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Product Description
Review
“The most engrossing thriller since Thomas Harris's The Silence of the Lambs.” ----The Washington Post
“Sinister and riveting. Peter James is one of the best in the world.” –Lee Child
"U.S. readers deserve to know what the rest of the world has known for years--Peter James is one of the best crime writers in the business." --Karin Slaughter, New York Times bestselling author of BROKEN and UNDONE
Book Description
Don’t imagine for one moment that I’m not watching you…
The Metropole Hotel, Brighton. After a heady New Year’s Eve ball, a woman is brutally raped as she returns to her room. A week later, another woman is attacked. Both victims’ shoes are taken by the offender.
Detective Superintendent Roy Grace soon realizes that these new cases bear remarkable similarities to an unsolved series of crimes in the city back in 1997. The perpetrator had been dubbed “Shoe Man” and was believed to have raped five women before murdering his sixth victim and vanishing. Could this be a copycat, or has “Shoe Man” resurfaced?
When more women are assaulted, Grace becomes increasingly certain that they are dealing with the same man. And that by delving back into the past—a time in which we see Grace and his missing wife Sandy still apparently happy together—he may find the key to unlocking the current mystery. Soon Grace and his team will find themselves in a desperate race against the clock to identify and save the life of the new sixth victim.
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Most helpful customer reviews
5.0 out of 5 stars
another page-turner!,
By
This review is from: Dead Like You (Hardcover)
So you like twists and turns?Memorable characters? Getting sucked into a book after only a few pages? If so, get this series and enoy!!! Vous aimez les surprises? Des personnages inoulibables? Vous raffolez d'ętre incapable d'arrręter de lire après seulement quelques pages? Si oui, procurez-vous cette série de livres!!!
2.0 out of 5 stars
'We all make mistakes': This book, in my view, was one of them.,
By
This review is from: Dead Like You (Hardcover)
First Sentence: We all make mistakes, all of the time.In 1997, Brighton was on the hunt for a serial, stranger rapist. The perpetrator was never caught but the rapes suddenly stopped. Twelve years later, stranger rapes are happening again. The common thread is shoes; the victims all share a love for expensive, designer shoes which are used in their rape and taken from them. DS Roy Grace leads the team hunting down "The Shoe Man," while awaiting the birth of his first child and still trying to solve the disappearance ten years ago of his first wife, Sandy. What has happened to Peter James? I very much liked his first four books but suddenly, with his last book, found myself skimming through it, being bored. I had so hoped this fifth entry would return me to the author I originally enjoyed. It didn't. Hook/Tension: The book starts off very well. One skill Mr. James has not lost is the ability to create tension and suspense and convey fear. That did hold true throughout the book. Setting/Sense of Place/Dialogue: Where was this book set? I had to keep reminding myself that James is a British author as the sense of place was so weak. The story could have been set in any city. While I wasn't looking for characters speaking in Cockney, only the occasionally British expression kept me on track. The dialogue was not bad, it flowed well. Characters/Character Development: There were a lot of characters. This would be natural for a major police investigation. We are told who they are and, perhaps, their attribute or failing, but we never get to know most of them. The majority of characters are one-dimensional. Even Grace; aside from repeated reminders of how much in love he is with his new wife, we see very little depth to his character. For all of Grace's declarations of love for Cleo, women are not well treated by the author. None of them, including Cleo, are very interesting or intellectually appealing as characters although one of the victims was wonderfully gutsy. For the suspects, however, we are shown what has caused them to be as they are; I did find that a strong point of the book. It is not an easy thing for an author to turn a suspect of a vile and violent crime into a somewhat sympathetic character. Plot/Flow/Quality of Writing/Originality: Considering stranger rape is very rare in itself, the odds of more than one man with the same fetish operating at the same time are incredibly low. While it did add to the suspense and made for an interesting ending, it also raised the implausibility level to a point which diminished the plot. A device I'm seeing more frequently is that of dual time periods. There is a time when that works. In this case, I felt it more bloated the story to the point where I nearly stopped reading. It's enough to read about numerous rapes during one time period; doubling that number became repetitive rather than suspenseful. The same is true of the secondary story line regarding the disappeared first wife. It doesn't go anywhere or enhance the story in any way. Rather, it's the massive imperfection on someone's face at which you can't help but look but it serves no purpose. The chapters are short, the time changes frequently as does the point of view, all of which leads to a choppy, fragmented read with no flow. Originality: This is a story which has been told before. There was no real originality to the plot, but there were some interesting bits. I did appreciate the good detail of procedural investigation and the handling of rape victims and appreciated Grace's awareness of the impact of rape on its victims. The opening sentence begins with "We all make mistakes..." This book, in my view, was one of them. It wasn't a complete disaster. I did finish it, albeit with difficulty, and there were some good points to it. Unfortunately, these were overwhelmed by its weaknesses. Had the book been at least 200 pages shorter, focused only on the present with references to the events of the past, had fewer and better developed characters and a strong sense of place it might have stood with James earlier books. However, this being the second of his books I've found very disappointing, it will probably be the last of his I read. DEAD LIKE YOU (Pol Proc-DS Roy Grace-England-Cont) - Poor James, Peter - 6th in series Minotaur Books, ©2010, ARC - Hardcover ISBN: 9780312642822
