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    Birdman
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    Birdman
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    Birdman
    Audiobook11 hours

    Birdman

    Written by Mo Hayder

    Narrated by Damien Goodwin

    3.5/5

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    About this audiobook

    Birdman showcases Hayder at her spine-tingling best as beloved series character Jack Caffery tracks down a terrifying serial killer. In his first case as lead investigator with London's crack murder squad, Detective Jack Caffery is called on to investigate the murder of a young woman whose body has been discovered near the Millennium Dome in Greenwich, southeast London. Brutalized, and mutilated beyond recognition, the victim is soon joined by four others discovered in the same area - all female and all ritualistically murdered. And when the postmortem examination reveals a gruesome signature connecting the victims, Caffery realizes exactly what he's dealing with - a dangerous serial killer.
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherDreamscape Media Audio
    Release dateMay 8, 2012
    ISBN9781611206487
    Author

    Mo Hayder

    MO HAYDER is the author of the internationally bestselling novels Birdman, The Treatment, The Devil of Nanking, Pig Island, Ritual, Skin, Gone—which won the 2012 Edgar Award for best novel—Hanging Hill and Poppet. In 2011, she received the Crime Writers’ Association Dagger in the Library award. She lives in the Cotswolds, England.

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    Reviews for Birdman

    3.5/5

    524 ratings31 reviews

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    • 4/5
      I found this book to be gritty. The setting is Millennium Dome Site, Greenwich, England. Five corpses are found and they are all young woman with no missing persons reported. Hence the sexual serial killer is given the name Birdman, Mo Hyder has refined her craft and used her beguiling imagination. I have found DI Jack Caffery to be very interesting character and look forward to reading more about him in future books. I do recommend this series.
    • 5/5
      Mo Hayder conceives the most frightening villains but her writing style and plots are superb so you just have to keep reading. In this book, a number of decomposing bodies are found in an empty field near the dock area in London. The victims are all young women and they have all been inexpertly autopsied. As the forensic scientists and detectives do their jobs more horrific details unfold. Also, it becomes obvious that the killer is still on the loose and the intervals between killings is getting shorter. The chief investigator, who has a mystery in his background, zeroes in on the identities of the victims and discovers that they are all strippers who last worked at a pub. He becomes acquainted with an artist who used to be a stripper but left that life to work as a painter. Although he has a girlfriend he is attracted to the painter and she provides him with some vital information. The characters of the protaganists are well-developed and the plot has many twists and turns. A very hard book to put down.
    • 4/5
      Hayder holds nothing back in violent descriptions and grisly detail. Characterizations beyond the main character are fairly superficial and somewhat stereotypical, but add to the compelling story nonetheless. Caffrey's is a good character, with an interesting back story. Birdman is not for the faint of heart and has its flaws, but it is well-worth your time.
    • 5/5
      While quite a few moving parts in this story I found it easy to stay in touch and recall the details unlike some books of this ilk. On the one hand it's a pretty plain detective story, policemen, in London. The locale of London I know quite in Greenwich and Lewisham. The crimes being investigated are gruesome in quite a novel (excuse he pun) fashion. It seemed half way through the baddy was found which sort of puzzled me but in a plot development, ore than twist, this was not of course the case. Near the end it seems the perp is caught but surprisingly not so leading to a very gruesome ending. This book as mentioned by someone else is not for sissies!A great and relatively straightforward read.
    • 3/5
      Something went horribly wrong about half way through.... I was loving this book, with it's very interesting serial killer, then things took and odd twist and went downhill into cliche. Oh, well. The writing was pretty good, anyhow.
    • 4/5
      The book doesn't start off great, I found it a bit of a chore to read but once you are nearing the end it really starts to pick up pace and I realised how well Mo Hayder did at fleshing out the characters. You really start to understand the emotions they are feeling so in that respect Mo did an excellent job.I will be reading the next story, not just because I have it, but because I want to read it.
    • 1/5
      Someone is killing exotic dancers in London. Jack Caffery is the policeman charged with finding out who. Inventive storyline, but the details are gory, the people really are not very nice and the book is overall disturbing.
    • 4/5
      "Birdman" reminded me of a (lengthy) episode of Criminal Minds on television. There were lots of deranged minds in this book: a necrophiliac, an obscenely violent murderer as well as a neighbor of the main character. The plot focuses on 34 year old Jack Caffery leading investigations into five murders of London prostitutes/strippers. He has problems with female relationships mainly because of his younger brother's death years earlier (and the neighbor's taunting).This is a very violent book, right up there with Silence of the Lambs for grisliness.
