∎ Download Free The Girl in the Ice A gripping serial killer thriller Detective Erika Foster Book 1 eBook Robert Bryndza

The Girl in the Ice A gripping serial killer thriller Detective Erika Foster Book 1 eBook Robert Bryndza

Download As PDF : The Girl in the Ice A gripping serial killer thriller Detective Erika Foster Book 1 eBook Robert Bryndza

The Girl in the Ice A gripping serial killer thriller Detective Erika Foster Book 1 eBook Robert Bryndza

Aha! A new detective writer! Or new to me at any rate. But oh, how this made my heart sink. It lolloped along in a spirited way, like an enthusiastic puppy and as I'm a sucker for thrillers, did keep me reading till the end. There were some creditable twists, sporadic bursts of an atmospheric south London winter and the occasional spark of real promise. The story was one cliche after another - "strong" female detective clashes with less competent rival copper, gets taken off case with help of murky interests trying to influence investigation, gets put back on case, gets herself into perilous confrontation with baddie and needs rescuing - been there, read that. Character development was patchy, though the heroine did suddenly come to life in a rather touching ending. Before that, I found it hard to care that much about her. The Slovak angle was interesting - obviously taken from the author's own experience - but with one notable female exception (not the heroine) the characters were too predictable - so-called "society" girl, hapless East European prostitutes, evil ditto crook, sleazy businessman/politician, warm-hearted gay couple - so what else is new? But we like books like that,don't we? It's a popular genre with only so many possible variations and we're comfortable with it, even if we're fed it over and over again. And if you read a lot of this sort of thing, you'll probably guess whodunnit early on, but never mind. It would all have been sort of fun and OK if it weren't for the clunky, sloppy writing that made me want my old English teacher to rise from her grave, and sit young Mr Bryndza in front of a good, old-fashioned book on "How to Write". Where do I start? Male characters were routinely "handsome" (unless they had greasy hair), females "beautiful" and/or "dark-haired" .Sometimes on the same page. The author needed to find some new adjectives and fast. Or better still, ditch the adjectives. Especially for the incidental characters. (Try reading some masters of the craft - the Ian Rankins, the Reginald Hills). And he seemed to have, at best, a shaky grasp of the British honours system - one chap changed from "Lord" to "Sir" and back to "Lord" again more quickly than I could flick a page over, not to mention spelling howlers like - "discrete" /"discreet" And a church called "Our Lady of Grace and St Edward" is hardly likely to have a "vicar". OK I'm quibbling but it's important - errors like that don't inspire confidence. I'm not a big expert on police procedure but I had a hunch that we were sometimes on dodgy ground here too. I don't know whether anyone employs editors these days but I am of the view that it pays to have the humility to ask someone to look over your work, even if it's your auntie Flo. She probably went to school in the days when you'd get a C-minus for this sort of effort and could offer some helpful hints. Could do better, Mr B, could do a lot better. But judging by the torrent of gushing, glowing reviews and the allegedly phenomenal sales of this book, no one cares about that sort of thing any more.


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The Girl in the Ice A gripping serial killer thriller Detective Erika Foster Book 1 eBook Robert Bryndza Reviews