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews on Amazon.com (beta) Amazon.com:
3.9 out of 5 stars (43 customer reviews) 27 of 31 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars
Give me more!,
By Kim Cantrell "Soap Box Bandit" - Published on Amazon.com
Pre-release customer review from the Amazon Vine™ Program
In an ever expanding global market, American readers are discovering the exciting works of authors from abroad. And this is never more so true as it is with British authors of the suspense thriller fiction genre.Let me make this proclamation now, one of the best British writers I've ever had the pleasure of reading has to be Peter James. Recently I was introduced to James with his newest release Dead Like You. In his sixth novel featuring Detective Superintendent Roy Grace, a serial rapist known as The Shoe Man - called so because of his penchant for ladies' designer shoes and the horrendous things he forces his victims to do with them - is on the prowl again among Brighton's upper class after being dormant for 12 years. DS Grace hasn't forgotten The Shoe Man's last victim: Rachel Ray. Unlike other victims who lived to tell about their nightmarish experience, Ray just simply disappeared. Did The Shoe Man escalate from rapist to murderer? Working at a feverish pace, DS Grace searches for the identity of The Shoe Man before he goes underground again. This isn't the only problem that plagues DS Grace, however. At home he is juggling a pregnant fiance as he seeks to have his wife, Sandy, declared legally dead after she simply disappeared one day over a decade ago. Could Sandy have been a victim of The Shoe Man too? Dead Like You is a fast pace, very engrossing read that's difficult to put down. Using real life police procedures of the UK coupled with frighteningly too real crime scenarios, James weaves a novel that will leave you never looking at your shoes the same again. I so enjoyed this book that I'll definitely be seeking out more in the Roy Grace crime series. 14 of 16 people found the following review helpful
4.0 out of 5 stars
An Excellent Thriller and Well Paced,
By JD Cetola - Published on Amazon.com
Pre-release customer review from the Amazon Vine™ Program
This is the first Peter James book I've read and the first of the Detective Roy Grace series to be published stateside. Although "Dead Like You" is the sixth book to feature Grace, it's not necessary to read the others to enjoy this one (although I'll be tracking those down). "Dead Like You" opens with an abduction on Christmas Eve 1997. The next several chapter are set in present day Brighton, England where Detective Grace is called to investigate a brutal New Year's Eve rape that bears striking similarities to the 1997 abduction (unsolved) and a series of other unsolved rapes/attacks from the same time period believed to be the work of a heinous criminal dubbed "Shoe Man".Much of the book darts back in forth between 1997 and the present and this works well in the context of this book. The reader gets glimpses into Grace's life to include the still unsolved disappearance of his wife. We learn a little about Grace in the process and a lot about the "Shoe Man". James successfully builds suspense both in the past and in the present crimes. He presents a handful of suspects and his characterization (and motivation) for these evil men is detailed. As are their crimes--James is fairly graphic in his description of the attacks. We learn less about Grace, which is unfortunate, and virtually nothing about Grace's fellow detectives. This is the only weak aspect to this otherwise fine novel--not enough development or interest in the main character. "Dead Like You" reads fast for a 550 page book and is loaded with suspense. I had a hard time putting it down and thought it one of the better thrillers I've read in quite some time. There are plenty of red herrings and enough uncertainty to keep the reader guessing. James shows some of his cards early, but the suspense is there throughout the book. Definitely recommended. 9 of 10 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars
...I don't know if all of the books in this series are as good as this one but I'm looking forward to finding out.,
By Philly gal "phillygal" - Published on Amazon.com
This is the first Peter James novel I've read and he is a keeper! Dead Like You is the sixth novel in the Inspector Roy Grace series and reads well as a standalone story. The series, set in Brighton on the southern coast of England is quintessentially British, lots of colloquialisms and a true damp rainy climate described throughout the story. Grace is the detective superintendent of a major crimes unit in Brighton. In this installment of the series they track "the Shoeman", a rapist and presumed killer who preys on women who purchase high end shoes. The Shoeman committed a series of rapes in 1997 and is suspected in the disappearance of a victim, Rachael Ray who went missing on Christmas Eve 1997. Although Ray's body was never found, Grace is convinced she was taken by the Shoeman. Two rapes occurring in the present time follow the modus operandi of the Shoeman, and then the chase is on to find and stop him before another woman is taken and tortured. There are a number of credible suspects who if not guilty of the rapes are certainly up to something.The narration alternates between action in'97 and the present day, which I initially found a wee bit confusing, but I got into the rhythm of it. All the police procedural aspects of the story are first rate and drive the narrative in a realistic way. The suspense builds credibly throughout the book culminating in the last few chapters where Grace and his officers attempt to locate and liberate the most recent victim. The denouement, in my opinion often the weakest part of mysteries is terrific. The inspector has an intriguing back story - his own wife Sandy went missing during the 1997 crime spree and her fate is unknown. Currently Grace is involved and hoping to marry his pregnant girl friend Cleo. Refreshingly Grace has good working relations with his superiors and appears to be able to operate successfully without breaking numerous laws and shooting up criminals. I liked him as a detective! I don't know if all of the books in this series are as good as this one but I'm looking forward to finding out. |
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