BOOK THOUGHTS || Career of Evil by Robert Galbraith

*** please note, this review may contain spoilers***

Summed up in a sentence? "Another dark yet enticing novel in the Strike series!”

SYNOPSIS

Cormoran Strike is back, with his assistant Robin Ellacott, in a mystery based around soldiers returning from war.

When a mysterious package is delivered to Robin Ellacott, she is horrified to discover that it contains a woman’s severed leg.

Her boss, private detective Cormoran Strike, is less surprised but no less alarmed. There are four people from his past who he thinks could be responsible – and Strike knows that any one of them is capable of sustained and unspeakable brutality.

With the police focusing on the one suspect Strike is increasingly sure is not the perpetrator, he and Robin take matters into their own hands, and delve into the dark and twisted worlds of the other three men. But as more horrendous acts occur, time is running out for the two of them…

Career of Evil is the third in the series featuring private detective Cormoran Strike and his assistant Robin Ellacott. A mystery and also a story of a man and a woman at a crossroads in their personal and professional lives. 

MY OPINIONS

With this being the third in a series, I knew what to expect in regards to character development and the running of the novel. However, I was not expecting what I actually got! I was expecting nitty gritty, and a troublesome relationship between Strike and Robin, but what I got instead was actually so much more!

First of all, can I just point out that there is some scenes that are kind of graphic. As in, severed leg, missing body parts kind of graphic. At some points I didnt want to continue, but the graphic parts were swift and were infrequent enough to not put me off too much.

Jumping between Strike, Robin and the culprit was a technique well carried out by Galbraith, as it allowed us to see just what was going through each characters head. This is particularly helpful when trying to build a profile for the killer as well.

One of the things that stood out to me was Robins character development. Throughout this book we see her struggle to come to terms with her relationship, and the fact that it feels to her like it is no longer worth it. This is something I really felt made Robin more relatable as a character, as she has previously been seen as someone who tends to have it pretty good (in my eyes anyway).

Personally I love the series and the development of the characters over the series. I would love to see Robin get with Strike but that is definitely off the cards after Career of Evil, which is a little sad, but the prospect would always have been unrealistic anyway!

MY RATING

Overall I am giving this novel 4.5 out of 5 stars. The only reason it wasnt a 5 star rating is because some aspects of the novel were a bit too graphic for me. However, this didnt put me off in the end, as these bits were infrequent enough to work through.

REVIEW | The Cuckoo's Calling by Robert Galbraith.

***please note this review may contain spoilers.***

I took this book on my travels this year (as I'm writing we have only just returned from Turkey, beautiful country), as I had already owned The Silkworm for quite some time, until I was informed that this came first. Naturally, as a first time reader of Robert Galbraith, I was dubious about taking both books, so left The Silkworm at home. 

I regret that decision. 

Beginning this in the departures lounge at the airport, I found I only had about twenty minutes reading time before our departure gate opened after looking around the shops and having food. So of course, I challenged myself to read a certain amount of pages. And failed. What little I did read however, I absolutely loved and found myself wanting more.

Initially, I found the plot to be running a little slow. But that is completely understandable for the first in what I truly do hope is a substantial series length. 

For those of you who dont know, Robert Galbraith is not actually a man. Nor is he real actually. He's actually a certain wonderful author who is perhaps one of the most famous (if not the most famous) of the past 20 years. Who, I hear you ask? J.K. Rowling.

I KNOW RIGHT. The Harry Potter lady wrote something not Harry Potter and it is fantastic.

The first book in the Cormoran Strike follows, well, Cormoran Strike, a private detective, who when we meet him, is a little down on his luck. His business is failing, he's recently single, and lives in his office. Sounds like a hoot to work for doesn't he? 

And that's where we meet Robin. Robin is hired through a temp agency to be Strike's secretary, and the two seem to feign interest in one another at first, but without really caring. Until they realise, on seperate occasions, just how much the other person is helping them. For Robin, Strike is providing her with the opportunity to work in a position she's always dreamed of, and for Strike, Robin is providing that little bit of structure and support he really does need in the form of both employee and friend. The development of their characters over the course of the book makes for a great read, as we see Robin coming out of her shell more in the sense of investigating for the case.

The case. The case which Robin is involved in working on with Strike is that of the death of Lula Landry, a famous model (I'm thinking along the lines of Cara Delevigne here {if thats how her name is spelt}). Initial reports from the police, coroner and newspapers all believe and decide it to be suicide, but her brother John Bristow, approaches Strike begging for his help, as he believes it wasnt suicide, it was murder. Surely, if the police believe her death to be unsuspicious, and the coroner ruling the same, there's no need for Strike to intervene? Naturally, he intervenes and begins his investigation into the models death.

We follow Strike and Robin as the case develops, and without a doubt there are a few twists and turns along the way. Although you do feel as though you're on a little bit of a wild goose chase at times, it's worth it in the end. I had my suspicions for the culprit (if there ever was one), but sadly I was proven wrong. It didn't stop me loving following the story though, and I finished the majority of the book in one day whilst lounging around the pool. 

Overall, I would most likely rate this 4.5/5 stars to 5/5 stars. I am currently undecided on which to choose, as for all it is very very worthy of five stars, I felt that perhaps there was something missing. That and I didnt like Robins fiance all too much.

See you all soon with another review!

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Have you read this book? What did you think? I'd love it if we could start a discussion below in the comments!