    • 5/5
      I love Mo Hayder and I loved this book! Hayder has a way of really taking you out of your confort zone and making your imagination run riot. Just when you think it can't get anymore gruesome, it does! I don't agree with some comments that Hayder stories are too gory. The shock and horror is what makes her one of the best female writers of our time. It's nice to find an author who isn't afraid of upsetting or offending - keep it up!
    • 4/5
      A book so brutal towards women that only a woman could have written it without being called a misogynist. Good murder tale. Not for the squeamish.
    • 4/5
      I took the Jack Caffery books all out of order, reading from the middle forward and then from the middle backward. Strangely, knowing the answers to some questions did nothing to weaken the hold of each one. No way around the fact that the murders, rapes, and torture in this story are just horrible. Now that I've read and enjoyed every book Hayder's written thus far, I'm looking forward to some lighter, brighter reading matter -- but also hoping for another addition to the series.
    • 2/5
      Birdman is a rather run-of-the-mill serial killer/thriller/police procedural. Like some of the other reviewers, I thought the first third was unnecessarily slow and somewhat adrift. The twist in the middle piqued my interest again, but Hayder gives away the punchline very quickly. The ending felt rushed, but otherwise was good. Not sure I'll read much more of her stuff.
    • 4/5
      This book started out as ok, as murder mysteries go. Then about two thirds of the way through, pow! The twist hits and I was amazed. Mo Hayder is going to be a new favorite, I can tell.
    • 4/5
      A better version of the detective novel. Great and a bit gross.
    • 4/5
      Detective Jack Caffery is on his first homicide case with London's special homicide team. The body that has been found is one of the most brutally degraded they have ever seen. The plot is slowly revealed over the course of the entire book and there is a major twist in the middle which turns the whole case around. This is probably one of the most unsettlingly gruesome thrillers I have ever read. From about page 100, I couldn't turn the pages fast enough. However, the first third of the book was quite slow. I had a hard time getting to know the main characters or finding them believable at first. I don't think I ever truly warmed up to the main character but the case had me riveted. This is a high level thriller, graphically written and at times uncomfortably so, certainly not for the faint of heart. As the author's first book it isn't flawless but it does have me eager to try another.
    • 3/5
      An intriguing, riveting and grotesque novel which centers around solving horrific killings of prostitutes in the England area. Told from the perspective of the lead investigator, the storyline is very engaging both from the suspense and action as well as the human story telling. The novel is so gruesome though that many scenes are hard to swallow and become increasingly so right up to the chilling end.
    • 5/5
      I have yet to find a Mo Hayder thriller that I did not like, and this first novel was excellent. Her work is so hard to put down :)
    • 5/5
      Many twists and turns to hold the listener's interest. Vivid, unflinching descriptions. Unpredictable storyline.
    • 4/5
      The strength of this book I believe is in the story-telling; I was so engaged that I didn't notice whether the writing was all that good or not. I've got to expect that it was. And what a twisted tale it is. I quickly became invested and developed a certain like for most of the characters.The downside came towards the end when more-or-less all the events started to become predictable. It hit all "11-of-the-10" requisite elements of clusterfuckery. Still, the story held true with a solid finish.
    • 3/5
      Human & animal torture in graphic gory detail - there were points I had to fast forward past, I know this may sound weird, but if you are reading a book about a serial killer, you almost expect some amount of human abuse (although fair warning this book is especially HARROWING) but you do not really expect animal abuse, beyond perhaps a quick reference to childhood animal abuse, but in all ways I would almost categorize this book as HORROR, so every gory aspect is in the EXTREME. There is a somewhat redeeming understory, and the character development is complex, interesting and unyielding... The narrator was SUPERB, I will look for his readings in the future. I have read the 2nd book is about pedophilia, and even more graphic than this novel so I will take a break with something a bit lighter before tackling The Treatment. Writing, plot development and all else is superb.
    • 4/5
      Yikes. This author is gifted. And twisted. Compelling characters and insanely clever plotting. And she's twisted.
    • 4/5
      This was a series recommended to me by my mother-in-law, and this first entry doesn’t disappoint. Hayder writes on the darker side of crime fiction, and this book is full of messed up people. Not the least of which is lead detective Jack Caffrey, who carries around a truckload of guilt stemming from the disappearance of his brother when they were children, and who is punishing himself by staying in an unfulfilling, manipulative relationship and nursing an obsession with his backyard neighbor.Also quite messed up is our antagonist, whose point of view we see often, letting us into the horror of his thinking. Hayder does a good job of making us think we have it all figured out before pulling the rug out from beneath us.This was a solid thriller, and I’ll definitely pick up more of the series.
    • 5/5
      Birdman by Mo Hayder
      5 Stars

