Dead Tomorrow

An overly dramatic title, a grim cover picture and the fact that this was a seriously hefty hardback (536 pages) were overlooked as I read the blurb for my crime reading group’s latest pick. How far will a mother go to protect her daughter? As a shocking story grips the newspapers in Brighton, Lynn Beckett begins to panic. Her daughter, Caitlin, needs a new liver – now. As the NHS appears unreliable and Caitlin deteriorates, Lynn struggles to disregard the dead bodies discovered, organless, off the coast of Sussex. Surely they have nothing to do with her quest for a black market liver? Meanwhile, Detective Superintendent Roy Grace is (somewhat irritatingly) ‘haunted’ by the cadavers and the trail of corruption he uncovers, show more ‘even more so’ than any other case he has previously pursued. (I get it: he’s a caring guy; now please wind down the drama. It simply cannot be true that every case is more shockingly and emotionally disturbing than the last.) The premise was interesting and, although I had not previously read anything by Peter James, I knew that this was his fifth book in the series following this detective.

Initial impressions

My initial impressions of the book were not brilliant. Each short chapter focused on a different set of characters and, although I could see how they were likely to be linked together, I felt that the catalogue of characters introduced at the start made it a little difficult to find a foothold in the story. There is a lot of ‘set up’; when I was nearly half way through the contact between some of the characters was still yet to be established. However, James’ writing is detailed and his habit of sharing his characters’ inner thoughts helped to make reading more engaging. In fact, some people are perhaps described in an unnecessary amount of detail, in that they are only present in a chapter or three, but this certainly helped me to picture the scene.

A gloomy atmosphere is established early on: all the characters are hard working and most of them are miserable. In an effort to accurately depict the strains of working in the police force, James grants one of his characters the misery of a failing marriage. Combine this with a novel following a mother’s fear of losing her daughter and the indignities of the life of Romanian street children, and you have a very dark novel. This is not a criticism, just a warning regarding the style. I felt that the overall tone of the novel, with some exceptions, was rather bleak. This suited the subject matter, as none of the circumstances could be easily resolved.

Style

Each chapter heralds a shift in point of view. Sometimes this is Lynn’s, or Detective Superintendent Grace, but often it is someone connected to the case, whether that is a criminal, potential victim or another police officer. Initially I found the dramatic cliffhangers at the end of each chapter irritating (chapter one concludes: “He…pressed the starter button of his beloved motorbike for the last time in his life.”) but I stopped minding after a while. I felt that at least they were properly dramatic and not simply exaggerating. Each characters’ viewpoint is distinct and well expressed through the third person narration. As the chapters are usually only a few pages, the shifts between perspectives help to create a sense of pace, which is vital in the early chapters due to all the scene setting. Even in the early chapters, there is plenty happening, and I was never impatient for the plot to progress; I could simply feel that this was still ‘setting up’ later events, which could possibly irritate some readers.

One minor irritation that leapt out at me suggested a certain lack of editing. A description of Grace’s reaction to the physical appearance of a dead man is repeated thirty pages later, word for word – for a whole paragraph. This is a minor criticism, but it did make me feel the overall product was perhaps slightly less polished than it could be.

Overall, the style is not literary but nor is it generally clunky. The informally expressed thoughts of the characters help to give the book a certain sense of reality, which is reinforced by references to modern culture. (Although these references will undoubtedly date the books in the years to come.)

This is a classic police procedural rather than a tale of ‘brilliant detective saves day’ and I enjoyed it all the more for that. There are countless briefing meetings during which leads and suspects are discussed, which sounds dull but which I found quite interesting. That is not to say that Grace doesn’t have his brilliant moments, and there was an irritating use of chance towards the end of the story, but on the whole the story felt very firmly grounded in reality, which I liked. It is clear that James has done his research (in case you couldn’t tell, he thanks about a million people at the end of the book) but, unlike some authors, I didn’t feel that it was shoe horned into the story. Instead, the background knowledge supported the story that was being told.

