Absolution
Written by Caro Ramsay
Narrated by James Macpherson
3.5/5
()
Currently unavailable
Currently unavailable
About this audiobook
Caro Ramsay
CARO RAMSAY is the Glaswegian author of the critically acclaimed Anderson and Costello series, the first of which, Absolution, was shortlisted for the CWA's New Blood Dagger for best debut of the year. The ninth book in the series, The Suffering of Strangers, was longlisted for the McIlvanney Prize 2018. @CaroRamsayBooks | caroramsay.com CARO RAMSAY is the Glaswegian author of the critically acclaimed DI Anderson and DS Costello series, the first of which, Absolution, was shortlisted for the CWA's New Blood Dagger for best debut of the year. The ninth book in the series, The Suffering of Strangers, was longlisted for the McIlvanney Prize 2018.
Related to Absolution
Related audiobooks
The Suffering of Strangers Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Standing Still Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Rat Run Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Night Hunter: Anderson and Costello, Book 5 Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Frozen Charlotte Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Tears of Angels: Anderson and Costello, Book 6 Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Dark Houses a gripping detective thriller full of suspense Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Dark Murder a gripping detective thriller full of suspense Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Blood on the Rocks Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Rift: A nail-biting and compulsive crime thriller Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Recalled to Death Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5In Too Deep Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Redemption of the Dead: A DI Sean Corrigan short story Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Uniform: Detective Helen Carter Book 1 Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Scream Blue Murder Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5
Thrillers For You
The Silent Patient Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Holly Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Never Lie Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Fairy Tale Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Perfect Marriage: a completely gripping psychological suspense Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Wrong Place Wrong Time: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Dark Tower I: The Gunslinger Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Local Woman Missing Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Rose Code: A Novel Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Leave the World Behind: A Novel Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Perfect: A Thriller That Will Grab You By Your DNA Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Cabin at the End of the World: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Inmate Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Paris Apartment: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Mr. Mercedes: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The It Girl Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Fool Me Once Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Billy Summers Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5All the Sinners Bleed: A Novel Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Guest List: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Dead Zone Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5A Flicker in the Dark: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Perfume: The Story of a Murderer Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Woman in the Window: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Hidden Pictures: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Silence of the Lambs: 25th Anniversary Edition Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Teacher Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Did I Kill You?: A Thriller Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Troop Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Kind Worth Killing: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5
Reviews for Absolution
64 ratings8 reviews
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5ABSOLUTION is the first book from this Scottish author, with the second - Tambourine to be released 2008. There's obviously something in the water in Scotland - or maybe it's all that time stuck indoors in the long cold winters, but the number of assured, confident books coming out of that place is getting to the startling stage. ABSOLUTION is definitely assured, with a story-telling style that is absolutely enthralling.The main component of the book is the hunt for the serial killer - the 'Crucifixion Killer'. To be honest it's a pretty standard serial killer plot, with a perpetrator that's not difficult to spot, but the point of the book seems less to do with the crime and a whole lot more to do with the impact of crime on the investigators. McAlpine is a truly tortured soul. In the 1984 incident, he was already a fragile man, emotionally drained by events in his own family, and with hindsight, what seemed like an easy job - guarding a dreadfully injured, unknown young woman backfired badly. He becomes so involved in who she is and what happened to her that he is never able to forget, never really recovers.In the 2006 investigation, his personal fragility is starting to get on top of him - badly. As his team continue the investigation, and try, out of friendship for him and genuine feeling for his wife; to continue the investigation, to compensate for McAlpine; to understand - he falls apart in front of them. His behaviour becomes more and more erratic, his distress less and less controlled.And it's impact of crime that becomes the main point of ABSOLUTION. The serial killer has victims - those victims have friends and families and associates. And victims aren't necessarily good, or nice, or as ideal as people perhaps think. And investigators can sometimes become victims as well. Whether that's psychological or physical, well we've all seen what happens when investigators put themselves into jeopardy. Only in ABSOLUTION the jeopardy is not what you think, and whilst it might not be hard to work out where the past has leaked into the present, it sometimes ends in ways that you may not expect.
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Fantastic read, can't wait to read the next titles in the series!
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5PC Alan McAlpine returns to work after a family tragedy and is rostered to hospital duty to wait for the awakening of a young woman who lies near death after being the victim of a horrific acid attack. McAlpine is soon obsessed by the woman and even after discovering what led to her predicament he continues to fantasize about her. Fast Forward 20 years and McAlpine is a Detective Inspector who investigating a series of brutal killings
The opening passages of this book are some of the most moving I have read, in any kind of genre, and perfectly sparked my interest in both the story to come and getting to know McAlpine. Ramsay’s writing is wonderfully descriptive and evocative of the time and place. She builds the suspense well and the ending fits logically with the events that went before it which is not always the case with crime fiction these days. There is one thread that I found awkward and unnecessary from a plot development point of view (the car crash) but I can easily forgive this in a book with so much else to recommend it.
The book has a swag of well-developed and interesting characters which is just as well because I grew to despise Alan McAlpine. I suspect readers are supposed to feel sympathetic towards him but I just found him totally self-absorbed and hated the way he treats his wife and friends with utter contempt much of the time. Which presented me with my only real gripe about this book because I could just about swallow that either his wife or one of his colleagues would be blind to McAlpine’s faults but found it too much of a stretch to accept that they would universally put up with his poor treatment of them, cover for his drunken mistakes and generally ignore the fact he’s a selfish ingrate. Happily for him (and the good citizens of Glasgow) the dogged and devoted Colin Anderson and smart, courageous Winifred Costello are available fo the actual police work. Likeable or not though, all the characters are well constructed and nicely multi-dimensional.
I’ll definitely keep my eyes out for any new books by this author. - Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5I read this last before the third and second in the series, which was unfortunate. In this story the characters haven’t fully developed in the way they have in books 2 and 3 and I found the character of DCI Alan McAlpine a little unlikely to generate the loyalty often referred to in books 2 and 3. That aside it is still a cracking read and worth it for the back story to the even better books 2 and 3.
- Rating: 1 out of 5 stars1/5Started well. I felt I was really getting inside the characters. Then it went on and on and on - tracking the killer became secondary to the private lives of the characters. I did something with this book that I very rarely do - abandoned it at page 172 - terminal boredom was creeping in!
- Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5I like to give a new novelist a chance. Started well. A young man's obsession with the woman's left in his care. I just felt she over-extended herself and tried to fit too much in. I had to keep pushing myself to finish the book - there was no real urgency in chasing down the serial killer. Not something I'm passing on to anyone.
- Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5ABSOLUTION has two threads. One is the investigation of the murders and the other is following the gradual disintegration of McAlpine's life as the ghosts of his past begin to overwhelm him.If there is one criticism, it is that the book seemed to lose just a little momentum towards the end. Then again that just could be me and life getting in the way of reading.I don't know what it is about Scotland that produces so many fine crime writers: Ian Rankin, Val McDermid, Alexander McCall Smith, Christopher Brookmyre, Denise Mina. The list goes on and on. Add Caro Ramsay to that list. ABSOLUTION is a fine debut novel. I look forward to more.
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Very good book. The main character is a police detective who has never let go of a case of a beautiful woman who had acid thrown on her. She killed herself to save her daughter. 20 years later a killer is on the loose and there are connections to the old case. Although I figured out who was the killer, the ending was not what I expected.