Scan barcode
booksbybindu's review
5.0
Claire has done it again, written a roller coaster of a thriller that makes her main character question every aspect of her ideas of justice and loyalty! This is Claire’s follow up to her impressive debut and once again it has been nominated for numerous awards. This book needs to be hyped up more!
.
The main story of bringing down a Glasgoweian gangster takes an interesting turn when Helen’s long lost brother Charlie turns up on her doorstep. This makes Helen question everything - does she help her brother or apprehend a whole criminal network?
.
I loved the dual narrator aspect to the novel. It was interesting to see a criminal portrayed with a heart. It shows how people get sucked into criminality without knowing at first. Charlie was multi-faceted, yes there were dark aspects to his actions and personality but you could still see the brother hidden inside.
.
I kept questioning every character about whether they were helping the criminal organisation but you know what was lovely, no one was! Every character showed us hope in humanity - the DI from Glasgow - ✔️, Charlie ✔️, Helen ✔️, Amy ✔️, Anjun ✔️, Toad ✔️.
.
I would recommend this book to anyone, Claire is definitely a ‘princess of Tartan Noir’ (Sorry Val is the Queen)! Roll on the next one!
.
The main story of bringing down a Glasgoweian gangster takes an interesting turn when Helen’s long lost brother Charlie turns up on her doorstep. This makes Helen question everything - does she help her brother or apprehend a whole criminal network?
.
I loved the dual narrator aspect to the novel. It was interesting to see a criminal portrayed with a heart. It shows how people get sucked into criminality without knowing at first. Charlie was multi-faceted, yes there were dark aspects to his actions and personality but you could still see the brother hidden inside.
.
I kept questioning every character about whether they were helping the criminal organisation but you know what was lovely, no one was! Every character showed us hope in humanity - the DI from Glasgow - ✔️, Charlie ✔️, Helen ✔️, Amy ✔️, Anjun ✔️, Toad ✔️.
.
I would recommend this book to anyone, Claire is definitely a ‘princess of Tartan Noir’ (Sorry Val is the Queen)! Roll on the next one!
portybelle's review against another edition
5.0
The book begins with a tense stand-off on the Forth at Queensferry where, following a tip-off by an informer, the police hope to finally catch the infamous leader of a feared and violent criminal organisation. This takes place on the 14th anniversary of Birch's brother Charlie's disappearance. This is always a difficult day for her. She joined the police to try to track him down and has always been convinced that he is still alive. Exhausted, she heads home but instead of finding it her usual place of peace, she experiences fear in her home. It no longer feels a place of safety to retreat to after a shift but a place she feels uneasy, watched, under threat even.
It's not a spoiler to tell you that Charlie comes back (it's in the blurb) and that he is connected with the case. The story is told in alternate chapters as we hear not just from Birch but also discover what actually happened to her brother in his own words. It shows just what can happen when good people get caught up in bad situations. This gives Birch a huge ethical dilemma. What is more important to her - her family or the case?
This is a dark story with strong language and violence but there's nothing gratuitous. It's all necessary to show the kind of people Birch was up against and the kind of people Charlie had been involved with.
This book is quite different from All The Hidden Truths in that the focus is much more on Birch's private life and the difficult situation she found herself in. It was fascinating to read about her inner turmoil as her loyalties swayed between her family and her job, in particular the case she was working on. A case that could see one of the most wanted, toughest criminals in Glasgow finally caught, but a case that put her and those she loved in grave danger. It was also fascinating yet disturbing to hear how Charlie had been caught up in this underworld. It showed how easy it might be for anyone to get involved with situations they really didn't want to and how they could, to a certain extent, justify what they were doing. And it also showed how difficult and dangerous it could be to try to get out when they decided enough was enough.
I thought this was a brilliant book and I devoured it over one warm, cloudy, sunny, windy, rainy weekend - Scottish summer at its finest. The short chapters made it almost impossible for me to put down, as the viewpoints shifted rapidly from one character to the other. With the events in the book taking place over just a week (at least from Birch's point of view), it was a fast paced read. What You Pay For is a tense and absorbing read and a very satisfying book. Claire Askew makes it seem like the tricky second novel is a breeze with her accomplished and compelling writing. I can't wait to read more about DI Birch.