      Birdman by Mo Hayder is a serial killer novel set in England. Detective Jack Caffery, new to the Area Major Investigation Pool (AMIP), gets called to a case involving a woman's body found in a deserted area. Upon closer examination they find the body has already had an autopsy done on it. At first the investigators think it looks like a medical school joke because the incision is very sloppy. They open the body and find five tiny birds inside the victim. Eventually more victims are found in the same area and the police believe the killer is just getting started.

      The crime is explained from almost the beginning. Instead of having all the pieces come together at the end, you see the two stories move toward each other from the early parts of the book. I thought this worked well.

      Birdman is the first of (currently) six novels featuring Jack Caffery. He's a very complicated character. He wants to break up with his girlfriend but he can't bring himself to because she's suffering a relapse of cancer. He can't stop thinking about the memory of his brother who has been missing for two decades and whom Jack believes was killed by a pedophile who is also a neighbor. As the story proceeds he also finds himself attracted to one of the women involved in the investigation.

      I thought this mystery was excellent but very unsettling. It's gory, disturbing and shocking. The characters are fresh and original. In some ways it reminded me of novels written by Thomas Harris. I found it hard to believe this was a debut novel from Mo Hayder and I look forward to reading the next in the series. It's an older series so all six Caffery mysteries are available as well as some stand alone Mo Hayder novels.

      WARNING: This is a very graphically violent book and not for the squeamish or faint of heart. I would only recommend it to people who are fans of the Hannibal Lector type books.
    • 4/5
      This book started out really interesting, and I was thinking, "Wow!! I've found a new series!!!" But for the last hour I've lost track of what the heck is going on. The action scene in the last chapter are a bit unbelievable. I can't even imagine a "Criminal Minds" episode trying to sell it. Maybe CSI in the season when Grissom left. That season was a bit out there.

      Anyway, there's a lot of action. There is a lot of tension. This is a great good versus evil book. I've enjoyed it, even if I did get lost in the end.
    • 2/5
      Well-written nasty prurient novel of necrophilia, paedophilia, racism, and misogyny.
    • 3/5
      There was potential here, under the tired tropes and stupid behavior of one dimensional stock thriller characters. I wish Hayder would get a grip on her metaphors, though, they're kind of ridiculous. Sometimes a sky is just blue, Hayder. Also, your artistic love interest for Caffrey? The most irritating character in the book, and since most of the characters spent their time irritating me, that's saying something. Hopefully in the subsequent novels, the plot doesn't depend on every character's absolute inability to behave like a rational, responsible adult human instead of a self-obsessed rebellious toddler.

      And here begins the ranting about the audio edition. Unfair to the book? Possibly, but the public needs to know!

