Career of Evil

I've always been a real supporter of J.K. Rowling's foray into the world of crime writing through the Robert Galbraith series of books. After all, publishing of The Casual Vacancy wasn't a huge success under her own name purely because people couldn't separate the author from her most famous character, Harry Potter.

Book 3 in the series, Career of Evil was one that got out of the starting gate very quickly. Within a few pages we've had our first introduction to the murderer and his plans and have had him deliver an amputated leg to Robin, the partner and Secretary of our hero Cormoran Strike.

From there we are led into a story where someone is trying to destroy Cormoran Strike by targeting his reputation and plotting to abduct and hurt his partner Robin. Strike and Robin are unaware of his precise plans but simply know he is attacking young women, stealing body parts from his victims and is following Robin. There are several suspects from Strike's past, some from cases he investigated from his Special Branch of the army career and one who is connected to his mother's suspicious death.

It was at this point I felt the story could have used a little clarity. Strike and Robin spend much of the book tracking down these 3 individuals, recounting their back stories with Strike and following up on where they were when certain crimes took place. Unfortunately their back stories were at times quite similar and sometimes I had to stop and remind myself of which one linked to which tale we'd had recounted. Just as we seemed to be gaining clarity on one we would be off on another's trail and you had to be alert to keep track of each story and possible Villain we were tailing now.

In this book we spend a lot more time with Robin, learning more about her life before she met Strike, her desires to become a detective and her relationship with her fiance Matthew. Rowling takes time to really round out the character giving us a real modern day Watson to Strikes at sometimes bumbling Holmes.

It is a book that goes through some high points, I found the interviews conducted to establish back stories and information about their suspects to be the high points of the book. The dialogue in these chapters is inspired, it was at these points I truly wanted to keep reading and perhaps contributes to my dissapointment when we'd leave that behind and go chasing down another lead, leaving the suspense and real character based detective work behind. There are also some great characters in this story who added much to the story and who I'd love to see in future books, Shanker is a stand out for me. This shady thug from Strike's early life comes bursting to life in this book and leaves you rooting for him, he is clearly a thug with a heart of gold and was a high point for me.

Low points were that the book kept building towards a storyline that didn't actually materialise. Instead we got a few pages of it potentially happening then nothing. All that tension as a reader was left a little unfulfilled. Also our dynamic duo ended this case pretty fractured and with their own agendas. They didn't catch their guy together but instead kind of caught him separately and didn't share that success, which was a shame.

I enjoyed this book a lot more than book 2, The Silkworm. This was based on the chapters that were dedicated to Strike and Robin really outlining and defining who their potential suspects were and the lives they had already affected. For me this was a real return to the brilliance of The Cuckoos Calling.

Strike remains one of my favourite series characters and I always look forward to reading the next installment and this time is no different. I'll be excited to see his next adventure and how his relationship with Robin continues to grow, very much in the way I wait patiently to see what modern day Holmes and Watson will do next.

This originally appeared at The Irresponsible Reader.
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Galbraith wastes no time in establishing that our criminal is one sick dude right there on page 1. By page 3, you know that this guy is at best some sick, misogynistic creep – and probably something worse. I really appreciated that – none of the silly trying to fake us out with charm, or attempt to make us sympathize with the guy – nope, he's just a horribly person. Thankfully, this isn't one of those detective novels that tells you who the killer is in Chapter 1 – all we know is that you don't want him dating your daughter (or anyone you know – or anyone, ever) and that he's a little obsessed with Strike and Robin.

When your assistant receives a woman's leg in the mail, you pretty much have to assume it's personal. So naturally, Strike (and the police) aren't looking to the public at large to start compiling their lists of suspects, but to Cormoran's past. The fact that he has a list of three strong candidates is pretty disturbing, and while he and Robin look into the current whereabouts of each of these, we get to learn a good deal about the suspects and their history with Cormoran. Clearly he's seen plenty of evil in his career – we knew that already, but this is the first that we really get details. Wow. How he's managed to get this far in life and stay pretty adjusted is a marvel. As a P. I., as Military Police, and as a teenager Cormoran ‘s seen the worst of humanity and keeps going.

Of course, the title also refers to the suspects, all of whom have pretty impressive (for lack of a better word) résumés when it comes to evil. While Cormoran and Robin are on the hunt (while trying to service existing clients), things get worse – there are new people tortured, cut up, stalked and killed. And all of the initial suspects stay suspects. Each of them, in their own special way, has shown propensity of violence, a contempt for women, and a desire for revenge that could conceivably drive them to these acts.

