Could be convoluted with the various characters and their bits, but a great flow.... compelling observations as we the reader walk through this plot........another book that kept me involved and attentive........after too many i didnt even finish...


Coming to terms over her breakup with criminal profiler Dr. Tony Hill, Chief Inspector Carol Jordan plunges into a risky undercover sting: track down a European drug trafficker and gain his confidence. But she's being tracked as well-by a serial killer whose psychosexual madness is born out of the darkest corners of history. In quiet isolation, Tony Hill is laying to rest the scars of his past-until he's recruited back into business on a case he can't ignore. An evil is striking uncomfortably close to home, and casting a killer shadow over the life of his long-time colleague and sometimes lover. As the danger closes in, and as Tony and Carol cross paths to navigate the terrain of a shattered human mind, they have no one left to trust but themselves-and fear that there's no place left to run as a killer promises to fulfill his most twisted dreams.

Okay read if you are slugabed with illness, bored with TV, and need something mildly stimulating. The story takes place in northern Europe. If you are a bit of an armchair traveler, this takes you on an abbreviated tour of some of northern Europe's waterways; it tempts the reader to dig out the Atlas and do some independent reading on the places mentioned.
It is two major plotlines that easily could be / should be two separate novels, doing better justice to both. Carol Jordan goes undercover to catch a human trafficker, and Tony Hill succumbs to the temptation of getting involved in another hunt for a serial killer.
The wrap-up is too coincidental for me, and there is an incident where both Tony and Carol make a joint mistake that puts them both in danger. That mistake seems seriously out of character for either one.
There are other things that bothered me. One is the lack of description of police procedures. This would have been a great vehicle to contrast how the police in different countries do their work. This was barely mentioned other than jurisdictional disputes exist. Another point is this is the third book of hers that I have read, and her police forces seem to have an extraordinary number of lesbians, as well as a gay policeman or two. The proportion seems to be well above the general population at large. I'm all for being inclusive, so can we have representatives from other cultures (Turks, Iranians, Moroccans, Albanians as something other than villains, etc.) that are populating Europe these days?
How about a series of murders of Iranian dissidents? Are these the result of Qud actions, or somebody local with an intense dislike of Iranians, or Muslims in general. That should get Tony's and Carol's professional attention.

C’est la première fois que je lis un livre écrit par Val McDermid, et j’éprouve quelques regrets de ne pas avoir découvert son œuvre plus tôt, car j’ai vraiment apprécié ce roman.

Lorsque j'ai choisi La dernière tentation dans une vente de livres usagers, j'ignorais qu'il s'agissait du troisième tome d'une série mettant en vedette l'inspectrice Carol Jordan et le profileur Tony Hill. Le fait que ces deux personnages aient un passé commun qui m’était inconnu n’a pas entravé ma lecture, mais m’a plutôt donné envie de lire les tomes précédents et suivants.

C’est l’intelligence, la force et la sensibilité des personnages créés par l’auteure qui m’ont d’abord plu. Ensuite, c’est la trame de l’intrigue qui m’a séduite. Même si son déroulement est lent, que le suspense survient dans les cent dernières pages du roman, j’ai aimé cette lenteur qui m’a permis d’apprécier la façon dont le Dr Hill a fini par dresser le profil psychologique du tueur en série et le plan tendu par Carol pour piéger le trafiquant. C’est un thriller psychologique bien ficelé dans lequel le duo ne sortira pas indemne. J’ai hâte de poursuivre ma découverte de cette auteure.

This dark and twisted thriller is not an easy read. Two in-depth plot lines play out side by side, both of which are good and would perhaps be better written as two separate books. The subplot is as involved as the main plot and, at times, the switch between them is jarring for the reader.

In one of the plots, Chief Inspector Carol Jordan undertakes a dangerous covert mission to bring down a European crime boss known for trafficking drugs and illegal immigrants. The fact she bears such a striking resemblance to someone in his past and hopes to use it to her advantage without her true motives being detected is a bit of a stretch at this level of criminal operation.

In another plot, a psychotic serial killer is targeting professionals for reasons that tie back to his ancestry. Though this is a work of fiction, some of the most appalling historical facts are embedded within the story.

Criminal profiler, Dr. Tony Hill, is the link between the two plot lines. Tony and Carol are drawn together from the beginning of the book and their separate cases are intertwined all the way to the end. The duo's undoing is also questionable and a little disappointing, given the depth of intelligence and strength the author has assigned to each character.

There are a lot of characters, a few of whom appear unnecessary as the plots advance. However, the writing is strong and the book is sufficiently interesting to make it to the end, though two individual attempts were required to get through it. The main characters are not easily likable, and the combination of two strong and separate plot lines resulted in an awkward and somewhat flat ending.

This was terrible, as in in a friend baking you a cake for your birthday but she forgot to add sugar.

However. It's book 3 in a mystery series and I can tell the events will be referred to in following Tony Hill/Carol Jordan adventures. I can't recommend skipping it, but I wish I could.

