Paris to the Hague, London, Scotland and Bergen. She left school at sixteen and did a number of poorly paid jobs: working in a meat factory, bar maid, kitchen porter and cook. Eventually she settle in auxiliary nursing for geriatric and terminal care patients.
At twenty one she passed exams, got into study Law at Glasgow University and went on to research a PhD thesis at Strathclyde University on the ascription of mental illness to female offenders, teaching criminology and criminal law in the mean time.
Misusing her grant she stayed at home and wrote a novel, 'Garnethill' when she was supposed to be studying instead.
'Garnethill' won the Crime Writers' Association John Creasy Dagger for the best first crime novel and was the start of a trilogy completed by 'Exile' and 'Resolution'.
A fourth novel followed, a stand alone, named 'Sanctum' in the UK and 'Deception' in the US.

In 2005 'The Field of Blood' was published, the first of a series of five books following the career and life of journalist Paddy Meehan from the newsrooms of the early 1980s, through the momentous events of the nineteen nineties. The second in the series was published in 2006, 'The Dead Hour' and the third will follow in 2007.
She also writes comics and wrote 'Hellblazer', the John Constantine series for Vertigo, for a year, published soon as graphic novels called 'Empathy is the Enemy' and 'The Red Right Hand'. She has also written a one-off graphic novel about spree killing and property prices called 'A Sickness in the Family' (DC Comics forthcoming).
In 2006 she wrote her first play, "Ida Tamson" an adaptation of a short story which was serialised in the Evening Times over five nights. The play was part of the Oran Mor 'A Play, a Pie and a Pint' series, starred Elaine C. Smith and was, frankly, rather super.
As well as all of this she writes short stories published various collections, stories for BBC Radio 4, contributes to TV and radio as a big red face at the corner of the sofa who interjects occasionally, is writing a film adaptation of Ida Tamson and has a number of other projects on the go.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Folks, get a grip, December 3, 2007

By 

jca360 (Monterey CA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Sanctum (Paperback)

People, the prologue stating that the author got the book in manuscript form from the protagonist (or from a dusty attic, or a secondhand shop) is a literary device that goes back at least as far as Gulliver's Travels. It is used frequently in novels of detection, especially historical detective fiction. One of the best examples is the Amelia Peabody series by the marvelous Elizabeth Peters. Anybody literate enough to read the book is supposed to be in on the joke.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars It's not Minette Walters, July 13, 2008

By 

lilian (canada) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Sanctum (Paperback)

Having read a couple of other novels by this author, I was prepared to like this one. (Yes I do recognize the fact that the "journal" was a literary device--one that has been used successfully by Laurie King and Elizabeth Peters). However, I did not like it. The writing is skillful and the pacing is fine. I just didn't care for the narrator of the story. I didn't care for the other characters either. It makes it very difficult to continue plowing through a story when the characters are so unsympathetic, and the plot is related in such a dry, almost clinical fashion.

3 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Huh?, November 13, 2007

By 

food guy (Los Angeles) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Sanctum (Paperback)

I'm befuddled by other people's reaction to this book. I thought it was terrific. In the first place, I'm reasonably certain that Lachlan Harriot is Ms. Mina's creation. She just wrote it in diary form--something I thought really added to the story since you're experiencing it just from his point of view.