Rabbit Hole - Mark Billingham

Mark Billingham pens one of my favourite crime series - the Tom Thorne books. But he also writes standalones -  the latest is Rabbit Hole. 

Now, what do think when you hear the title? Merriam Webster defines a rabbit hole as "a complexly bizarre or difficult state or situation conceived of as a hole into which one falls or descends." 

Alice Armitage find herself in a rabbit hole. She's a "medically retired" police officer. After witnessing the death of her partner, she develops PTSD and starts self medicating with drink and drugs. Which lands her sectioned into a secure psychiatric unit.

"A murder isn't really anything to write home about in a place like this, not when you think about it. It's almost inevitable, I reckon, like the noise and the smell. You ask me, a murder's par for the course."

Uh huh, a patient is murdered and Alice, as police, decides to work the case from inside. Great premise! Oh, Alice is a wonderfully unreliable narrator! She has memory issues, is paranoid and takes a boatload of meds every day - as does everyone she lives with. The killer could be any one of the residents. 

There are a number of supporting players in Rabbit Hole - both residents and staff. The book is told from Alice's point of view and that's how we get to know the others. I have to applaud Billingham's description of those residents and their illnesses, as well as the setting and the every day life on the ward. We learn bits and pieces of what came before for Alice from interactions with some ex colleagues, friends and family. There's some dark humour scattered thoughout.

As to the 'investigation - I was just as stymied as Alice. I was with her as she pieced together answers that seemed quite logical, but changed often with new observations, memories and occurrences. I truly (and happily) had no idea who the killer would be. I thought things were being wrapped up in the run up to the final pages, and was caught off guard by an unexpected twist. Nice ending!

In my opinion, the idea for Rabbit Hole was really different (in a good way), the setting jumped to life, the characters were intriguing and really well drawn and I couldn't solve the mystery myself. Well done Mark Billingham! I'll be waiting for your next book. Read an excerpt of Rabbit Hole.

The Last Hack - Christopher Brookmyre

The Last Hack is the 8th book in Christopher Brookmyre's Jack Parlabane series. This was the first time I've read a book by this author.

Nineteen year old Sam Morpeth's mother is in jail, leaving her as the sole caregiver for her challenged sister. With that, her university plans are out the window. To look at her, you'd never know that Sam is a hacker - a really good hacker. After all - "There are no women on the Internet." But, after her group causes chaos by hacking into a prominent institution, it turns out that someone has discovered who 'Buzzkill' really is. That someone has decided to blackmail Sam - 'do as I say or I'll reveal who you are - and then where would your sister be.' What does the blackmailer want? The impossible - to steal a prototype from a seemingly impenetrable company.

Sam knows she can't pull it off on her own - so she reveals her real life persona to Parlabane who has used her hacker skills in his investigative journalism. She 'convinces' Jack that he needs to work with her......or....

Sam was a great lead character - I liked the duality of her persona - online and offline. Brookmyre has taken the time to flesh this character out and make her believable. As mentioned, this is my first introduction to Jack Parlabane. He's sketchy, driven, resourceful, talented and although he's not necessarily likeable, I really liked him as a lead.

"The phrase 'veteran reporter' has already been used, which he is not delighted about, but he is sufficiently familiar with the terms 'disgraced reporter' and 'former reporter' to make his peace with it."

The interactions between the two worked well and the underlying secondary plotline brought a personal note to the novel.

I'm not much of a 'techie', so some of what they were up to went over my head. (Although I did pick up some security tips along the way!) Brookmyre never bogs down the plot or pace with too much technical detail. That plot is fairly involved and fast moving. We are presented with many choices along the way as to who is the blackmailer and my guess changed many times. What is scary is that Brookmyre's imaginings are probably not that far removed from reality.

I have a weakness for 'heist' movies and The Last Hack is at it's heart, a quintessential heist novel. And a darn good one. I can see this one as a movie as well. Read an excerpt of The Last Hack.