The Take

by Graham Hurley

Book Overview

A missing doctor with a long list of aggrieved patients leads to a complicated case for DI Faraday. DI Joe Faraday's Management Assistant, Vanessa Parry, is dead, killed in a head-on car smash. Her... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0752848070
• ISBN13: 9780752848075
• Release Date: September 2002
• Publisher: Orion Publishing Group
• Length: 373 Pages
• Weight: 0.50 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.1" x 4.4" x 7.0"

Customer Reviews

Nice Momentum -- A Study of Personal Motives

Hurley's novel seems a bit stiff if you're used to reading Rankin or some of the American tough-guy procedurals. The mystery aspect of this piece involves two investigations, a missing quack and a exhibitionist who dresses as one (by hiding behind a Donald Duck mask). All the while these cases are being handled, DI Joe Faraday is trying to impose some form of contrition on a young driver whose irresponsibility caused a fatal car wreck that ended the life of his close friend and office assistant, Vanessa. (The driver was talking on his cell phone! I shudder to think what Faraday would have to say about the state of American drivers blabbling all through traffic day in and day out.) Anyway, this story unfolds through plot machinations that are not unusual for the police procedural genre, but the depth of characterization was highly enjoyable. If you're a fan of detective/thriller/police procedurals, and if you enjoy glimpses into the English mannerisms and dialect found throughout particular cities in the UK, then I recommend you give Faraday and his colleagues in the Portsmouth CID a go. I am curious about the first book in this series, as this second one seemed to focus on very personal moments (read: vendettas) in the lives of the characters. Perhaps the initial outing had a bit more punch and more of a compelling crime in the forefront (?)

A Rising Star

I have read both this book and the earlier Turnstone which are the first two books in a series of police procedurals set in Plymouth, England. Mr. Hurley bears comparison with John Harvey, Ian Rankin and the early Michael Connolly. Hurley's protagonist, Joe Faraday, and other characters are as well drawn and quirky as any of their characters. The stories move along and the plots hang together. They would appeal to anyone who likes procedurals or was a fan of the TV show Homicide. Highly recommended.