Romania

That said, I was rather surprised to read in an interview with James online that some of the Romanian characters in the book are real. As I read the interview, it became clear that the issues in the story are as important to James as the story itself. Essentially, the story flits between Brighton and Romania, gradually developing the horrific story of what happens to those Romanians promised a bright future in England. I felt that James’ use of setting was very effective. It has kindled a genuine interest in Romania in me and I am already looking for non-fiction works on the subject. To me, this is the mark of a successful story: it has lingered with me after I closed the pages.

Conclusions

Definitely worth a read if you enjoy police procedurals. Fans of the series will be able to see Grace and Celo’s relationship develop, and will also spot a development in the ongoing Sandy storyline. Newcomers will not be disadvantaged by their late entry into the sequence as this does work as a standalone novel. In fact, other than wanting to follow the development of the detective’s personal relationship, the only incentive to read the next in the series is the experience of reading this book. How lovely – a writer who trusts his readership. The conclusion is suitably gritty (absolutely right I thought) and there is an epilogue, although I would have liked a final chapter set in Romania. (That said, it is more fitting that there isn’t one: it leaves the reader uncertain about the characters’ futures, which is more convincing than any follow up could be.) The storyline is not unduly violent, with the notable exception of one episode involving a Romanian girl. Instead, it is consistently dark, with a faint undercurrent of hope. I found it quite compelling as I moved towards the end of the story. show less

Handling & Tema : 4/5
Karaktärerna: 4/5
Miljöbeskrivning: 4/5
Språk och berättarkonst 4/5 :

Jag läser sällan deckare eller kriminalromaner, tycker upplägget påminner för mycket om varandra alla dessa böcker är för lika.
Men ibland stöttar man på en pärla. Den enes död har jag haft stående I bokhyllan I många år och tillslut bestämde jag mig för att ge den en chans
Boken ingår i en serie som jag inte har läst men det behöver man inte heller. Jag blev så överraskad när jag efter första kapitlet var fast i boken. Vi får följa flera människoöden och författaren har skapat intressanta sidospår i människoporträtt . Boken har ett djup och handlingen passar perfekt för en bokcirkel eftersom den tar upp show more intressanta frågeställningar och moraliska dilemma. Den röda tråden genom voken är handel med organ. Vill inte avslöja mer men jag rekommenderar Boken starkt oavsett om man gillar deckare eller inte, Den enes död är helt enkelt riktigt bra bok! show less

This is the fifth book in the DS Roy Grace series and is a more of a standard police procedural that the first four. A dead teenager is found in the waters off of Brighton with his kidneys and liver removed. Soon two other bodies are discovered, both minus their heart, liver and kidneys. Meanwhile, in a parallel story line, we meet 15-year old Caitlin, who is very ill and desperately needs a liver transplant. In another narrative, set in Romania, we learn the terrible plight of abandoned young children who are living on the streets, addicted to drugs, glue or paint-sniffing. Criminals, masquerading as charity workers, trick them into traveling to England, where the intent is to use them in horrific ways. It doesn't take a genius for us show more to see the future.

DS Roy Grace is now moving on, romantically, after his wife’s disappearance nearly ten years ago. He's hoping to make his relationship with new love, Cleo, more permanent. Co-worker and friend, Glenn Branson, is in an unhappy marriage and is living at Roy's house. Other than that, Grace is a pretty mellow guy. He doesn't have most of the baggage that comes with your usual detective. He's stable, reliable, sensitive, thoughtful and hard-working.

I really enjoyed this book, even though it's quite a long and detailed story. The numerous subplots lend to the tension and even though I knew where the story was headed, I still couldn't have guessed how it would end. This is a series I plan to finish in 2016 and I'm looking forward to the rest. show less

Book 5 in the Roy Grace series. I have to admit that this was not my favourite so far in the series. I found it extremely long and with so very many cringe-worthy segments in the novel that made it very difficult to listen to. I really didn’t care for most of the characters in the book, not including Roy Grace and his fabulous team. There are a couple of tired storylines as well that have honestly lost their relevance to the novels and to the characters. Roy Grace’s missing wife and Glen Branson’s failing marriage have been uppermost in all five books and it is time to let these two incidents die a long overdue death, and to let the characters move on from there. I thought that James did a good job with the organ donation black show more market storyline and he has highlighted many heartbreaking and still relevant issues that are still occurring with the heinous crime of human trafficking.. A lot of sections in the book are overlong and interminable. A lot of these extraneous sidelines should not have been included. The plot would have moved along more quickly if some of these had been left out entirely. The ending was very well done, and that saved the book in my opinion. At this point I’m not sure whether or not I’ll continue with the series. As often happens, some series seem to fade away and lose relevance after a number of books. This series is almost at that point for me. show less

