The Treatment

#2 DI Jack Caffrey mystery, set in London. Jack Caffrey is a mess. Still haunted by the disappearance of his brother Ewan when they were children, obsessed with nailing the (now elderly) pedophile next door whom Jack believes was responsible for stealing Ewan, Caffrey is in no condition to take on an investigation into the kidnapping of a nine-year-old boy (just Ewan's age when he went missing) by a likely sexual predator. Rory Peach's parents were drugged and tied up in their home along with Rory for three days before the abductor had to make a run for it with Rory when a shopkeeper looking for money came knocking. Where did they go? The hue and cry was raised quickly afterwards, and every inch of the park behind the Peachs' home has show more been searched. Caffrey goes into a very dark place as he hunts down clues about who could have done such a thing--and believes it is a serial criminal, so sets to searching old records for similar cases as well. Interviews with neighborhood folks turn up a few clues that lead to a shocking conclusion when they are all pieced together. Meanwhile, Caffrey's personal life is in a shambles as well, as his girlfriend Rebecca also confronts the ghosts haunting her and Ivan Penderecki, the object of Caffrey's obsession, dies, leaving him a package that may contain information about what happened to Ewan.

Dark, gut-wrenching and utterly horrible in some places, this is not a book for those with a tendency towards queasiness. At times it almost feels like the author uses some of the more dark stuff purely for the shock value. That said, it's one of the few so-called "thrillers" that has actually thrilled me to any degree of late, that provided a true "edge of your seat, got-to-get-to-the-end-and-see-what-happens" experience, with plot twists that I didn't see coming and slammed me in the gut when they arrived. show less

Treatment by Mo Hayder
4.5 Stars

Mo Hayder is definitely not scared to tackle subjects that a lot of people would prefer not to hear about. In fact, her stories verge on the horror genre. The Treatment is no exception. To sum up this book up I would use the words dark, twisted and disturbing.

The horror starts with the discovery of the Peach family, who have been held captive in their house and their son molested over a period of days. When the police arrive at the scene the pedophile has vanished into the night along with young Rory Peach.

The hopeless hunt for Rory brings up all of Caffery's feelings about Ewan, who is presumed dead after disappearing over two decades ago. The main suspect is a neighbor, Ivan Penderieki, but no evidence show more has ever been found to tie him to the case. Driven by his own guilt in Ewan's disappearance and being taunted by Penderecki, Caffery is very close to losing it on this case.

Caffery comes to believe that another family is being victimized even though the police believe they have a suspect. This puts him at odds with his boss, Chief Inspector Daniella Souness. It also causes problems with his new girlfriend, Rebecca who suffers demons of her own. He's determined to follow every clue, discovering a web of pedophiles. The crime itself is gruesome. In this book we get to know a lot more about what happened to Ewan, and it's full of surprises. This story does not let up to the very end, and something new and grim is around every corner.

Jack Caffery is one of the most absorbing characters I've read in a long time. He's complex, tortured and flawed and I'm enthralled with his story and what will happen in the future. My only caution to other readers about this book was that the level of cruelty done to the most innocent of victims was very painful to read.

I look forward to Mo Hayder's next book. I think she's a master of dark, gritty stories but they are certainly not for anyone looking for a feel good, comfy mystery. The ending is absolutely horrifying!

WARNING: This story is definitely worth reading as long as you don't mind graphic, and I mean GRAPHIC, sexual and violent content. Very dark, difficult subject matters. show less

Although this is listed as #2 in the Jack Caffery series, I feel it is a really good stand alone novel. There was nothing in it, at any point, that had me thinking maybe I should've read the first book. Be warned though this book looks at the seedy underbelly of things that, some people would rather pretend doesn't exist. Oh, and then there's the dog...

I particularly enjoyed the way the book was written; it was well paced and reflected that slow, methodical movement police investigations have. It didn't try to make them out as super-heroes, instead showing that they are people like us, warts and all.

Even though I enjoyed this book, I'm not certain if I will read anymore of this Author's work.

From The Book cover:

Midsummer, and in an unassuming house on a quiet residential street on the edge of Brockwell Park in south London, a husband and wife are discovered. Badly dehydrated, they've been bound and beaten, the husband is close to death. But worse is to come: their young son is missing.

When DI Jack Caffery of the Met's AMIT squad is called in to investigate, the similarities to events in his own past make it impossible for him to view this new crime with the necessary detachment. And as Jack digs deeper, as he attempts to hold his own life together in the face of ever more disturbing revelations about both the past and the present, the real nightmare begins.