      Stay the hell away from anything Damien Goodwin reads. He narrates all of the women's voices in this ridiculous, breathy drag queen type voice that makes me want to vomit and scream, possibly simultaneously. And don't, just don't even get me started on the children's voices he affects. Luckily, there aren't many children in this book. There is a character, Gemini, who is apparently Jamaican, or pretending to be Jamaican, I can't be sure which, because whenever Goodwin narrated his voice, I was too busy cringing in vicarious embarrassment to listen to the story. I actually had to stop the playback several times to let myself recover.

      3 stars because I'm probably being more generous to make up for the absolute frothing rage the narration drove me to, which isn't the book's fault, after all.
    • 4/5
      I may be coming at this book from the best vantage point from which to read it. I have already read the "Walking Man Trilogy" and am coming back to this book. For me, the book serves as a prequel to the Walking Man series and from that standpoint I found it very interesting as a tale of Caffery's first case. Had I come to this book as a starting point, I may have had a different enjoyment level. The killer and crimes in this book are particularly heinous. In terms of the disgustingness of the crimes, its an eleven. I like Caffery's development and the disintegration of his existing relationship and development of his relationship with an attractive witness. I found the writing and the plotting of this book to be extremely accomplished for a first novel. Definitely enjoyable.
    • 4/5
      Sehr spannend! Man mag das Buch kaum aus der Hand legen. Und durch die flüssige Schreibweise ist es auch schnell durchgelesen.
    • 4/5
      4.0 starsDetective Inspector Jack Caffery has a lot on his mind. He has a girlfriend he doesn’t love. He has a neighbor haunting him who may have murdered Jack’s brother years ago. He has parents who don’t want to be around him. And now he has five mutilated bodies that were found buried at a construction site in Greenwich, England. Soon Jack finds that it is not just the killer he is fighting against. There are others in the Major Crime Investigation Unit who don’t want to see him succeed. Jack isn’t sure if his boss does either. Employing every forensic and investigative weapon at his disposal, Jack tries to find the sexual serial killer in spite of the distractions. But even when he has found his suspect, it still might not be the end of the reign of terror by psychopath known as The Birdman.Birdman is British novelist Mo Hayder’s first novel, and the first featuring Detective Inspector Jack Caffery. The series now totals five installments. Right from the start, Hayder does a masterful job of capturing the utter confusion that surrounds a police investigation, where there are far more unknowns than reliable facts. Jack Caffery makes for a compelling hero – not without many flaws – but duty-bound to do the right thing when he knows what the right thing is. He is an everyman with a knack for putting disjointed pieces together. Hayder also provides the characters around Caffery with diverse personalities and vivid dialog.It is with the crime that Birdman really hits its chilling stride. Without ruining the plot, I will say that it is very well constructed and produces a really big twist in the middle of the story. There are a few well-placed red herrings to keep the reader guessing, but no dirty tricks to spring a manufactured “gotcha” on you. Everything passes the plausibility test with flying colors. Hayder also brings a dark, foreboding edge to the world of her characters. It isn’t over-the-top gothic, but it is just inauspicious enough to make you want to tiptoe through the pages so as not to draw attention to yourself.Birdman is also quite unsettling. It is graphic and at times sadistic. The villain is so incomprehensible, and yet realistic, that is will give you the chills right from the beginning. The scenes are intense and there don’t seem to be any taboos to Hayder’s storytelling. It is not a crime story for those with a weak stomach. However, this is one of the only negatives – and it depends on the reader as to if it is truly a negative – that I can identify in this page-turning crime thriller Birdman resonates with a raw intensity. It is not perfectly written. Some of the sentences seem clunky at times, but the story moves very well. The characters are real and the peril is even more so. I kept turning the pages feeling a bit like a voyeur wondering what was going to happen next. I will certainly be picking up the next book in the Jack Caffery series.
    • 4/5
      Birdman. Mo Hayden. 1999. This is the first of a series featuring Detective Jack Caffery of the London police, and it won’t be the only one I read. I have already downloaded the next one on my kindle. Caffery fights his inner demons as he struggles to identify the monster who brutalizing young prostitutes. The book is filled with sickening details and full of suspense but it is not for the faint-hearted