These categorisations (on ) are not entirely helpful. I have been reading detective fiction since I was lucky enough to find my father's "Complete Sherlock Holmes" many years ago. I bought this novel knowing nothing about it, other than it seemed like a good story. I read it in three days. I would have read it faster but my day job intervened. Leaving aside the reasons why I am being asked (by ) to characterise the novel as either slow, one-dimensional and predictable or complex, fast-paced and full of surprises; which does not accurately convey the very real substance of this book, I really enjoyed it. And for me that says a lot as I only read and rate what I really enjoy and what I consider is better-than-average piece of literature. The plot was fascinating and the opening scenes extremely convincing. The plot, as it was uncovered, piece by piece, was brilliant in its complexity and intrigue. All the characters seemed real and believable and the location was very well described. I really felt for Erika Foster from the beginning, even if she was not entirely empathetic, she might have been flawed but she was human, so I forgave her when she wasn't perfect. The plot is complex and extremely well dealt with. I did not expect the ending. I would read this book again and probably will, which is a measure of a great read. I have just ordered the next two books in the series The Night Stalker and Dark Water.
I kind of knew early on in the book it was David, a little too obvious but good story all in all.
The book rather lacks solid research in any number of areas. For example, the author says that ligature marks and a broken collar bone are hallmarks of death by strangulation. Say what??? Really, the collar bone not the hyoid! Also, the author didn't study up on the ranks and duties of Met police. Peterson and Moss introduce themselves to the new boss as 'Detective' Peterson and Moss, which indicates the division they are in but not the rank. At first I thought it was a typo, but after the first 10 times...I concluded that it is just bad research. The author has two DCIs assigned to this crime and then a cast of Detective-somethings (Peterson turns out to be a DI). Well the DCI is a behind-the-desk senior officer, not someone running out to scenes of crime and interviewing potential suspects. DCI Foster, the protagonist, handles victims and by-standers in the most unbelievably inept way, rather like a probational DC might be expected to do. At best, Foster is of DI rank and not DCI. Another example of poor research is that we are told that Linda's behaviour is caused by some anoxia a birth. Not hardly likely, Mr. Bryndza; poor parenting and other life situations maybe.

This is just one more of many mysteries that feature an insolent, out-of-control protagonist...a Lethal-Weapon-Mel-Gibson replica. What authors forget is that the police are para-military and the type of behaviour described in this book is not going to happen. A police officer like Foster would spend her entire career in the traffic division, receiving nasty pay-back for insubordination and likely being turfed for behaviour unbecoming to a police officer.

Perhaps a good crime...but incredibly uni-dimensional, and unbelievable characters detract from it. A bit too many timely events or findings pulled out of the magician's hat at an unbelievably opportune moment.
Aha! A new detective writer! Or new to me at any rate. But oh, how this made my heart sink. It lolloped along in a spirited way, like an enthusiastic puppy and as I'm a sucker for thrillers, did keep me reading till the end. There were some creditable twists, sporadic bursts of an atmospheric south London winter and the occasional spark of real promise. The story was one cliche after another - "strong" female detective clashes with less competent rival copper, gets taken off case with help of murky interests trying to influence investigation, gets put back on case, gets herself into perilous confrontation with baddie and needs rescuing - been there, read that. Character development was patchy, though the heroine did suddenly come to life in a rather touching ending. Before that, I found it hard to care that much about her. The Slovak angle was interesting - obviously taken from the author's own experience - but with one notable female exception (not the heroine) the characters were too predictable - so-called "society" girl, hapless East European prostitutes, evil ditto crook, sleazy businessman/politician, warm-hearted gay couple - so what else is new? But we like books like that,don't we? It's a popular genre with only so many possible variations and we're comfortable with it, even if we're fed it over and over again. And if you read a lot of this sort of thing, you'll probably guess whodunnit early on, but never mind. It would all have been sort of fun and OK if it weren't for the clunky, sloppy writing that made me want my old English teacher to rise from her grave, and sit young Mr Bryndza in front of a good, old-fashioned book on "How to Write". Where do I start? Male characters were routinely "handsome" (unless they had greasy hair), females "beautiful" and/or "dark-haired" .Sometimes on the same page. The author needed to find some new adjectives and fast. Or better still, ditch the adjectives. Especially for the incidental characters. (Try reading some masters of the craft - the Ian Rankins, the Reginald Hills). And he seemed to have, at best, a shaky grasp of the British honours system - one chap changed from "Lord" to "Sir" and back to "Lord" again more quickly than I could flick a page over, not to mention spelling howlers like - "discrete" /"discreet" And a church called "Our Lady of Grace and St Edward" is hardly likely to have a "vicar". OK I'm quibbling but it's important - errors like that don't inspire confidence. I'm not a big expert on police procedure but I had a hunch that we were sometimes on dodgy ground here too. I don't know whether anyone employs editors these days but I am of the view that it pays to have the humility to ask someone to look over your work, even if it's your auntie Flo. She probably went to school in the days when you'd get a C-minus for this sort of effort and could offer some helpful hints. Could do better, Mr B, could do a lot better. But judging by the torrent of gushing, glowing reviews and the allegedly phenomenal sales of this book, no one cares about that sort of thing any more.