Book Review – The Hanged Man by Simon Kernick

the hanged manA house deep in the countryside where the remains of seven unidentified women have just been discovered.

A cop ready to risk everything in the hunt for their killers.

A man who has seen the murders and is now on the run in fear of his life.

So begins the race to track down this witness before the killers do.

For Ray Mason and PI Tina Boyd, the road ahead is a dangerous one, with bodies and betrayal at every turn…

***

gold_star-svggold_star-svg 2/5 Stars

I received this book via Net Galley in exchange for an honest review.

I have read quite a few Simon Kernick books in the past. I like them, they tend to be fast paced and action packed while still focusing on the crime aspects. And that is somewhat still true with The Hanged Man. However, this book just did very little for me. An enjoyable enough read I suppose, but it felt very male led. I get it. Crime books are supposed to be sexy. You can do that without it being so male view dominated. Nearly all the women were objectified in some way, and even Tina who is a good detective and the main character loves, gets objectified by him. Though she does at least get her own agenda and she is pretty awesome at times. I mean honestly, I maybe wouldn’t have noticed without the crime being so sexually focused, so that may be swaying opinion, but it felt just off somehow. And the same goes for Dan, and his characterisation, and comments on his religion/faith. They felt jarring and didn’t really add to the story.

I will say that I hadn’t read the first one, so there were times were I felt that would have helped, but that it isn’t totally necessary. And that the action / crime bits are pretty well done and relatively enjoyable. There was just something about the book in total that didn’t work for me.

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