The Last Temptation

I think I will need something light after this one. McDermid throws some heavy stuff right at the start. We get human traffickers, drug dealers, mafia, undercover policing, psychological and physical violence, human torture, cruel murders and a psychopath unleashed. I was definitely not prepared to take in so much crap in one go – not all of that cruelty even necessary. Maybe that was why it took so long to read through.

I must be getting old and sentimental.

The plot is split into two tangential, semi-intertwined strands. On one hand we have Carol Jordan trying out a new role of an undercover cop, attempting to bring down a leader of organised crime gang. On the other, we have a(n) (unofficial) team of German detective Petra Becker and Dutch detective Marijke van Hasselt trying to nail a serial killer. What links the two lines? Well, Petra is acting as liaison for Carol’s undercover operation and Carol’s former colleague and profiler of serial murderers, Dr Tony Hill, aids Petra’s and Marijke’s investigation upon Carol's request.

The two strands complement each other, yet not at all times. Sometimes they just compete for space with each other and politics of international policing on top of that, making the reader wonder why they were not separated into two stories. Quite a lot of attention is dedicated to analysis of Carol’s feelings about her undercover work, emotional state or state of mind of the killer, and general dynamics of relationships. Maybe that’s how police investigations work in real life, but I found the need to constantly split my attention among topics or character views a bit distracting and sometimes even tiresome.

The end of the book was a bit cramped too, with focus tipping towards the organised crime line and the serial killer line kind of neglected towards the end. There were also a few too many coincidences.

Overall it was a good and interesting story, rather ambitious, but definitely one of the darkest ones. I wouldn’t recommend it to sensitive readers - it makes me want to go for that shot or double of some heavy spirit.

Dr. Tony Hill and DCI Carol Jordan had been living separate lives for some time since their last case ended and they went their separate ways; Tony moved on the world of academia and Carol continued running the CID in a section of the East Yorkshire Police. However, since she has a strong interest in criminal intelligence, she’s taken courses and has done tons of research in hopes of landing a new position in the area of intelligence and analysis. Now she finally has a real shot at moving into the strategic realm. She’s landed an interview with NCIS. Much to Carol’s surprise and nervous excitement, there’s a catch: her new bosses want her to go undercover to help nail an elusive smuggler. Never mind that she’s never done undercover work before. She looks incredibly like the criminal’s recently deceased lover, and they hope that will be enough to entrap him.

Naturally, Val McDermid’s third book of the Tony Hill/Carol Jordan series isn’t only about Carol Jordan. The Last Temptation pulls in Dr. Hill via a parallel plot. One of Jordan’s German counterparts, a cop named Petra Becker, has been working the Tadeusz “Tadzio” Radecki smuggling case. After Petra tells Carol about the case of a ritualistic murder of a psychiatrist and the fact that it sounded remotely familiar to her, Carol calls upon Tony to enlist his help. Tony, who is quite bored with teaching, is only too glad to invent an excuse to hop over to Germany to assist Petra. Petra works some magic and manages to get him an apartment in the same building where Carol, AKA Caroline Jackson, is staying. Red flags all over the place!

If this were a movie, the tense, scary music would have been playing all of the time. For someone who has never gone undercover before, Carol does a pretty fabulous job. Until, well, until she doesn’t. Having Tony nearby was mistake number one, of course. Never mind that he was involved with Petra’s case. That was important, yes. But for Tony and Carol to have any contact at all? Of course, Ms. McDermid needed to advance her plot and her character development, and she does that. But would they really be that stupid? Apparently, yes.

Tony’s quest was much more interesting to me. The background of the killer’s family member was both personal and historic, which gave him a righteous sense of duty to kill. Since we know from the onset who the perpetrator is and how he comes to be a serial killer, watching Hill work backwards to profile him and guide the police to his identity was more engaging than the dark and dangerous game Carol engaged in. It seemed as if her bosses had thrown her to the wolves, and I wasn’t sure at all that she would succeed. There is no lack of violence and pain in this story; it’s not overly gruesome, but these aren’t gentle, peaceful men either.

The romantic in me is actually relieved to see that Tony Hill finally shows some real feelings. My favorite character in this story, though, is Petra. She’s a very determined, resourceful young cop. I did feel disappointed for her online Dutch cop buddy Marijke van Hasselt. The two met in an online gay police chat room and had never met until a crucial moment in the Radecki case when Marijke took it upon herself to show up in Berlin. Talk about lousy timing!

All’s well that ends well? Carol certainly has good reason to be angry and disillusioned; will she be able to resume her duties? What about Tony? What will he do next? Even though this book was not quite up to my expectations, I fully intend to go on to read The Torment of Others, as I am curious to see what this duo will do next.

3.5 stars

*frustrated sigh*

Look, these novels have been good when they get going, but when I'm 200 pages deep of a 600-paged novel and the police investigation is only just beginning... *deep sigh* my interest undoubtedly begins to wane and disappear.

Combined with that, I'm sick of the sexual tension between Tony and Carol, and the whole "woe-is-me-I-cant-be-with-the-person-I'm-in-love-with" is honestly worse than the stuff I read in bad YA novels. I don't understand the attraction to Tony, and I'm sick of reading about how his sexual impotence has ruined his life - or at least, his chances with Carol. I mean, I just want to read a simple police procedural, and not have to deal with all the weighty, boring, personal baggage that bleeds into every other aspect of the book.

I just dont think that I'm going to get that with this series.

I'm not one for either graphic sex or endless teasing, but McDermid has somehow bridged the gap, which is a great relief. HOWEVER, when the main character does something so stupid that you shout aloud (not going to spoil it)...it's a bit of a disappointment. She's usually so smart!

Otherwise, sort of well written, though I thought we were done with the idea of the "double." I forgive this one because she's not trying to pass as the actual person.

Este livro veio trazer uma lufada de ar fresco à minha leitura, que esteva a tornar-se desmotivante devido às minhas ultimas escolhas como livros. Val McDermid foi como um presente para encerrar 2013, com a sua inabalável qualidade literária.
De um lado temos um serrial killer, cujo alvo são psicólogos, de outro o desmantelamento de uma operação de tráfico de droga, armas e imigrantes ilegais, liderada por um homem que opera nas sombras. Embora a policia secreta alemã tenha conhecimento da sua identidade, não consegue ligá-lo aos crimes, por isso recorre a Carol como agente infiltrada. Carol assume a identidade de uma sedutora criminosa com o calibre necessário para se tornar sócia dele, podendo assim reunir as provas necessárias para prendê-lo.
O desenrolar dos acontecimentos são descritos de forma vertiginosa, o Dr. Tony Hill precisa descobrir e travar o serial killer, ao mesmo tempo tem de salvar a vida de Carol do perigo iminente.
Não me recordo de todos os livros que li em 2013, mas posso afirmar com toda a convicção que "A Ultima Tentação", está incluído nos melhores.
É uma pena que este livro não esteja ao alcance de todos os amantes de policiais/thriller, tenho a certeza que iriam adorá-lo.
Para finalizar, é com muita tristeza que fecho este livro e penso que não há qualquer previsão de lançamento de mais livros desta autora, traduzidos em PT!

Gute Charakterentwicklung, bisschen arg konstruierter Plot mit arg viel Gewalt, aber spannend erzählt. die Reihe ist tatsächlich ganz klug.

Not nearly as good for me as 'The Skeleton Road' . I admit to skimming a hundred or so pages , but I suppose that wouldn't have influenced my review .

5* narration

I found the story too intricate, not organic enough.