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X marks the spot of a vicious killer, his calling card the letter carved on his victims' backs. While the killings are morbid, they also offer detective Tom Thorne plenty of clues. This is turf warfare between North London gangs; organized crime boss Billy Ryan is moving into someone else's patch. Thorne also agrees to help out ex-DCI Carol Chamberlain on an old murder case involving the immolation of a schoolgirl. But soon the two separate investigations begin to fuse into one new, very show more nasty riddle involving a murderous family that values nothing but its own power. When an X is carved on his front door, Thorne knows these crimes of past and present will soon engulf him, too.. show less
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I know for some fans, this entry in the Tom Thorne series was a disappointment; I really liked it. It's a daring book, and a departure, and it really made me think, though if you're looking for the express to
Happy Endings, you'd better wait for another train.
Happy Endings, you'd better wait for another train.
The Burning Girl by Mark Billingham is the fourth book in his D.I. Tom Thorne series, and revolves around a turf war between two rival gangs of organized criminals. Various members and associates of these gangs are being murdered and a police task force has been formed to inquire into and find a way of defusing the situation. When a undercover police detective is killed the investigation escalates. Meanwhile, on the fringe of the investigation, Thorne is looking into a 20 year old case of a young girl set aflame in order to help an old friend, a retired police officer, set her mind to rest. The intended victim was the daughter of a crime boss, but the wrong girl was torched. Now it looks as if the wrong man was convicted of this show more horrendous act and has been sitting in prison for twenty years. Wanting to set the record straight and see proper justice done, Thorne digs deeper.
I have really enjoyed the books in this series, and although this one I felt was a little weaker than the others, it still advances the series and gives us further glimpses into what makes Thorne tick. Thorne is developing into a likeable but flawed character, and Billingham is certainly able to deliver well written, tense plots. The Burning Girl just seem to lack the suspense and flash that the previous books have had.
I will certainly be continuing on with this series as I enjoy the London setting along with the characters, both main and reoccurring that he has developed. Hopefully book number six will bring back the pizzazz that was missing in this outing. show less
I have really enjoyed the books in this series, and although this one I felt was a little weaker than the others, it still advances the series and gives us further glimpses into what makes Thorne tick. Thorne is developing into a likeable but flawed character, and Billingham is certainly able to deliver well written, tense plots. The Burning Girl just seem to lack the suspense and flash that the previous books have had.
I will certainly be continuing on with this series as I enjoy the London setting along with the characters, both main and reoccurring that he has developed. Hopefully book number six will bring back the pizzazz that was missing in this outing. show less
I had never heard of this book or author before, so I jumped into book four of this series. It was nothing like I had predicted it would be! I expected your predictable detective chases serial killer, in this case over burning bodies, and then the detective becomes victim at the end and ends up a hero blah blah blah... that is so typical of detective series books. I was in for a treat. It did not matter if I had ever read a book in this series, the main detective was just one of many characters that this story revolved around. There were several sub-plots that went on in the story...were they linked? Or how many? And did this book have to do with serial killers burning girls at all? Thats what I probably liked best, I was completely show more proved wrong about so many things and kept guessing and coming up with new theories that I couldn't put the book down. show less
Billingham can write. I love to read how he strings words together. The problem I have with this book is officers not acting like they have in previous books. Some of the plot was a little out there. Not as good as previous books but not bad enough to not at least give the next book a shot. Still great characters which really saves this book.
Fourth in the DI Tom Thorne British police procedural in which a cold case that retired cop Carol Chamberlain is working on ties together with a current one featuring rival crime gangs. Twenty years ago, Gordon Rooker attempted to set the daughter of a local crime boss on fire—but he got the wrong girl, instead igniting her best friend Jessica who was horribly burned and committed suicide a couple of years later. Carol worked on that case and now she’s getting phone calls saying “I burned her.” The problem is, Rooker is still in prison. Upon being questioned by Thorne, he says he didn’t really do it, though he confessed at the time because being in prison was safer than outside where the crime boss who hired him would have show more easier access to kill him for botching the job. A sudden string of dead gang members between Billy Ryan’s gang and a new Turkish group sets up a task force throwing Thorne into the fray with a DCI he’s crossed swords with before. I really enjoyed this one—hard to put down, with a few twists and turns to the plot though nothing really surprising as I did anticipate what was going to happen before it did. show less
One in a series about DI Tom Thorne, London based detective, who has all the usual stereotypical attributes of such characters, a divorced maverick who falls out with colleagues and superiors. The plot is complex, revolving around a gangland war between rival factions, one Turkish, with a sub-plot relating to an old cold case. I'm afraid it didn't really engage me which is why it took me two weeks to read. There was a sense that I'd read about similar characters before and Tom Thorne didn't much make me care about what he did or whether he solved any crimes or indeed what the plot would reveal.
Hmm ....Definitely became more of a flawed copper in rhis one. Flaws make him human but what happens in this stretches the flaw factor beyond belief ...to the point i spent more time wondering how could this really be done and him not be sanctioned than I did thinking about who did what.
So Mark's crown slipped with this one. And I fell a bit out of love with Tom. Further reading of the series will see if Mark is deposed.
So Mark's crown slipped with this one. And I fell a bit out of love with Tom. Further reading of the series will see if Mark is deposed.
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Author Information
56+ Works 11,314 Members
Mark Billingham was born in Birmingham, England on July 2, 1961. He worked as an actor, a TV writer, and stand-up comedian before writing his first novel, Sleepyhead, which was published in 2001. His other works include the Tom Thorne series, In the Dark, and the Triskellion series, which he writes under the pseudonym Will Peterson. (Bowker Author show more Biography) show less
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Belongs to Publisher Series
Goldmann (45913)
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Common Knowledge
- Canonical title
- The Burning Girl
- Original title
- The Burning Girl
- Original publication date
- 2004
- People/Characters
- Tom Thorne
- Important places
- London, England, UK
- Epigraph*
- 'Nu weet ik hoe Jeanne d'Arc zich voelde
Toen het vuur opvlamde tot aan haar Roomse neus
En haar walkman begon te smelten...'
Morrisey, Bigmouth Strikes Again - Dedication*
- Voor Hilary Hale
- First words*
- Later zou Carol Chamberlain bedenken dat ze echt over Jessica Clarke had liggen dromen toen ze haar eerste telefoontje kreeg.
BIJNA DE HELFT VAN ALLE NIEUWE ONDERNEMINGEN GAAT BINNEN DE DRIE JAAR OVER DE KOP, ZORG DAT HET VOOR U GEEN MISLUKKING WORDT! - Quotations*
- ‘Nu weet ik hoe Jeanne d’ Arc zich voelde
Toen het vuur opvlamde tot aan haar Roomse neus
En haar walkman begon te smelten…’ -
Morrissen, Bigmouth Strikes Again - Last words*
- (Click to show. Warning: May contain spoilers.)Hij knikte langzaam en startte de auto.
- Blurbers
- Child, Lee
*Some information comes from Common Knowledge in other languages. Click "Edit" for more information.
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- Members
- 842
- Popularity
- 32,365
- Reviews
- 24
- Rating
- (3.51)
- Languages
- 8 — Danish, Dutch, English, French, German, Italian, Norwegian (Bokmål), Swedish
- Media
- Paper, Audiobook, Ebook
- ISBNs
- 40
- ASINs
- 7