This is the fifth book in the DS Roy Grace series and is a more of a standard police procedural that the first four. A dead teenager is found in the waters off of Brighton with his kidneys and liver removed. Soon two other bodies are discovered, both minus their heart, liver and kidneys. Meanwhile, in a parallel story line, we meet 15-year old Caitlin, who is very ill and desperately needs a liver transplant. In another narrative, set in Romania, we learn the terrible plight of abandoned young children who are living on the streets, addicted to drugs, glue or paint-sniffing. Criminals, masquerading as charity workers, trick them into traveling to England, where the intent is to use them in horrific ways. It doesn't take a genius for us show more to see the future.

DS Roy Grace is now moving on, romantically, after his wife’s disappearance nearly ten years ago. He's hoping to make his relationship with new love, Cleo, more permanent. Co-worker and friend, Glenn Branson, is in an unhappy marriage and is living at Roy's house. Other than that, Grace is a pretty mellow guy. He doesn't have most of the baggage that comes with your usual detective. He's stable, reliable, sensitive, thoughtful and hard-working.

I really enjoyed this book, even though it's quite a long and detailed story. The numerous subplots lend to the tension and even though I knew where the story was headed, I still couldn't have guessed how it would end. This is a series I plan to finish in 2016 and I'm looking forward to the rest. show less

Roy Grace book #5

The plot in this 5th installment is more of a conventional police-procedural than in the previous novel. Although, not particularly original in itself it is by far not your ordinary run of the mill bad cop/good cop story we find in most story of this genre. We may think that after so many books the vitality and freshness may have started to dwindle but I had no fear that Mr. James would deliver another blockbuster and he did.

In a few words:

When a dredger uncovers the body of a young man on the sea bed, Roy Grace is called in to investigate a crime that offers no clues other than an empty body cavity, leaving him totally baffled to find out what had happened. But when similar corpses are later uncovered it became clear show more to the investigators that they were dealing with murders of young people and the harvesting of their organs for sale.

“Dead Tomorrow”, ties the desperation of a mother with a daughter suffering acute liver disease to the vulnerable street kids and the burgeoning trade in human organs.

More thoughts:

In every good story we have a leading man, Detective Superintendent Roy Grace, is not the stereotype characters we find in many novels. Roy has no alcoholism, misogyny and psychological disorders rather he is stable, reliable, sensitive and hard working. He is a hell of a cop. We will also find that all the supporting characters are so very human: from victims, to the pressured, to the investigators. In interweaving plot we learn of their personal lives, the nitty-gritty portrayal of teenagers and their emotions.

This is a most realistic portrayed plot I have read in a long time. It plays out more as a chase than an intricate layering of clues and red herrings. Its 500 or so pages move like the breeze even with the many details the tempo never bogs down. Mr. James created another world for us to temporarily become part of and for us to actually care what happens to his characters. What holds together this long novel is a strong narrative….

I certainly got my money’s worth show less

Aristotle wrote “the gods have no greater torment than for a mother to outlive her child.”

“Is a Romanian street kids life less valuable than a middle class Brighton kids?l

This was the crux of the story. What price would you pay to save your child? I kept thinking of this while reading the story.

The characters were great and I felt for Lynn. I also felt for the system, the medical system as it would be similar here in Australia. I also felt for the street kids. What kind of life had they had been born into? What hopes could they possibly have and how could they survive?

This is a real ethical dilemma.

The story was set in Brighton, Bucharest and Munich. I loved it and for such a large book it didn’t take me long to read.

I’m show more loving this series and Peter James.

Oh, and Sandy resurfaces in this as well. show less