For the record, the book's plot is too spread out, there are huge plot holes (too many and frankly, I'm too depressed to talk about it), Petra Becker is introduced (in case you missed them, there are Petra Becker mysteries), the theme of temptation is undertaken wearily by the author and everybody is summarily crushed by their hopeful desires.

My guess is that McDermid wanted to give all of her characters soul-destroying near-death experiences (a temptation that the author clearly was unable to resist, as she went it for with gusto). The problem is it appears the author mashed two types of book ideas into a single novel - one about catching a serial killer, a grown-up victim of his grandfather's cruelties to him as a child, caused by gruesome German experimentation on Arian German children deemed imperfect, and the other a story about the exploitation of illegal immigrants traveling through Europe by criminal mafias. The two plots were too separated to be pulled together smoothly, although the author tried.

Alas.

An above average serial killer thriller, by one of the best authors in mystery fiction. McDermid skillfully weaves the multiple threads playing out across Europe, without dropping a stitch of suspense, and her characters are, as always, well fleshed out and engaging.

An earlier VMcD than the others I’ve read, seems more raw than those and almost put me off in the initial stages. Still a page turner and I like the way she uses unfamiliar language in places ( eidetic memory, a gaddeh - had to look these up, sempiternal- knew that one ) Such an intelligent writer even with horribly distasteful subject matter. I think I might stick to the more recent ones though!

After the excitement of the previous book in this series (The Wire in the Blood) I quickly started this book, but it was not as good. It takes place two years later. Tony Hill has taken a job at St. Andrews' University as a lecturer and Carol Jordan has applied for a new job working with the European Intelligence Association. I enjoyed reading about her "undercover" day. She contacts Tony to ask his advice, and he immediately leaves his job and moves to Berlin to be with her. Tony's investigating the killings of psychiatrists in Holland and Germany, while Carol has taken a new identity and is making contact with a man who traffics in human flesh and drugs. These situations are dangerous for both of them.

I have enjoyed this series a great deal & I am willing to accept some implausibles in the name of a good story, but this book just went too far.


We are really supposed to believe that two people as smart as Carol and Tony are really going to allow themselves to be seen through the front window of a lit up apartment on a dark night? When she is working undercover and knows she's been tailed? Seriously?

I mean, I have never been a victim of violent crime nor worked as a police officer and even I am uncomfortable in a lit room at night with no blinds. But we're meant to believe that neither Carol nor Tony sees the risk in being seen from outside in her own building?

I mean, it was a big enough stretch to believe that Tony would compromise Carol's UC operation by even going to Germany. The fact that no one suggested he stay elsewhere was more than a little ridiculous, like she wouldn't be at risk of surveillance inside her apartment hotel? And we also have to assume that Petra & Carol's minders were not watching her at this point either.

But then to make out in front of a lit window, total eyeroll moment.


So in spite of the fact that I'm still going to read the series, I still like Carol and Tony, I have to mark this book down for totally stupid behavior on the part of people we're expected to believe are super-intelligent and hyper-aware of their surroundings.

Also, I was bothered by McDermid's frequent use of the term "at the sharp end". I get that she learnt a new term (she hasn't used it in previous books) and quite liked it. I agree, it's neat turn pf phrase. Using it twice would have been sufficient. Using it 5 or 6 times to refer to different things by different characters was invasive and reminded me of nothing so much as a pre-teen who learns a cool new slang word and peppers their every conversation with it.

UPDATE: I’m rereading this series to refresh my memory before I read the more recent books. While this story is interesting, engaging, and thrilling, I was again reminded of the two things that bothered me so much about this book when I last read it. One, the overuse of the phrase “the sharp end” and two ugh, Carol being so mindful of safety and being followed but then totally exposing herself and Tony like an idiot. I stand by my prior irritation & annoyance with an otherwise good yarn.

I have so many feelings about this. It’s probably more of a 2.5 but I’m giving it a three because the ending helped. On the one hand I love Val McDermid’s writing and the character’s she creates. I just didn’t really vibe with this story as much.

Honestly the first 300 pages are like 1.5/5. It’s only when the plot actually gets going about halfway through that I became invested. Carol and Tony are great as usual and even though I knew what was going to happen near the end it still turned my stomach.

I just have a lot to say but I also don’t think this book is worth it? It’s more of a blip in the series, I thought the serial killer storyline was far better than Carol’s undercover work. From memory I think there were 8 (maybe more) POVs and after a while it was a bit too much to take in and work out. But the pacing and ending kind of made up for the beginning half.

These books are definitely located within the crime suspense thriller genre, but they stand out because of McDermid's ability to do two key things: create and manage a complicated plot with multiple characters handling several investigations *and* develop strong characters who aren't simply good or bad guys. In many ways she hits her stride with the two main characters. The end felt a little rushed, but I expect to see more discussed and resolved in the next book.

This book gives me many reasons to stop reading James Patterson books, but I'll be trying at least one more soon. Maybe that will be enough to make me swear them off for good.

The obvious device of allowing an undercover cop to liaise in the undercover world with someone she knows from her non-undercover life kind of ruined this book for me. It was clear that this would compromise the operation and it did. I was just kind of waiting for it to happen.