You can't say that Robin Ellacott has much of a career related to evil, but it turns out that her experience in the field is more than theory and observation. Galbraith gives us a look into her past as well in this novel. Receiving a body part in the mail is mild compared to some of what she's experienced. Even more than getting pieces of her boss' backstory, I appreciated learning this about Robin (and it solidified my low opinion Matthew). While we're getting that, we also see her growth as a P.I., holding her own (for the most part) with Cormoran. Until she reaches the breaking point, that is, which you'd expect when some psycho is threatening you as a way of tormenting your boss. Thanks to a combination of ambition and a desire to maintain (take?) control over her life, she – as one friend of the blog put it – “goes and does something that is monumentally stupid.” I bought it, but...man, Robin let her insecurities get the best of her. How human of her.

Galbraith keeps the tension turned up to at least 8 (sometimes, up to 11), while exploring the myriad ways our own psyches, pasts and insecurities can lead us into all kinds of trouble.

I've enjoyed each installment in this series, but I think this one is the best, and I can't wait to see what's next (assuming Galbraith's alter ego has time for it).

I enjoyed all three of the books in this series quite a lot, but this is, in my opinion, the best of the three. It's tense and exciting. And it's the kind of mystery that – with the right knowledge and careful observation – you might be able to solve on your own.

But I was completely surprised.

SO FUN!!

Het derde boek in de reeks is opnieuw een voltreffer. Een detective zoals een detective moet zijn: spannend, mysterieus en raden tot het einde.
Schitterend geschreven en doet me eigenlijk denken aan een moderne Agatha Christie.
Met dit boek worden de terugkerende personages ook nog verder uitgediept en leer je ze steeds beter kennen. Er wordt serieus op de emoties van de lezer ingewerkt en eindigt met een serieuze emotionele cliff-hanger waardoor ik al bijzonder hard uitkijk naar deel 4.

Executive Summary: Probably my favorite book of the series so far, but there are some parts where I was getting frustrated at the characters.

Audiobook: Robert Glenister does his usual great job. He does a few voices and inflections that really make this a series I'd only do in audio. In fact I probably only made it this far in the series because his narration helped me through the slower parts.

Full Review
I typically read a lot of fantasy and sci-fi. Too much in fact, so I've been trying to do more mystery and thrillers, especially in audio. I thought the first two books in this series were fine, but nothing spectacular.

The quality of the audio narration and catching deals on the books are one of the main reasons I continued so far. This book I actually enjoyed enough that I'll probably continue on even without a deal. I think it had the best mystery of the three, and just when I thought I had it figured out, something would happen to keep me guessing again.

I figured most of it out before the reveal, but not all. I'm not as well read at mystery so it may be more apparent to those who are. I still think you'll find it entertaining, especially if you liked the first two.

My only real issue with this book is some of the unrelated character development. I feel like some of the things were out of characters and seemed more to serve the plot than any sort of character development.

I don't recall if we met Shanker before this book, but I really enjoyed his parts in this one. I feel like Robin and Strike both took steps backwards. I had been hoping to see Robin move further along her journey to become a detective in her own right than she did.

Strike was basically the same as he's been the last few books. He's fine but I'd like to see more growth from him too before too long or it will be easy for the series to get stale.

Overall despite some minor issues, I feel like this was easily the best book in the series so far. It looks like some of my issues in this one may be worse in the next book, so I'm not sure how quickly I'll pick it up. Initially I was thinking of buying it sooner than later, but now I may take a break and/or hope to catch another deal.

This third book had a completely different feel from the first two and I'm not sure how I feel about it. I throughly enjoyed the character development and learning more about Robin, but something about the book just felt off to me. The slow pace didn't suit me well and I'm floored at that end. Nevertheless I'm excited for the next installment!

Dat was me een rollercoaster wel. Dit was het derde boek uit de Strike-serie en het is altijd hopen dat het net zo goed is (al dan niet beter) dan zijn voorgangers. Je wordt weer meegezogen in een meedogenloos verhaal van een seriemoordenaar welke Strike & Robin proberen te ontmaskeren. Ook in de verhaal botsen de privé levens van deze twee en lees je het zo uit.

I liked the first book, but thought the second was a significant step up so I was quite excited to read the third book. Even if it wasn't better than the second book, if it was just in that ballpark I would have a great time. Upon reading this one though, I can't help but think it's an absolute disaster as a mystery.

