One missing girl and the whole city goes crazy.It’s been three days, and now everyone in Brighton is looking for her. There is an army of police searching, her picture is on every front page, and the public can’t get enough of it. Gangs of good citizens are going door to door, turning their neighbours’ houses upside down, but still no one can find her.For Brighton’s No.1 Private Detective, Joe … Private Detective, Joe Grabarz, it brings back too many memories of his first case, another missing girl, when he learnt too many lessons the hard way. No one was going door to door then. No one cared. But her mum and dad weren’t nearly as photogenic, nor quite so saintly.
It’s a lesson Joe learnt long ago that has come back to haunt him: choose your parents wisely.
Warning: this book contains adult language, sex references, and violence (basically, all the good stuff).
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nope nope
To be honest, I deleted the book after a couple of chapters. The language was so foul I could not read it. It may have had a good plot, but the f word was used constantly so I chose to not read it. Others may be able to over look it, but not me.
could not hold my attention….from characters to plot…not worth the time
While this book was very interesting and action-packed, there was quite a bit of British slang that I had to look up to see what the words meant. And I watch quite a few British shows on PBS so I’m surprised that I found the slang so difficult. It was also very confusing flipping between the past and the present. Sometimes I would have to read a couple paragraphs to figure it out.
Not cosy, but definitely fun mystery.
Interesting characters. A little twisted leading man. Made for a nice story but it could do with some editing. he’s become she’s and missing words but still entertaining.
The protagonist was so obnoxious I just couldn’t finish reading it.
It was slow to reveal the plot, I didn’t finish it.
It could of been a good book but went from one thing to another and back hard to keep interested I read all of it but started skimming in some places. Not for me
The best way to describe Joe Grabarz, Brighton’s #1 Detective (his self-anointed title), is to say that he’s Holden Caulfield (of J. D.Salinger’s Catcher in the Rye fame) without the money. He possesses lots of street smarts, a strong but mutable sense of justice, and bravado sometimes to the point of boorishness. At the same time, he’s incredibly naive, fragile, and can be highly sensitive to the needs of others, especially children and animals. And he possesses a quirky to sometimes offensive sense of humor. In short, he’s everything you’d expect a 20-something young man to be who was bounced through a lackluster childcare system struggling to make it on his own. Although I can’t say for sure, I suspect that the author gave him the name “Grabarz” to elicit images of “grab ass (or arse)” to sum up his personality and his approach to life.
Consequently, it is safe for the reader to assume that the title of the book has at least a double meaning. As Joe attempts to locate 2 little girls who have disappeared, it’s inevitable that parts of his own past will intrude. Ultimately the plot is filled with so many twists and turns and impeccably described highly unlikable characters who do ugly things, it’s the kind of book I should have hated. But by the end I loved it. And Joe. But I’d hate to have him for a neighbor. I think.
Found the lead character a bit annoying and the author’s style offputting. But maybe I’ve just gotten lazy–never been a fan of flashbacks.
Some interesting twists in this story and a fairly engaging main character.
Although I realize a lot of people swear I don’t enjoy reading books that use them for every other word. I would think the author could use some other descriptive words. I couldn’t even get into the story. To even use swear words for a chapter title, really?
I expected more humor, but it was well-written. I found it confusing in the last quarter of the book when 2 storylines alternated chapters.
Joe Grabarz was a realistic character but was a little too tragic and confused when I wanted an escape from reality. I can’t say that such partially damaged adults, due to their childhoods, aren’t all too common–they are. But I read to find a better caliber of people than those I encounter. I did enjoy the book enough to complete it, but if it were a series of ten, I would not read them all.
going back and forth between the past and current case got confusing sometimes