The Devil's Feather

Superb

Dark and disturbing read. Excellently written and a book you cannot put down

OK

A really good read, as usual, from one of my favourite authors. It kept me on tenterhooks right to the ends.

When Minette Walters first burst onto the scene in the early 'Nineties, she seemed like a breath of fresh air. Her first three books, especially 'The Sculptress', were excellent and her appealing, distinctive style promised much for the future. However, it seems that as her fame and her sales increased, the quality of her writing took a bit of a nosedive. Book number four, 'The Dark Room' was pretty good if rather unconvincing, but 'The Echo' was disappointing and 'The Breaker' absolutely awful. Since then, she has never recovered her early form, and her subsequent books have ranged from passable ('Disordered Minds') to mind-numbingly abysmal ('Acid Row').'The Devil's Feather' is one of the passable ones, although the beginning seemed to promise more. The book wastes no time in getting to the heart of the story; within forty pages, journalist Connie Burns has unmasked a serial killer (but no one believes her), been kidnapped and abused by him and finally fled to a remote house in the wilds of Dorset to escape him. Of course, we know the killer will eventually come looking for her, and Walters cranks up the tension slowly but fairly satisfyingly. Unfortunately, the long-awaited climax occurs 150 pages from the end of the book, leaving the remainder to clear up a not-terribly-interesting subplot, and the confrontation itself is only described to us in retrospect, thus robbing it of any tension since we immediately know who has survived the encounter. There are also some rather unconvincing shifts in personality and a lot of half-baked psychology which the characters spout to explain their unbelievable actions.The other problem I have with this book, as with all of Minette Walters' recent books, is the amount of repetition in her work. Character types, themes and personal concerns are used over and over again. There's always a tough independent female who can't bear to show her vulnerable side, the square-jawed professional male who has slept with every woman in a fifty mile radius, the obnoxious introvert who is really sensitive and warm-hearted under that protective shell ... they're all here, as they are in practically everything else she's ever written. The usual hobbyhorses are here, too: the superiority of rural to urban life, dogs (in this book she tries - and spectacularly fails - to convince us the demonic Bull Mastiff is a sweet and loveable breed) and smoking (I'm a smoker myself, but even I can't sympathise with the way her characters are always deliberately blowing smoke in non-smokers' faces). Also as usual, the whole book is shot through with conservative, middle-class values, however much the author tries to convince us she's a forward-thinking liberal. Her treatment of working-class characters has always been offensive, and no matter how hard she pretends to disapprove of snobbery, she exhibits all the signs herself. The way she seems to applaud violent revenge and vigilantism in this book is particularly disturbing.Perhaps the most surprising example of her repeating herself is the way in which this book is reminiscent of 'The Ice House' in many ways. Isolated females, unfriendly and suspicious villagers, concealed corpses, the mystery surrounding the fate of the central villain ... there are many similarities but I don't want to go into too much detail and spoil the novel for anyone.I can only hope that Minette Walters takes a break before writing her next book, and tries to rediscover the form which brought her to public attention in the first place. As things stand right now, her formula is wearing very thin.

thanks

A great read. Well written, exciting, fast moving with a totally believable plot. It's a gritty tale, so be prepared for an adult tale with no holds barred.

Another brilliant read, really enjoy Minetter Walters. Every book is different and has a new twist. Can't wait to read more

It took me quite some time or at least 200 pages before I got hooked. I think the first half of the book is way too long. Though the slowly growing friendship between Connie and Jess makes sense in the end it's description is definitely not the best part of the book. The second half, however, when Connie finally stops whining and feeling sorry for herself, is worth reading through those pages; it's typically Walters. I'm afraid many readers won't get that far which is a pity!

Another great murder mystery. Plenty of suspense intrigue and twists and turns. An array of fascinating characters completing this wonderful mix.

Bis etwa 70% des Buches war ich ziemlich begeistert, dann fiel die Qualität dramatisch. Handlung und Charakterisierung der Personen wurden unglaubwürdig und gegen Ende peinlich oberflächlich mit einer Prise Kitsch “on Top“. Als habe die Autorin nur noch schnell fertig werden wollen.

Ich habe schon viele Minette Walters Bücher gelesen und war eigentlich immer zufrieden, aber The Devil`s Feather muss man wirklich als Ausreisser betrachten. Das Buch ist von der ersten Seite an langweilig und hat mehrere Handlungsstränge, die überhaupt nicht zueinander passen. Ich hab mich bis zum Ende durchgequält, immer mal ein paar Seiten überblättert und war froh, als ich das Buch wegpacken konnte.

Dies ist eines der spannendsten Bücher bzw. Audi-CDs von Minette Walters. Zudem ist die Audio CD hervorragend vorgelesen! Die Spannung bleibt bis zuletzt erhalten.

