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When Amber Hewerdine consults a hypnotherapist as a desperate last resort, she doesn’t expect that anything much will change.
She doesn’t expect it to help with her chronic insomnia . . .
She doesn’t expect to hear herself, under hypnosis, saying words that mean nothing to her: ‘Kind, cruel, kind of cruel’ – words she has seen somewhere before, if only she could remember where . . .
She doesn’t expect to be arrested two hours later, as a result of having spoken those words out loud, in connection with the brutal murder of Katharine Allen, a woman she’s never heard of . . .
(P)2012 Hodder & Stoughton
She doesn’t expect it to help with her chronic insomnia . . .
She doesn’t expect to hear herself, under hypnosis, saying words that mean nothing to her: ‘Kind, cruel, kind of cruel’ – words she has seen somewhere before, if only she could remember where . . .
She doesn’t expect to be arrested two hours later, as a result of having spoken those words out loud, in connection with the brutal murder of Katharine Allen, a woman she’s never heard of . . .
(P)2012 Hodder & Stoughton
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Reviews
'A writer of prodigious talent . . . This is a jaw-droppingly assured book which sometimes feels as if there's a plot twist on every page . . . This reader was left speechless with admiration . . . a truly sensational book.'
One of the great unmissables of this genre - intelligent, classy and with a wonderfully Gothic imagination.
'A remarkable novel, and an adventure to read . . . A first-class whodunit that will keep you reading long into the night.'
For those who demand emotional intelligence and literary verve from their thrillers, Sophie Hannah is the writer of choice.
'Hannah excels at dissecting human behaviour, and the way she describes little acts of cruelty can send real chills down the spine.'
'Intricately plotted and pleasingly sinister, it's guaranteed to get under the skin'
'Fast-paced prose makes this a suspense-filled page-turner with a vividly unsettling atmosphere.'
'This taut, intelligent psychological thriller . . . opens up a lot for reading groups to get their teeth into . . . intensely satisfying personal read.'
'[Sophie Hannah] has perfected the psychological thriller, always with strong female characters, and always with a high degree of edge-of-the-seat peril.'
An exploration of memory and the way trauma lives on in the present. Cool, calculating and utterly chilling, KIND OF CRUEL is another compulsive book from Hannah, to be gulped down with all the lights on and someone to grab when the sense of menace grows too great.
[Hannah] has outdone herself with KIND OF CRUEL . . . Her trademark precision-layered structure creates a multi-dimensional maze that holds at its centre a revelation which is truly hair-raising, even by Hannah's standards.
An audacious puzzle of a novel that is impossible to second guess . . . Crime novels are often dismissed in literary circles for not being literary enough. Yet KIND OF CRUEL is exactly the intelligent, reflective and stunningly written novel that has "literary" critics swooning and judging panels lining up to reward. The fact that it has a police investigation at its heart is a plus, not a minus, and makes for one hell of a journey.
A rich mix of the dark and the diverting. Brilliantly believable
Another triumph for one of the very best crime writers out there. Stunningly clever and compelling.
Hannah excels at dissecting human behaviour, and the way she describes little acts of cruelty can send real chills down the spine.
Cool, calculating and utterly chilling, KIND OF CRUEL is another compulsive book from Hannah, to be gulped down with all the lights on and someone to grab when the sense of menace grows too great.
Hannah has outdone herself with KIND OF CRUEL . . . Her trademark precision-layered structure creates a multi-dimensional maze that holds at its centre a revelation which is truly hair-raising, even by Hannah's standards.
An audacious puzzle of a novel that is impossible to second guess . . . Crime novels are often dismissed in literary circles for not being literary enough. Yet KIND OF CRUEL is exactly the intelligent, reflective and stunningly written novel that has "literary" critics swooning and judging panels lining up to reward.
Hannah concocts a mystery of satisfying complexity in which frequent clichés of the genre (the locked room, for example) are turned inside out. If that were all her novels did, they would be admirably cerebral but uninvolving. Unfortunately for her rivals, Hannah does texture, depth and character with similar panache.
Intricately plotted and pleasingly sinister . . . guaranteed to get under the skin.
A terrific reading experience. Everybody loves Sophie Hannah.