The Take (DI Joe Faraday) [Paperback]

Graham Hurley (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 1, 2002 | Series: DI Joe Faraday

For DI Joe Faraday, the funeral of a young colleague, killed in a head-on car crash, is a bitter end to another grim week. And now the seemingly untouchable Detective Paul Winter, master of the scam, has been hurt in a way he could never have imagined. But there’s no time for grief in a CID squad. A disgraced gynecologist is missing, and his caseload of maimed women is a murder-suspect list from hell. It’s an impossible workload, and if that wasn’t enough, the politicians and the suits are about to make Faraday’s life even harder.

Editorial Reviews

Review

Quite simply the best police procedural I’ve read this year. -- Harlan Coben

About the Author

Graham Hurley is an award-winning TV documentary maker who now writes full time. He lived in Portsmouth for 20 years. He is married and has grown up children. He now lives in Exmouth, Devon.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 400 pages
• Publisher: Orion Publishing (September 1, 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0752848070
• ISBN-13: 978-0752848075
• Product Dimensions: 7 x 4.4 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8.5 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,231,879 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Nice Momentum -- A Study of Personal Motives, August 3, 2006

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Wayfaring Stranger (Portland, OR) - See all my reviews

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This review is from: The Take (DI Joe Faraday) (Paperback)

Hurley's novel seems a bit stiff if you're used to reading Rankin or some of the American tough-guy procedurals. The mystery aspect of this piece involves two investigations, a missing quack and a exhibitionist who dresses as one (by hiding behind a Donald Duck mask). All the while these cases are being handled, DI Joe Faraday is trying to impose some form of contrition on a young driver whose irresponsibility caused a fatal car wreck that ended the life of his close friend and office assistant, Vanessa. (The driver was talking on his cell phone! I shudder to think what Faraday would have to say about the state of American drivers blabbling all through traffic day in and day out.) Anyway, this story unfolds through plot machinations that are not unusual for the police procedural genre, but the depth of characterization was highly enjoyable. If you're a fan of detective/thriller/police procedurals, and if you enjoy glimpses into the English mannerisms and dialect found throughout particular cities in the UK, then I recommend you give Faraday and his colleagues in the Portsmouth CID a go. I am curious about the first book in this series, as this second one seemed to focus on very personal moments (read: vendettas) in the lives of the characters. Perhaps the initial outing had a bit more punch and more of a compelling crime in the forefront (?)

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Rising Star, December 7, 2002

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Sapidity (Smalltown, Ontario) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Take (DI Joe Faraday) (Paperback)

I have read both this book and the earlier Turnstone which are the first two books in a series of police procedurals set in Plymouth, England. Mr. Hurley bears comparison with John Harvey, Ian Rankin and the early Michael Connolly. Hurley's protagonist, Joe Faraday, and other characters are as well drawn and quirky as any of their characters. The stories move along and the plots hang together. They would appeal to anyone who likes procedurals or was a fan of the TV show Homicide. Highly recommended.

5.0 out of 5 stars Great discovery, October 13, 2011

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Srdjan Pesic (Minneapolis, Mn United States) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Take (A Di Joe Farady Investigation) (Hardcover)

Graham Hurley is unfortunately one of those British mystery writers who for some unfathomable reason is not published in the USA. His marvelous, realistic novels are not flashy and simple enough to sell zillion copies. In the society on the verge of colapse, DI Joe Faraday desperately tries to do his job.The cases that he deals with are dreary, the bosses make things worse, and other policemen are more trouble than they are worth.
I fell in love with these beautifuly written procedurals, and I managed to slowly get a hold of all of them. Great writer and exceptional books.