5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
A Thrilling Read, July 14, 2010
This review is from: Silent Scream: An Anna Travis Mystery (Anna Travis Mysteries) (Paperback)
This is a good, solid, no frills crime thriller and is the 5th book which features DI Anna Travis. I hadn't read any of the previous books, in fact this is the first time I've read anything by Lynda La Plante, but I've watched her books being made into successful TV Series such as 'Widows' and 'Prime Suspect' so I knew some of what to expect.
DI Anna Travis's back story was carefully woven into the story which made me feel as if I'd known her for some time, and didn't think I was missing some vital information.
Amanda Delany's character was very flawed and sad and seemed very real as Travis delved deeper and deeper into her personal life and the murky world she inhabited, whilst I felt sorry for her I also disliked her very much, she treated people cruelly and made quite a few enemies.
While the police were investigating Amanda's murder, Travis's soon-to-be-retired boss put her up for promotion but it was felt by some of her colleagues that she didn't share enough of her information with them and they thought this made them look incompetent and there were a few conflicts with her peers which all added to the story, and made her look human, and a fascinating character.
Even thought it was over 500 pages long it didn't feel like it, La Plante's fast paced descriptive writing was easy to read featuring mostly well-defined characters and believable situations.
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3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
"The reality is, she was a shell of a woman.", July 18, 2010
In Lynda La Plante's "Silent Scream," Amanda Delaney, twenty-four, is a rising film star who is headed for disaster. She is a deeply troubled individual who abuses drugs, suffers from anorexia, and has numerous lovers, both married and single. Tragically, her life is cut short when she is stabbed to death by an unknown assailant. After DI Anna Travis and her colleagues are assigned to the case, they are pressured by their superiors to produce a quick result. When weeks go by and the detectives fail to identify a suspect, DCS James Langton shows up to breathe down their necks. Anna is still recovering from her failed relationship with Langton, who has since returned to his ex-wife.
Travis, twenty-nine, is married to her job; when her boss puts her name forward for possible promotion to DCI, she is elated. However, the Delaney case may prove to be her undoing. There is little physical evidence, and even after Anna and her partner follow up every possible lead and interview anyone who might have pertinent information, they are left with little more than a tragic portrait of a neurotic actress on a path to self-destruction.
La Plante effectively depicts Anna's ambition and unhealthy obsession with her job. She has no friends, family, hobbies, or other interests to help reduce the stress in her life. She endures resentment from her coworkers, condescension from Langton, and the frustration of interviewing witnesses who lie time and again and do whatever they can to obstruct justice. If anyone harbors the illusion that being a homicide detective is glamorous, the author sets us straight. Anna's existence, for the most part, consists of sleepless nights; weekends at the station or in the field; endless hours spent reading reports and sifting through evidence; and the tedium of interrogating the same people repeatedly--with no guarantee that the answers to the puzzle will ever materialize. To make matters worse, Anna has a tendency to go it alone, and her reputation for not being an effective team player may hurt her chances for advancement.
At over four hundred pages, "Silent Scream" eventually becomes tedious and repetitious. Red herrings abound, and as the novel progresses, it becomes increasingly contrived and melodramatic. Still, the reader will sympathize with Anna and understand her determination to find the killer, no matter how long it takes. All in all, this is an occasionally engrossing but depressing tale of greed, jealousy, cruelty, and exploitation in which La Plante demonstrates that beauty, wealth, and fame matter very little to someone who is chronically insecure and deeply unhappy.
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2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Huge fan, August 14, 2010
This review is from: Silent Scream: An Anna Travis Mystery (Anna Travis Mysteries) (Paperback)
I'm a huge Lynda LaPlante fan way back to Widows that I saw when visiting London. I've read and seen nearly all of her work. While this novel is not her best that doesn't matter to me; it's still a very good read. She does thorough research and pulls the reader into the story. Some who watched Prime Suspect do not like Anna Travis - it hasn't the same gritty quality - but if you don't try to compare the two women this novel holds up very well.
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