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Dark Blood |  | Author: Stuart MacBride
Publisher: HarperCollins
Category: Book
List Price: £14.99
Buy New: £7.70
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Seller: new-books-direct
Rating:  31 reviews
Sales Rank: 3153
Media: Hardcover
Pages: 496
Shipping Weight (lbs): 1.7
Dimensions (in): 9.3 x 6.3 x 1.7
ISBN: 0007244606
EAN: 9780007244607
ASIN: 0007244606
Publication Date: April 29, 2010
Availability: Usually dispatched within 1-2 business days
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Product Description
The new Logan McRae novel set in gritty Aberdeen from the bestselling author of Cold Granite and Blind Eye.
Amazon.co.uk Review
Crime fiction fans are well aware that one of the most incendiary brands in the field is that of Tartan Noir: this is the generic term for those tough and uncompromising Scottish crime writers who have had such a seismic influence (notably Val McDermid and Ian Rankin -- the latter, in fact, has long been the best-selling male crime writer in the UK). The characteristics of Tartan Noir are pungently evoked Scottish settings (McDermid excepted), abrasive protagonists who pull no punches and a readiness to confront the darker aspects of society (and not just that of Alex Salmond’s fiefdom -- the best books in the field never come across as parochial or nationalistic, with such cities as Edinburgh standing in for any British city).One of the fastest rising stars is Stuart MacBride, who won the International Thriller Writers Best Debut Novel Award, the CWA Dagger in the Library and the ITV3 Crime Thriller award for Breakthrough Author. But does MacBride justify all the hoopla? If you need an answer to that, perhaps you should pick up his latest novel, Dark Blood. But not if you're the kind of crime reader who likes comfortable, unchallenging fiction that slightly shakes (but never upsets) the status quo. As in such books as Cold Granite, Broken Skin and Dying Light, MacBride is all about putting his characters through the wringer -- rather, in fact, as he does the reader. In the new book, Logan McRae, the author’s hard-nosed Aberdeen copper, is handed an assignment that is most definitely not to his liking. A career criminal, Richard Knox, has served his time and is told he will be allowed to live wherever he likes, despite his multiple convictions for rape and violence. He has taken the route adopted by many criminals -- found religion, claiming he is a changed man. His desire is to up sticks from Newcastle and make a new start. But unfortunately for Logan McRae, he has decided he wants his new home to be Aberdeen. Needless to say, his brutal past will not be buried for too long, and Logan McRae, forced to help with the ill-advised relocation, finds himself with the trickiest problems of his career. Particularly as other kinds of criminal activity in Aberdeen are at boiling point. Dark Blood is full of the kind of scabrous and flinty writing that is very much Stuart MacBride’s trademark. This reviewer, for one, would not be surprised if he soon has a few more crime fiction prizes under his belt. --Barry Forshaw
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Showing reviews 1-5 of 31
A strong editor might help August 31, 2010
Alex McEwan
*Review of unabridged audio version read by the author*
This is Stuart MacBride's sixth book in the Logan McRae series and they are not for the squeamish. To call them gruesome is to put it mildly. In fact I thought that in the fourth of the series, Flesh House, he overstepped the mark of what most would consider crime fiction and strayed into horror territory, and I was sorry I had read it. I had all but decided not to read any more, until the next in the series, Blind Eye, came out and was available in unabridged audio format read by the author himself. I was intrigued and bought it. Thankfully he, (or maybe his publisher?), seemed to have realised that he had gone too far in Flesh House, and the violence had been toned down. When you consider that, as the title hints, it involved people having their eyes gouged and burned out, you will get some idea of how hard edged the series can be. With Dark Blood the gruesome has been toned down another notch. However the author seems to take an almost schoolboy delight in throwing in as many bodily function references, with vomiting the current favourite, as he can, much to the detriment of some good plotting and great characters.
MacBride does a very good job of most of the accents with which his characters speak, but I may be just a bit cynical in suspecting that he is giving characters accents which he can do. If so he might want to seek a second opinion on his 'Essex Girl'.
Overall an enjoyable 'listen' and good to see McRae at last winning one fight after so many second prizes, albeit injuring himself, AGAIN, in the process. If only someone in the editorial team could make the author excise the 'yeuch' factor. The books may be reduced by 50 to 100 pages but would be much improved for it.
 fantastic! August 18, 2010
carole
I stumbled upon the stuart macbride series totally by accident, sifting through books in tescos of all places! read one now I have read them all, my sister and mum are also macbride converts. Only stuart macbride makes you laugh out loud at some of the most gruesome crime scenes with the unique characters and their even more unique relationships. I read Dark Blood in two days and wish he would bloody hurry up and write the next. one word to review this book and its "fantastic!"
 Starting to get a bit dull August 16, 2010
J. Gallagher (Glasgow, Scotland)
I have read all of the books featuring Logan MacRae. I think that they are becoming a bit dull. The first few seemed to be almost gratuitously gory and that has been toned down a fair bit in this one. The plot was reasonably good but the characters are not really developing all that well. Logan is like a stereotype leading man in a crime novel and most of the characters around him seem to lack any depth. That said this book is enjoyable enough and certainly worth picking up if you are looking for a crime thriller for the beach.
Dark Blood August 15, 2010
Izzy
Bit disappointing as I love Stuart MacBride. This seemed too disjointed with so many different story threads running through it and I still miss D.I. Insch. Lookinf forward to the next one.will DS Logan McRae ever be promoted?
You can't please all the people! August 11, 2010
N. O. Miller (UK)
For me, Dark Blood is the best of the whole Logan Macrae series. With its mix of black humour, gruesome violence and verbal, sometimes hilarious, interplay between the main characters the book fully deserves five stars plus. The monstrous DI Steele almost eclipses Macrae as the main character, even if,in real life,such scatalogical behaviour in a police officer of DI status would ensure swift departure from the Force! Some other reviewers have shown distaste for the Steele character,but for me the verbal jousting between her and Macrae provides great reading. To compare Stuart Macbride with Ian Rankin is invidious; you can't - it's like trying to compare an apple with an orange. The two authors have different styles; in itself, this does not make one better than the other. I also enjoy the Rebus novels. More please Mr Macbride!
Showing reviews 1-5 of 31
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