A body is discovered with the dismembered parts of six victims stitched together like a puppet, nicknamed by the press as the ‘ragdoll’. Assigned to the shocking case are Detective William ‘Wolf’ Fawkes, recently reinstated to the London Met, and his former partner Detective Emily Baxter. The ‘Ragdoll Killer’ taunts the police by releasing a list of names to the media, and the dates on which he intends to murder them. With six people to save, can Fawkes and Baxter catch a killer when the world is watching their every move?
☼
What a thrilling book, guys! Before I started Ragdoll, I read Daniel Cole’s introduction and loved how he came up with the idea while watching a tv show. I seriously don’t understand how TV producers didn’t fall in love with Ragdoll’s concept, as I believe it’d make an awesome show. Anyway, now we have it as a book series, so in the end, we got lucky.
The book had me at its prologue. A man on trial. A detective attacking brutally him. Years later, this detective is working again. And here it comes the most important and dangerous case of his life… I’m sure that if you’ve read what this is about, you already know there’s only one body but six different victims. They’re stitched together! I couldn’t believe someone would actually do that. It reminded me of the film Resurrection (but don’t worry, Ragdoll is way better).
What I liked the most about Ragdoll is that, even though it’s a serial killer book and follows the usual pattern at first, it eventually stands out because of how the plot develops. Daniel Cole isn’t afraid to go to places many other crime writers wouldn’t dare, especially when it comes to the characters’ actions. Wolf is a complex protagonist and not an easy one to like, to be honest. The same happens with Emily Baxter, his friend and colleague. Despite their personalities, I found them both strong characters and I can’t wait to know what happens next.
The idea behind the murders was unique and one of those I couldn’t believe no one had written about before. Smart, twisty and tragic! More than a “whodunit”, this is actually a “why dun it”, and watching Edmunds untangle the case was a fascinating experience. He was my absolute favorite character and I felt bad for him because he was constantly trying to prove himself. He was a great detective.
If you like police procedurals that are action-filled and actually different, do not miss this one! Ragdoll is the true definition of a real page-turner; bold and complex, and, ultimately, lots of fun.
Netgalley, Trapeze, 2017
This looks so good! Just added it to my TBR and crossing my fingers that the library has it. Great review!
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Oh I hope you love it Stephanie! 😀
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Great review, and I agree, I bet the film producers are kicking themselves now!
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RIGHT? 😀
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I was so tempted to buy this book the other week and now I wish I had 🙂
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Ohhh you need to read it asap 😀
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I waited to finish this before I read your review:) I totally agree that Wolf was somewhat hard to like which I was kind of surprised I felt like that because in the beginning I thought for sure I’d like him. I did like Baxter and sarcasm…couldn’t stand Andrea! I think the idea was pretty original, overall I really like it:)
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Andrea was so mean at first! I did end up liking her, but it took me a while 😛 Yes, the idea was great, I loved it!
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I have been so hooked on this concept! I am not usually too big on crime thrillers, but wow 🙂 You review promises it will deliver. I am hoping the library will have or I can catch a sale. Making an exception for this one.
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Oh yay! It was a thrilling book no doubt! And what an ending…
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What an excellent review! I couldn’t agree more.. I know some have disagreed but I really liked the ending too, also somewhat different than what I’m used to reading. This one was very entertaining indeed, I really liked the various murder methods :-).
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That’s why I liked it so much, it wasn’t the typical case because of the conclusion 😀
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I love how you bring detail with your book review. Excellent job!
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Thank you!
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[…] Ragdoll (Daniel Cole) […]
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Here I was enjoying my lunch when I read “A body is discovered with the dismembered parts of six victims stitched together like a puppet..” I’m not so hungry anymore lol I need to make a note not to read your reviews while I’m eating lol
For some reason this book is giving me “Saw” vibes… I assume you’ve seen it? or one of the million sequels lol
This book sounds like one of those books that is disturbing, but you can’t help but keep reading on…
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Hahaha It wasn’t as gross as it seems, it was actually a pretty fun book. I saw the first SAW, it was great. Didn’t see any of the sequels though haha
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[…] Ragdoll (Daniel Cole) […]
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[…] excited to read this one. At first, I was sure it was going to be one of my faves, just like Ragdoll & Kill The Father, but once my initial suspicion turned out to be true, I was quite […]
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