Can we just say *** PLACEHOLDER *** to all her books now? Um. Quick recollection: apt, echoing title on many levels. Multi-layered plot set in Europe, mostly Berlin. A serial killer whose own suffering might just have been a bit worse than the one he later inflicted. A modern high-flyer criminal who is actually worse, and yet had been done wrong by those supposed to uphold justice. A fate worse than death for one protagonist, and an annoyingly stupid carelessness by T+C that I could only forgive for the way they genuinely suffer (what an ill-used word by now) for the other.I actually had written more about this somewhere - how McDermid based one of her lesbian cops on the lesbian German TV cop from "Tatort", how Tony rises to adversity in the direst straits, how McDermid (I think!!) purposely subverts the modern romance cliche of what the heroine thinks at the sight of the approaching male's penis. If I'll add that later, I will be more spoilery.Whoops, I just found an earlier review:I have yet to input something about her other novels, but right now something in the plot made me unable to go on without letting off some steam! I hope to later outline how this Scottish writer fits with the shows Cracker and Prime Suspect, and how this third Tony Hill/Carol Jordan novel is similar to Killing the Shadows in some respects, but mainly I read (yet another lesbian thriller writer) for the human angle, the characters and relationships. As a friend said, she didn't mind that contrary to blurbs Tony and Carol don't "fully get together", and in a way neither did I, but since there's really nothing that would be changed, my own private disappointment is yet again the very relationships I read her for. She does have the only truly ideal ones I know of, independence and deep affection in various het couples, but - as odd as that might sound for such hardboiled thrillers - I just find it's always too easy. Tony has been considered sexually deviant for ages, but rather than delve into that it seems now nothing than a mostly cured impotence. Their affection/love hasn't really changed and they never had actual problems between them, it's external and situational and when they briefly find a tiny moment of peace or joy or hope I feel a bit disappointed that that's all. I'll have to say more about KtS but right now I'm most upset because something stupid they did was finally really unnecessary and REALLY REALLY stupid and I wonder if McDermid means to show that people make the worst mistakes when in lust or not but I wish she hadn't made them so stupid to get that plot to work. Now poor Tony is once again in awful mortal peril and knowing he'll survive is just not enough, because pain and torture are worse than "the end".The title though is great, as usual (and unlike Cornwell) it resonates with various characters and actions. She also moved "evil" away from a "simply born evil" person, another thing I appreciate.*mopes back to last pages of book*ETA: ah, right, another significant external stumbling block to make T*C impossible but mainly I wanted to add that McDermid obviously knows the German TV Show "Tatort", because her Petra is not only a lesbian DC like Lena Odenthal, she is even described looking and dressing like her and with a seemingly incompetent young boyish sidekick - I didn't see that aluded to in her comprehensive acknowledgements that admitted she took liberties with EU geography (since the Brits won't mind ;P)
Short version: just as good as I'd hoped it would be. Long version: I was disappointed in McDermid's last standalone book and so I was really worried that this one was going to miss the mark for me as well. This is the third story to feature Carol Jordan and Tony Hill (the previous two books were The Mermaid's Singing and The Wire in the Blood). I read both of the earlier books a while ago now and loved them both. There were plenty of elements in this book that could have made it a dreadful experience but I got involved with the characters and really liked the book. This book revolves primarily around Jordan as she is given an undercover operation that involves living in Berlin and working with a big time trafficker of both drugs and people. The new setting brings in a lot of new European characters including a pair of lesbian detectives from Berlin and the Netherlands who know each other primarily through instant messaging. I thought these two characters were very realistically drawn and can only hope that police forces throughout Europe are populated by their sisters. The world would be a better place if that were so. Jordan also becomes involved in helping out with a serial killing investigation and this is where psychological profiler Tony Hill is drawn into the story. McDermid puts her characters through a lot and I don't know how many books this series can go on for because they barely get out of this book alive and this isn't the first time this has happened. This is one of the things that could have wrecked the book for me but I went with the flow and got drawn into the suspense. I hear that a TV series is being made based on these books and I'm in two minds about it. I'm worried that they'll wreck the books by casting people who are nothing like the characters in my head and by abridging stories and cutting out the goriest bits. But I also think greater readership for McDermid is a good thing and though she's one of the stars of the crime writing scene I don't think she's well enough known to the general public yet. A couple of other comments: At the beginning of this book there's a lot of stuff that refers back to the case in the previous book that I think would wreck the suspense of that book if you read the series out of order so don't read this book first! And if you have read the previous books I think this one is lacking the extra gory bits that featured in those - I could read all of this one with my eyes open ;-) In summary, this was a very enjoyable episode in this series with some excellent settings along the rivers of Europe and some great characters and I thought the plot worked pretty well (though there were moments when I thought some rather predictable things were being foreshadowed, but these didn't come to pass). I hope McDermid gives us another Lindsay Gordon or Kate Brannigan book next though!