It's not a spoiler to tell you that Charlie comes back (it's in the blurb) and that he is connected with the case. The story is told in alternate chapters as we hear not just from Birch but also discover what actually happened to her brother in his own words. It shows just what can happen when good people get caught up in bad situations. This gives Birch a huge ethical dilemma. What is more important to her - her family or the case?
This is a dark story with strong language and violence but there's nothing gratuitous. It's all necessary to show the kind of people Birch was up against and the kind of people Charlie had been involved with.
This book is quite different from All The Hidden Truths in that the focus is much more on Birch's private life and the difficult situation she found herself in. It was fascinating to read about her inner turmoil as her loyalties swayed between her family and her job, in particular the case she was working on. A case that could see one of the most wanted, toughest criminals in Glasgow finally caught, but a case that put her and those she loved in grave danger. It was also fascinating yet disturbing to hear how Charlie had been caught up in this underworld. It showed how easy it might be for anyone to get involved with situations they really didn't want to and how they could, to a certain extent, justify what they were doing. And it also showed how difficult and dangerous it could be to try to get out when they decided enough was enough.
I thought this was a brilliant book and I devoured it over one warm, cloudy, sunny, windy, rainy weekend - Scottish summer at its finest. The short chapters made it almost impossible for me to put down, as the viewpoints shifted rapidly from one character to the other. With the events in the book taking place over just a week (at least from Birch's point of view), it was a fast paced read. What You Pay For is a tense and absorbing read and a very satisfying book. Claire Askew makes it seem like the tricky second novel is a breeze with her accomplished and compelling writing. I can't wait to read more about DI Birch.
batforanna's review against another edition
3.0
Loved her last one but this was more of a slog to get through. 3 and a half
bgg616's review against another edition
4.0
This was a 3.5 star read for me. I chose it because of the recognition this new writer has gotten in Scotland, and crime writing circles including being shortlisted for McIlvanney and CWA Awards. The setting in Edinburgh was also a selling point. I would have rated it higher but I really have a distaste for crime novels that have gangsters as the bad guys. I find them boring, very violent, and lacking imagination.
Helen Birch is a police officer in Edinburgh and currently out of favor with her boss. Her brother Charlie has been missing for 14 years, when the Edinburgh police stage a huge raid on an incoming shipment of drugs and capture the top crime boss from Glasgow. A big difference between UK law, Scottish law (which varies from English law), and American law, are the strict limits on the length of time police can hold a suspect. So getting evidence against the crime boss is the Edinburgh cops' top priority.
In the meantime, Helen is being followed, threatened and more by some of the crime boss's thugs. I must say that the scenes where she is pursued, and those where there is someone, real or imagined, in her house, were the scariest I have ever encountered in crime fiction.
This book is currently 99 cents on Kindle so give it a try. There were enough Edinburgh details to make me happy and plenty of Scotticisms to keep me smiling, including a couple characters that speak in dialect.
Helen Birch is a police officer in Edinburgh and currently out of favor with her boss. Her brother Charlie has been missing for 14 years, when the Edinburgh police stage a huge raid on an incoming shipment of drugs and capture the top crime boss from Glasgow. A big difference between UK law, Scottish law (which varies from English law), and American law, are the strict limits on the length of time police can hold a suspect. So getting evidence against the crime boss is the Edinburgh cops' top priority.
In the meantime, Helen is being followed, threatened and more by some of the crime boss's thugs. I must say that the scenes where she is pursued, and those where there is someone, real or imagined, in her house, were the scariest I have ever encountered in crime fiction.
This book is currently 99 cents on Kindle so give it a try. There were enough Edinburgh details to make me happy and plenty of Scotticisms to keep me smiling, including a couple characters that speak in dialect.
beckylouise2904's review against another edition
4.0
Brilliant story telling - absolutely engaging from the start, I love the writing style - if you enjoyed her debut novel you will love this.
maegsreadsalot's review against another edition
2.0
I did not enjoy this book at all, in fact, I just brought it to a little free library, for another poor unfortunate soul to read.
vandermeer's review
Everybody is just really dumb and it is not that well written, either