Type of bind: Hardcover
Dewey Decimal Number: 823.914
EAN num: 9780312339197
ISBN number: 0312339194
Label: St. Martin's Minotaur
Manufacturer: St. Martin's Minotaur
Quantity: 1
Page Count: 400
Printing Date: May 23, 2005
Publishing house: St. Martin's Minotaur
Release Date: April 28, 2005
Sale Popularity Level: 545248
Studio: St. Martin's Minotaur
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Product Description:
Dr. Tony Hill and Detective Chief Inspector Carol Jordan return in the award-winning series that is the basis for the hit show on BBC America.
In a small grim room, the body of a woman is discovered, panic and pain etched in her face. The scene matches in every detail a series of murders two years ago-murders that ended when irrefutable forensic evidence secured the conviction of a deeply disturbed young man named Derek Tyler.
But there's no way Tyler could have killed the latest victim. He's been locked up in a mental institution since his trial, barely speaking a word. So is there a copycat?
All his years of experience tell top criminal psychologist Dr. Tony Hill that there isn't-but that would make the murders literally impossible. While Hill tries to crack Tyler, DCI Carol Jordan and her team must mount a desperate undercover operation to trap the murderer-a decision that will have terrible consequences.
As the tension mounts, a mixture of psychological insight and dogged detective work leads inexorably to a terrifying climax where Tony faces one of the most perverse killers he has ever encountered.
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Rated by buyers 
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It's always a pleasure when I take a chance on a new novelist and it pays off as well as it did here. Val McDermid is, I now know, one of our best writers and I won't hesitate to buy any book in the future with her name on the cover. In The Torment of Others, you'll get everything you want from a thriller and more : intelligent characters, gripping imagery, a powerful plot, clever pacing and just entertainment all round. The lead characters Jordan and Hill are very much individuals whose personalities and concerns are so well described that we almost feel that we know them; the key point is that we can easily believe in them. The side-plot of their 'relationship' is actually intriguing, dealt with subtle aplomb by their creator and cleverly left unfinished within the context of this story so that we can carry on where they left off in the subsequent one. The main story line of this book is quite daringly graphic in its description without being gory for its own sake. It just leaves you wondering "Jeez, what a way to go"...and I'm not a woman! This is a writer of high intellect, vivid imagination and the bringing together of those rare skills makes for very enjoyable reading. Call me a fan.
Rated by buyers -
This author just keeps doing it. How she can write book after gripping book and sound fresh, suspenseful and compelling is a wonder in today's crime fiction scene. Just read it!
Rated by buyers 
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... and this title is no exception. The continution of the Tony and Carol saga. I highly recommend!
Rated by buyers -
I had not read any of Val McDermid's work before this. It seems that a lot has transpired in previous novels that were alluded to time and again, so if there is a novel that proceeds this, you might want to check out that one before starting in on `The Torment of Others'. That aside, I was immediately brought into McDermid's world as a reader. The characters Tony Hill and Carol Jordan have so many demons that are being exorcised that this does not read as though it were just another in a long line of sequels.
There are two mysteries unfolding here. Carol is found at the start of the book taking control of an elite crime fighting force and these are the two very first cases that fall under her sphere. Both of these stories are complex enough that you will be left guessing and not quite sure as to where things are going until near the end. Along the way several other side characters are introduced. I think that the plurithura of very first person characters that stride through this novel was a bit of a drawback. In my opinion, the fact that McDermid mines not two, but at least six (that I can recall off the top of my head) points of view is a real momentum killer. You never really get to the point where you are on the edge of your seat with this book. I always felt like a disengaged viewer lording over this unfolding event rather than as an immediate participant.
The mood that I gleamed from this book... the over all aura... was sort of like a Patricia Cornwell novel. If you have not read her yet, you are in for a treat. I would highly recommend her work and suggest that you start with her very first novel. Otherwise, this book is worth reading, though by no means the best of this genre that I have come across.
Rated by buyers -
I read WIRE IN THE BLOOD and loved it and just finished TORMENT and will have to get everything by McDermid.
This novel is VERY gruesome but the characters and "secondary cases" are so interesting and well-written that you really can't help turning the pages.
Good stuff-- but creepy!
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