Strike novel number 6
I have a doorstop, a dog labelled Dora by the gift shop in the grounds of Alnwick Castle in Northumberland. This particular book would do just as good a job as said dog. Oh my goodness, 1221 pages and as I do most of my reading lying in bed with my arms in the air, holding the book above me, well, it was a challenge in more ways than one. I hesitate to admit it but I did not read every page, word for word. This is my least favourite of the Strike novels, although I did still enjoy it. The problem for me was the amount of text messages that were written as part of the story. The print was small and it inevitably included all sorts of abbreviations that I am not familiar with. At first I struggled on, then lost the will and then decided I could follow the narrative without the far too many pages of messaging. I would be interested to know how many of her readers felt the same.
Is over 1000 pages for a novel necessary? Is it self indulgent? Probably my answers would be no and yes! However, although I found many aspects aggravating in this book, I was never tempted to stop.
We are in uncomfortable darkness here, frequently in Highgate Cemetery. As always JK Rowling’s characterisation is excellent. With each successive novel we know more about Strike and Robin, and their relationship, such as it is, takes small and tentative steps forward.
I will at some point soon read book number 7, The Running Grave, but for the moment I am giving my arms a res