Belinda Bauer is a phenomenal voice in British crime fiction, whose work has won the CWA’s Gold Dagger Award for Crime Novel of the Year and garnered rave reviews on both sides of the Atlantic. Winner of the 2014 Theakstons Old Peculier Crime Novel of the Year Award, Rubbernecker is a gripping thriller about a medical student who begins to suspect that something strange is going on in this … this cadaver lab.
The dead can’t speak to us,” Professor Madoc had said. But that was a lie. The body Patrick Fort is examining in anatomy class is trying to tell him all kinds of things. But no one hears what he does, and no one understand when he tries to tell them.
Life is already strange enough for Patrickbeing a medical student with Asperger’s Syndrome doesn’t come without its challenges. And that’s before he is faced with solving a possible murder, especially when no one believes a crime has even taken place. Now he must stay out of danger long enough to unravel the mystery. But as Patrick learns one truth from a dead man, he discovers there have been many other lies closer to home.
A can’t-put-it-down page-turner from one of the finest voices in UK crime, Rubbernecker puts Belinda Bauer firmly on the map of world-class crime writers.
An intelligent, disturbing read.”The Guardian (UK)
Breathtaking. I read this and wished I’d written it.”Val McDermid
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This is one of the most clever mysteries I’ve read. The main character is a young man with Asberger’s Syndrome who decides that he needs to study anatomy at a medical school. He is an outstanding student who ends up sort of accidentally becoming involved in solving a couple of mysteries and learning more about himself. There are several threads to the plot and at times they seem unrelated both in time and relevance. All of this comes together near the end and provides a series of twists and surprises.
Unexpectedly interesting.
Interesting twists to this mostly psychological thriller. Kept me going until the end.
The world of an intelligent Asperger character, sympathetically pertrayed.
EXCELLENT, a must read book. Brilliantly smart.
A very strange story. Not my kind of a read.
Patrick is taking an anatomy class because he wants to know where a person goes when he dies. He thinks if he can dissect a body, he will find his answers.
Patrick has Asperger’s Syndrome, which makes him not very likable. His mother especially doesn’t like him. His father was killed by a hit and run driver when Patrick was seven. He wants to know where his father went.
The cadaver Patrick’s group is given to dissect is #11, who died in a long term care facility. The group is supposed to find the cause of death. While dissecting the throat, Patrick finds a peanut. The group is told #11 died of heart failure. Patrick doesn’t believe it. He makes a big mess of everything trying to prove his point and gets kicked out of school.
By chance Patrick meets #11’s daughter. He finds out that # 11 was allergic to peanuts, but now the peanut he found is missing. Patrick thinks #11 was murdered and decides to prove it.
The story is interesting, but Patrick is kind of irritating. He takes everything very literally which causes lots of problems for him and makes him disliked by most people. In the background of the story is the undercurrent of Patrick’s father’s death and his mother’s intense dislike for him. I figured out where the book was going about halfway in, but it was still a good read. It was interesting to see how the author wrapped up all the loose ends.
This novel is well done and unique. The characters are believable and the emotions realistic. This book has many unforeseen twists. It is a joy to read!