Halfhead - Stuart B. MacBride

One of the best books in the crime thriller genre!

Advantages: Great characters, horrific crime scenes and never a dull moment.
Disadvantages: I can't pick any faults with this book.

I'd wanted to read Stuart MacBride's series of books staring DS Logan McRae for a long time, and I can't believe I put it off for so long! The Author Stuart MacBride was born in Scotland moved to Aberdeen with his family when he was two years old. He flunked out of university but set up his own graphic design company, before being dragged into the world of the Internet, developing massive applications for the oil industry. He lives with his wife Fiona in Scotland, and it's easy to see that the step from web design to writing books was a simple one for him, as his books have been a massive success. His has won awards including winning the ITV3 Crime Thriller Award for Breakthrough Author of the Year in 2008 for Broken Skin. The Book Set in a very cold and wet Aberdeen the book dives straight in at the crime scene ...

GemmaC25 25.11.2009 · Read full review
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Review of Cold Granite - Stuart MacBride

A darkly funny novel about murder and death(?)

Advantages: Strong characterisation and excellent dialogue
Disadvantages: Avoid reading in public - it can be embarassing laughing out loud!

Stuart Macbride has done for Aberdeen what Ian Rankin did for Edingburgh and turned out a well-rounded, yet flawed, character set amidst the low-life in Scotlands 'Granite City'.  However, where Rankin paints his tales with Rebus's cynicism Macbride fills his with a whole host of colourful characters and prose that can often make you laugh out loud.  DS Logan McRae is the central character in all Macbrides novels, a put-upon officer of the law who is surrounded by a host of individuals, both criminals and police alike, who tend to make his life hell and in 'Dying Light' they make no exception.The tale begins with the murder of an old prostitute and doesn't stop there - soon further 'ladies of the night' are turning up dead whilst in another part of town an old house burns to the ground while six people suffer and die within.  Just ...

david_1967 29.02.2008 · Read full review
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Review of Dying Light - Stuart MacBride

Its winter in Aberdeen and kids are going missing

Advantages: Bleak storyline offset by brilliant characters
Disadvantages: At 592 pages there just isn't enough of it!

If you love reading crime-fiction from the likes of Ian Rankin and Graham Hurley then find a place alongside those greats for Stuart Macbride. 'Cold Granite is the first in his series of books featuring Detective Sergeant Logan McRae who has just returned to work following a year off sick thanks to a near-fatal stabbing and who walks straight into a murder enquiry involving the abandonned and mutilated corpse of a 3 year old child. Things don't get any better for the DS as this marks the beginning of a serial killer and more children are going missing. As with all his books the subject matter is very dark indeed but it is entirely offset by the characters that surround Logan as he tries to do his job - from WPC 'Ball-Breaker' Watson to the forever sweet-chewing DI Insch, his ex-lover-come-pathologist and her new partner who just so ...

david_1967 29.02.2008 · Read full review
Ciao members have rated this review on average: helpful
Review of Cold Granite - Stuart MacBride