Status
Available
Call number
Genres
Collection
Publication
New York : Perennial Dark Alley, 2004.
Description
On a balmy June night, Kirsten, a young university student, is strolling home through a silent moonlit park when she is viciously attacked. When she awakes in the hospital, she has no recollection of that brutal night. But then slowly, painfully, details reveal themselves - dreams of two figures, one white and one black, hovering over her; snatches of a strange and haunting song; the unfamiliar texture of a rough and deadly hand . . . In another part of the country, Martha Browne arrives in a Yorkshire seaside town, posing as an author doing research for a book. But her research is of a particularly macabre variety. Who is she hunting with such deadly determination? And why? The First Cut is a vivid and compelling psychological thriller, from the author of the critically acclaimed Inspector Banks series.… (more)
User reviews
LibraryThing member edwardsgt
This isn't an Inspector Banks novel, so be warned! Most of the action takes place in Whitby, which Robinson clearly knows well, despite his present Toronto location. I found I didn't enjoy it as much as his Banks' novels, as the central charcter is less sympathetic.
LibraryThing member Heptonj
This is a strange story from the author of the Inspector Banks series which delves into the mind of a serious crime victim who seeks revenge for the wrongs perpertrated on her, and shows how a perfectly respectable person can justify the means by which she gets revenge upon her attacker. This is a
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story which stops and makes you think and also gives an interesting glimpse into a more innocent and technologically simple period. Well worth a read. Show Less
LibraryThing member Eowyn1
My first Peter Robinson novel. How utterly boring. I will not spoil the plot, but you can see it coming a mile away...
I only took up a 2nd book by the author because the Banks series was highly recommended by a big fan who was very disappointed by this one too.
It would be better to stick to the
I only took up a 2nd book by the author because the Banks series was highly recommended by a big fan who was very disappointed by this one too.
It would be better to stick to the
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Banks series. Show Less
LibraryThing member richardgarside
A little anachronistic but a good light read
LibraryThing member Balthazar-Lawson
Most crime novels are basically from the point of view of the police investigating the crime, with a bit from the perpetrator or victim. This novel is different in that it’s about a crime from the point of view of the victim and how she tries to get her life back together. The police play a very
The book is structured with each chapter alternating between two characters, Kirsten and Martha and then Susan. The thing is they are the same person, Kirsten, at different points of her recovery after being viciously attacked. You could read every second chapter and than the ones you missed and still get the whole story. I didn’t particularly like this style of layout and think it might have been more exciting if the whole story had flowed in chronological order.
There was a lot of soul searching by Kirsten about why she was a victim, why she was chosen. This is where the story dragged and got so bogged down as to be boring.
I recently read an Inspector Banks novel, Friend Of The Devil, and in that book there were several old crimes that played a part in the new crime featured in the story. Those old crimes are the crimes featured in this book, which was written 20 years before Friend Of The Devil. This is not an Inspector Banks book.
I only found this interesting in so far as it’s connected to Friend Of The Devil. Without that connection I would have been bored silly.
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minor role in this book.The book is structured with each chapter alternating between two characters, Kirsten and Martha and then Susan. The thing is they are the same person, Kirsten, at different points of her recovery after being viciously attacked. You could read every second chapter and than the ones you missed and still get the whole story. I didn’t particularly like this style of layout and think it might have been more exciting if the whole story had flowed in chronological order.
There was a lot of soul searching by Kirsten about why she was a victim, why she was chosen. This is where the story dragged and got so bogged down as to be boring.
I recently read an Inspector Banks novel, Friend Of The Devil, and in that book there were several old crimes that played a part in the new crime featured in the story. Those old crimes are the crimes featured in this book, which was written 20 years before Friend Of The Devil. This is not an Inspector Banks book.
I only found this interesting in so far as it’s connected to Friend Of The Devil. Without that connection I would have been bored silly.
Show Less
LibraryThing member SquirrelHead
I should pay better attention when I order books. This is a novel by Peter Robinson, the Yorkshireman who writes the Inspector Banks series. This book, Caedemon’s Song, did not feature Banks at all and I have to say I was disappointed when I realized this. But….my fault for not carefully
Robinson stated he wanted to take a break from the DCI Banks series and write from the victim’s point of view, rather than the police procedural type. The premise of this story revolves around a young lady named Kirsten who was brutally attacked one evening as she walks home alone through a park. The wounds she suffers are horrific. She survived only because she was found by a man walking his dog, otherwise she would have bled out. Kirsten wakes up in hospital over a week later, unaware of what happened to her. She has no memory of the attack. Her parents are in the hospital room with her, concerned about the injuries and how they will affect the rest of her life. The police question her, desperate to find her attacker but no matter how hard she tries she has no recollection of that night.
More women are attacked but they do not survive. Kirsten undergoes hypnotic therapy and slowly, the nightmare of the attack and details surface. She provides the police with as much detail as she cares to share with them but decides she has her own agenda as far as her attacker goes. I can’t reveal any more without spoiling the storyline.
I am a big fan of Peter Robinson but I will say I prefer the Inspector Banks series over this story. Well written, kept me reading and the first clue confirming what I suspected didn’t appear until 30 pages before the end. So that’s good, the reader didn’t have it all figured out early on.
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reading the description before I clicked “buy”, right?Robinson stated he wanted to take a break from the DCI Banks series and write from the victim’s point of view, rather than the police procedural type. The premise of this story revolves around a young lady named Kirsten who was brutally attacked one evening as she walks home alone through a park. The wounds she suffers are horrific. She survived only because she was found by a man walking his dog, otherwise she would have bled out. Kirsten wakes up in hospital over a week later, unaware of what happened to her. She has no memory of the attack. Her parents are in the hospital room with her, concerned about the injuries and how they will affect the rest of her life. The police question her, desperate to find her attacker but no matter how hard she tries she has no recollection of that night.
More women are attacked but they do not survive. Kirsten undergoes hypnotic therapy and slowly, the nightmare of the attack and details surface. She provides the police with as much detail as she cares to share with them but decides she has her own agenda as far as her attacker goes. I can’t reveal any more without spoiling the storyline.
I am a big fan of Peter Robinson but I will say I prefer the Inspector Banks series over this story. Well written, kept me reading and the first clue confirming what I suspected didn’t appear until 30 pages before the end. So that’s good, the reader didn’t have it all figured out early on.
Show Less
LibraryThing member bfister
A psychological puzzle-box following two stories: that of a woman who was brutally raped (in one time frame) and the other focused on a woman who is stalking men, bent on revenge. Too much focus on being a clever narrative coupled with a great deal of tourist information about Whitby and a fairly
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standard rape-revenge story that's not particularly insightful about rape. Prefer his Banks series and later stand-alones. Show Less
LibraryThing member Daftboy1
This story was written originally in 1987 and originally released in 1990.
The chapters are interwoven between Kirsten a student at a Northern University who is raped and severely injured, the other story is from a lady called Martha's point of view who travels to Whitley bay.
Martha is on the hunt
Good ok book this.
Marth
The chapters are interwoven between Kirsten a student at a Northern University who is raped and severely injured, the other story is from a lady called Martha's point of view who travels to Whitley bay.
Martha is on the hunt
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to track down and kill Kirsten's rapist, Martha is Kirsten in disguise a few years after her ordeal, the rapist has now moved onto killing his victims. Martha kills the wrong man then another one who was asking to many questions. Eventually she gets the right man. Good ok book this.
Marth
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Subjects
Language
Original language
English
Original publication date
1990
Physical description
310 p.; 21 cm
ISBN
006073535X / 9780060735357