The series has always applied a form of fuzzy logic in catching the criminal. Strike tends to work heavily off intuition, but I tend to overlook this to some extent because he's not actually in law enforcement even if that's his background. In this novel however you can't overlook it because that's all the case is. At one point he literally says that there's no logic in the suspects he's been investigating for months at that point. Instead he says that “he feels it in his gut” that one of them is guilty. It's incredibly circular. He believes it to be true because he believes it to be. Him not being objective is of course intentional, but I find it incredibly frustrating when mysteries rely on “intuition” rather than deduction.

Then you have the conveniences. These have always existed in some way in the previous books, but never to this extent. Read the synopsis, Strike knows 4 people are suspects, though he dismisses one immediately with fairly flimsy reasoning. So 3 people left, who all happen to be similar builds, all happen to have the same haircut, all have/had sons that they are estranged to, all happen to be in London though it's not where they hail from. How do we know the killers characteristics? Cause for the first time we get their perspective intermixed in the novel, but even though Strike doesn't know that he still picked out 3 people immediately just from the crime (no actual evidence etc),  who fit the perspective given by the killer.  And many, many more instances across the story that would involve spoilers.

The good? Strike and Robin's working relationship is still the highlight of the book. The way they feed off one another is fun to read and you really get the sense of how integral she has turned out to be when it comes to investigating. Too bad that so much of the book is dedicated to the melodrama that is her relationship with Matthew. 

I'll still read #4 cause the first two were good enough to give Rowling the benefit of the doubt, but what a let down this was. 

She's BACK! For those of you who ever wondered if Madame Rowling was ever capable of such great heights following Harry Potter... this is your answer. Book three solidifies this series a place among my favorite serial fiction. It is too bad I must advise you to “get through” [b:The Cuckoo's Calling 16160797 The Cuckoo's Calling (Cormoran Strike, #1) Robert Galbraith https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1358716559s/16160797.jpg 22002305]. Trust me, by the time you read [b:The Silkworm 18214414 The Silkworm (Cormoran Strike, #2) Robert Galbraith https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1392577290s/18214414.jpg 25639104] you will not regret it. Finally, having the opportunity to read [b:Career of Evil 25735012 Career of Evil (Cormoran Strike, #3) Robert Galbraith https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1434419930s/25735012.jpg 43699375], will be entirely satisfying. Without the first two books, you would be wholly incapable of following the storyline. Do yourself a favor, dig into these. They are easily read, though rough, quite adult, and certainly not for the faint of heart. If you have a proclivity for a dark crime story with a hero you can root for, you will find it here.

Alright, so I have pretty much no self control. I finished The Silkworm yesterday and immediately checked out Career of Evil on ebook from my local library.

For all the dark, grizzly content, I didn't find this book to be full of sensationalism. As a warning, this book does contain rape, incest, physical violence, cannibalism, drug abuse, and, of course, murder. Several of the victims were children. The author does a good job of handling these events with honest depictions of alarm, disgust, and fear, and the learned gallows humor of people (including Strike) who have had personal and professional experience with the abusers and victims. It wasn't always pretty, but if felt real and true.

It was a good read, and kept me engaged. I liked having a look into Strike's and Robin's heads. Like I've stated before in my review for The Silkworm, I enjoyed Robin and Strike's self-awareness. They knew when they were being unreasonable, and where the tension was coming from, in both their personal and professional lives. Boundaries between the two shifted, blurred, and were completely reset. The book delved heavily into the backgrounds of Strike and Robin, with some stunning revelations for both of them.

I like Strike and Robin and will definitely read the upcoming new book that can't come soon enough. But Matthew can go jump in a ditch. What a prat.

Rowling (as Galbraith) is really a fantastic storyteller. This book is pure genre fiction, no doubt, but it's also very well executed. I particularly enjoyed this installment, in which Rowling's own convictions (many of which I share) shone through without ever seeming heavy-handed or detracting from the story.

as usual, beautifully written: the woman knows how to do her job, it is such a pleasure to read the well developed and built story...
on top of that, at this point we feel we know Robin and Corm, so it is like seeing old friends in photographs.
I can't say much more without risking spoilers. That said, I was a bit disappointed with the last line.

Short Review: This is the best of the trilogy so far. I really like the character development for Cormoran and Robin. I think the method of ‘knowing' the identity but not knowing who the murderer actually is until the end worked well. I do not particularly like ‘mind of the killer' sections and hope that does not become a standard in the series.

Rowling has defiantly transitioned to a series that can stand on its own. I will definitely read the next. But I do wonder where she can go with the bad guys. Will she have to go to terrorism next and fulfill a lot of the other cliches' of series mysteries?

My slightly longer review is on my blog at http://bookwi.se/career-evil/