2002年にシェラレオネの首都フリータウンで5人の黒人女性がレイプされたうえ残虐なやり方で殺害されているのが発見されます。若者3人が容疑者として挙げられますが、ロイターの通信員Connie Burnsは現地のバーで見かける乱暴者の白人傭兵Kieth MacKenzie（複数の名前を持つ）が犯人ではないかと疑い、調べを始めます。その後イラクのバグダッドに転勤したConnieはそこで再びMacKenzieの姿を見かけます。Connieの執拗な調査にMacKenzieは苛立ちます。留守中にホテルの部屋に何者かが侵入した形跡など不審なことが続き、そして勤務が終了しバグダッドを去る日、空港への途上でConnieはMacKenzieに誘拐されます。彼女は地下室に幽閉されますが、3日後に無事開放されます。バグダッド空港でもロンドン空港でも警察の聴取を受けますが、何故かその間の事情を詳しく話したがりません。心に深い傷を負った彼女はロンドンを離れ、ドーセット州の片田舎の携帯電話もなかなか繋がらない古い大きな館（バートンハウス）を借りて隠れるように暮らすことにします。館の持ち主の女性Lilyは高齢で痴ほう症がひどくなったため養護施設に入っており、一人娘のMadeleineは結婚してロンドンに暮らしています。ConnieはMacKenzieが現れるのではないかとの恐怖から毎日の食事ものどを通らず、痩せこけて時々パニック発作を起こします。館は孤立しているので村人との交流はなく、近くの農場主の女性Jessと若いGPのPeterが時々訪ねてくるだけです。Jessは不愛想で無口なITに強い若い女性で、Peterは知的でプライドの高い医師です。Connieは反発しながらも二人と少しずつ親しくなってゆきます。これから先はこの三人の会話が縦糸となって長々と話が続きます。これこそMinette Walters独自の心理サスペンスの世界ですので我慢して読むしかありません。心理舞台劇を小説にしたとも言えます。メールで交信するバグダッド時代の上司のDan、以前フリータウンに駐在していたマンチェスター警察の警部Allan、ジンバブエの農場を放棄してロンドンに移った父親と母親、Madeleineなどが横糸となって物語が進行します。その中で、幽閉中にConnieがMacKenzieから受けた酷い扱いが徐々に明らかになってゆきます。最後に近い部分で大きな展開が起こります。つまり、JessとPeterがたまたま訪ねて来ていた夜に突然MacKenzieが館に現れます。印象的なのはMacKenzieが現れて以来、Connieが見違えるように変わることです。謎が残ります。(1) MacKenzieはどこに消えたのか、(2) ConnieはLilyが館で卑劣な虐待を受けていたことを知りますが、虐待していたのは誰か、(3) Lilyの家系とJessの家系のつながりは？これらは最後にはっきりしたり、ほのめかしで終わったりすることになります。途中の心理描写が退屈ということを覚悟して読まれるのであれば、お薦め致します。話がかなりこみいっていますので注意して読む必要があります。

This is a book of shadows. Connie Burns, a white native of Zimbabwe, encounters a murky character in Iraq, where she is a war correspondent, and she associates this man with another name, another place, and gruesome unsolved murders of women. She is abducted in a way that leaves authorities to doubt whether it really happened and believes that the abduction and her subsequent release are both effected by the shadowy man with too many names and too much official protection. She retreats to London, where her parents have gone to seek safety after other white Zimbabwean farmers are attacked, and lives a pale existence of fear and anguish over her memories of the three days of her abduction.Retreating further to Dorset, she feels the presence of the man she knows as "MacKenzie" and some unfinished business that did not end with her release from the cellar in Iraq. Is she just paranoid? And her halting friendship with a strange, enigmatic neighbor named Jess is an almost unwelcome complication, especially since there are skeletons in the closet of Jess that lead directly to the house where Connie has set up her refuge.This is a well-written book that is paced with dread. There is enough levity to break up a feeling of awful premonition but this is not a jolly read. It is a thriller in the hands of a master.

This book is a thrill to read. Minette Walters is a very intelligent writer with exceptional skill at mastering the psychological and suspenseful aspects of her novels while keeping them timely.She demands something of her readers that is rare today. It is obvious she writes for she loves the written word, the same as the old classics were. She doen't write to get a best seller - her masterpieces do that on their own. She writes the story she needs to tell. It is obvious she always does much research and her characters are all very real.But she demands that her readers THINK while reading her works. You can't meander through, look ahead at all. You must invest time to the wonderful adventure she always manages to provide.And yes, I must admit this is not my favorite from her, but any book from Ms. Walters is far and beyond in quality from most of today's authors. I did find the subject matter thrilling, the war components were very well written and her main character was very real to me.I recommend this book highly and always await her next release with great excitement.

It was a nice read. I wouldn't say it kept me on the edge of my seat but it kept my interest enough to make me want to know how it ended. I very much liked the last few chapters a lot! Great ending!

I always like Walters' work. I am a Ruth Rendell junkie and I don't think I've missed one of Walters' books either. I liked the way she structured the tale in this one.

Being a fan of Minette Walters, I was surprised and disappointed to find that this is a Walters book not worth reading. It begins with a bang but quickly descends into a long drawn out story with numerous sub plots about a village and its eccentric inhabitants that have nothing to do with the primary story. The ending picks up a little, but by then I found it hard to care whether, Connie, the heroine ever makes it back from her mental decline to save the day.

GREAT

I really enjoy this author. This is typical of her writings--maybe slightly better that most. It's hard to get my nose out of it and do anything else.

Ms. Walters keeps getting better. This book is about how victims of terror become terrorizers and vice versa. It is a close examination of what violence can do to people. The ambiguous ending is just right. One can only hope for a sequel.

It is about 1:30 in the morning, and I just fininshed reading this book. I had put it down when I couldn't keep my eyes open anymore, but I woke up and remembering I only had about 10 pages left, I turned the light on and finished it!This book is so good, the tension I felt as I was reading it was so high, at one time, I had to put the book down and walk away for a while, I found I just needed a break! Ms. Walters has written yet another wonderful book, with characters I really cared about, and a villan that was so scary and so real. This is one you don't want to miss.