Tangled Web UK Review August 2007
Death Message by
Mark Billingham
hbk out September 07
Published by Little Brown
at £14.99
Mark Billingham and his central character, Tom Thorne, just get better and better and
Death Message, Thorne's seventh outing, is quite simply one of the best crime fiction
novels you will read this year.
The first message sent to Tom Thorne's mobile phone was just a picture - the blurred
image of a man's face, but Thorne had seen enough dead bodies in his time to know that the
man was no longer alive. But who was he? Who sent the photograph? And why? While the
technical experts attempt to trace the sender, Thorne searches the daily police bulletins for a
reported death that matches the photograph. Then another picture arrives. Another dead man.
It is the identities of the murdered men which give Thorne his first clue, a link to a
dangerous killer he'd put away years before and who is still in prison. With a chilling talent
for manipulation, this man has led another inmate to plot revenge on everyone he blames for
his current incarceration, and for the murder of his family while he was inside. Newly
released, this convict has no fear of the police, no feelings for those he is compelled to
murder. Now Tom Thorne must face one of the toughest challenges of his career, knowing
that there is no killer more dangerous than one who has nothing left to lose.
Mark Billingham has long been regarded as one of the best in the business, as his stack of
awards and nominations testify. With Death Message, however, surely now his reputation as
the best is secure.
Pared-to-the-bone prose, released with devastating effect, make this a novel that stands
out from the crowd, with a storyline that grips from the start and hangs on for all its worth.
Never will the reader become lost and never will the simple beauty of a story well told pale,
as Billingham takes control of the emotions and wrings them out for all they are worth, tying
up loose ends past and present, into one explosive package with exemplary skill.
A truly momentous novel put together by a truly momentous writer.
www.markbillingham.com
(
Chris High
Chris High - Author Multi-media Promotion Service www.chrishigh.com)
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