My Thoughts:

Be warned if you're intending to read this book that it show more has pedophiles in it...a seemingly endless chorus of them. That having been said...it is a dark, ugly, sadistic story about depravity... child murder... and florid insanity...and the old dog is left to die. If you are still here then let me say that I admire Mo Hayder's ability to write...but this was almost too much even for me who loves horror and suspense. I can endure some really gruesome drama, but Hayder just crosses too many lines...digs too deep in the muck... and finally chooses ugliness and despair when she could made choices that might have left the reader with some sense of hope instead of the sense of needing to shower. 2.5 ★ and a large bar of soap. show less

The most complete success of the Caffery novels. Even more so than with other of the Caffery novels, the subject murders are particularly difficult to take, as they involve an aggravated level of pedophilia. The murders themselves almost play as a back drop to Caffery's attempt to unravel the mystery of his brother, who was abducted when Caffery was a youth, and whose abduction Caffery felt personally responsible. With a poetic realism, Caffery just misses discovering his brother who is incredulously still alive, but in a damaged state, misreading his own gut instinct while having to rely on a sordid female creature to make the connection. This near miss captures the meanness of fortune and essential element of Caffery. I found show more Caffery's brother's solitary death in an abandoned RV to be crushing, but more honest than if he had been found. Although the crimes are hard to stomach and stretch the bounds of pleasure-reading; overall, this is a powerful book -- the most powerful in the series. show less

Dual review with Swedish first and then English!

SWEDISH REVIEW

Behandlingen är bok två i Jack Caffery serien, men kan läsas fristående.

Vad kan jag annat än säga än att när man inte tror att det kan bli värre så blir det så i boken. Behandlingen är i mångt och mycket en mycket obehaglig bok. Det finns nog inget värre ämne att läsa om än pedofiler och i denna bok får man sannerligen en mörk inblick i en värld man helst skulle önska inte fanns.

Mo Hayder är en lysande författare, varje bok jag har läst av henne har varit fantastiskt, denna är inget undantag. Dock är denna bok den värsta jag läst av henne. Behandlingen är kanske inte den mest skrämmande jag bok jag någonsin har läst, men definitivt en av mest show more obehagliga och jag önskar det var stycken jag kunde få glömma bort för gott.

Boken är också djupt tragiskt, på så många sätt, från Jack Caffery egna trauma från barndomen med en bror som försvann och aldrig hittades till de stackars utsatta barnen. Jag ville ett flertal gånger under boken gång bara skrika åt poliserna att hitta mördaren innan det var för sent för nästa familj. För som sagt, detta är en mardröm som inte slutar med försvinnandet av en pojke...

Mycket bra bok, dock mycket obehaglig och jag rekommenderar den bara till läsare som klarar sådana här mörka teman.

Tack till Modernista för recensionsexemplaret!

ENGLISH REVIEW

The Treatment is book two in the Jack Caffery series but it can be read as a stand alone.
What else can I say than that, when you do not think it could get worse, it does the book. The Treatment is in many ways a very unpleasant book. I think there is nothing worse to read about than pedophiles, and in this book, you certainly get a dark insight into a world one would have hoped didn't exist.

Mo Hayder is a brilliant author, every book I have read by her has been amazing, this is no exception. However, this book is by far the worst I read by her. The Treatment may not be the scariest book I've ever read, but definitely, one of the most unpleasant and I wish I could forget some of the passages from the book for good.

The book is also deeply tragic, in so many ways, from Jack Caffery's own childhood trauma with a brother who disappeared and was never found to the poor jeopardized children. I wanted to scream at the police several times during the book to just find the murderer before it was too late for the next family. This is a nightmare that does not end with the disappearance of one boy ...

The Treatment is a very good book, but also very unpleasant and I only recommend it to readers who can handle such dark themes.

Thanks to Modernista for the review copy! show less

Review originally written for my blog www.moosenoose.com

Wow I love Mo Hayder! I first came across Hayder when I read Tokyo and was hooked. This is the second book in the Jack Caffery series (Birdman was the first) and the tension, pace and terror are just as great and freaky as in Birdman, but in different ways. Rebecca, Jack's girlfriend, is trying to come to terms with her recent traumatic past. At the same time, Caffery is still severely haunted by what happened to his younger brother Ewan, and you can feel his anger and despair build as it threatens to tear both his personal and professional life apart. All of this takes place whilst Jack is thrown into the world of paedophiles with some very graphic and disturbing descriptions. show more Hayder has a real talent for taking you out of your comfort zone and scaring the hell out of you! Not a book for the faint hearted and it will make you wonder who you live next door to! Recommend for all those who love a damn freaky thriller! show less