Este livro veio trazer uma lufada de ar fresco à minha leitura, que esteva a tornar-se desmotivante devido às minhas ultimas escolhas como livros. Val McDermid foi como um presente para encerrar 2013, com a sua inabalável qualidade literária.De um lado temos um serrial killer, cujo alvo são psicólogos, de outro o desmantelamento de uma operação de tráfico de droga, armas e imigrantes ilegais, liderada por um homem que opera nas sombras. Embora a policia secreta alemã tenha conhecimento da sua identidade, não consegue ligá-lo aos crimes, por isso recorre a Carol como agente infiltrada. Carol assume a identidade de uma sedutora criminosa com o calibre necessário para se tornar sócia dele, podendo assim reunir as provas necessárias para prendê-lo.O desenrolar dos acontecimentos são descritos de forma vertiginosa, o Dr. Tony Hill precisa descobrir e travar o serial killer, ao mesmo tempo tem de salvar a vida de Carol do perigo iminente.Não me recordo de todos os livros que li em 2013, mas posso afirmar com toda a convicção que "A Ultima Tentação", está incluído nos melhores.É uma pena que este livro não esteja ao alcance de todos os amantes de policiais/thriller, tenho a certeza que iriam adorá-lo.Para finalizar, é com muita tristeza que fecho este livro e penso que não há qualquer previsão de lançamento de mais livros desta autora, traduzidos em PT!
—Ângela Costa
As McDermid creates a new psychopathic mystery for her readers, Tony Hill and Carol Jordan are back to test their wiles and personal chemistry. Seeking a new position, DCI Jordan interviews for a job with Europol, in hopes of using her skills to help those all across the continent. Handed an interesting file, whereby she must infiltrate the depths of a human smuggling ring, Jordan goes undercover to weasel her way right to the top. Stationed in Berlin and working with a German cop, Jordan seeks the assistance of Dr. Hill, who offers valuable insight into how to have those around her become trustworthy without blowing her own cover. Meanwhile, a serial killer may be on the loose, slaying experimental psychologists in The Netherlands and Germany. When Jordan posits that Hill may wish to help look into these cases, he jumps at the opportunity to leave academia (a position he took when profiling became too personal). Diving deep into Germany's past, he discovers what might be the perfect rationale for such murders, but cannot fathom the gruesome experiments the Nazis undertook, nor the reaction our killer is having in modern-time. As both cases inch towards success, passion between our two characters, long suppressed, may be the one thing that derails the entire mission. Explosive plot lines mesh together and leave the reader gasping at the lengths to which McDermid will go to shock the reader.McDermid is sensational in her character development and storytelling. She gets to the core of the matter and pulls no punches. While some are queasy by her graphic murder scenes and description, I find it useful to offer the reader the full-scale knowledge of what Hill and Jordan are seeing, which only adds to the story. This is the second novel in the series that seeks to show the killer throughout, offering up their identity and hoping authorities can piece it together before it is too late. McDermid paints a vivid/gruesome backstory that fully complements the killings and the impetus. My one critique might be the continual change in jobs both Hill and Jordan undertake, making any character foundation all the more difficult, even if it opens up new and exciting characters in each novel.Kudos, Madam McDermind on this wonderful addition to the series. You shock me when I think I've seen it all!
—Matt
Okay read if you are slugabed with illness, bored with TV, and need something mildly stimulating. The story takes place in northern Europe. If you are a bit of an armchair traveler, this takes you on an abbreviated tour of some of northern Europe's waterways; it tempts the reader to dig out the Atlas and do some independent reading on the places mentioned.It is two major plotlines that easily could be / should be two separate novels, doing better justice to both. Carol Jordan goes undercover to catch a human trafficker, and Tony Hill succumbs to the temptation of getting involved in another hunt for a serial killer.The wrap-up is too coincidental for me, and there is an incident where both Tony and Carol make a joint mistake that puts them both in danger. That mistake seems seriously out of character for either one.There are other things that bothered me. One is the lack of description of police procedures. This would have been a great vehicle to contrast how the police in different countries do their work. This was barely mentioned other than jurisdictional disputes exist. Another point is this is the third book of hers that I have read, and her police forces seem to have an extraordinary number of lesbians, as well as a gay policeman or two. The proportion seems to be well above the general population at large. I'm all for being inclusive, so can we have representatives from other cultures (Turks, Iranians, Moroccans, Albanians as something other than villains, etc.) that are populating Europe these days?How about a series of murders of Iranian dissidents? Are these the result of Qud actions, or somebody local with an intense dislike of Iranians, or Muslims in general. That should get Tony's and Carol's professional attention.
—Ishmael Seaward
