BENEATH THE BLEEDING: A Tony Hill Novel
Val McDermid
Harper Paperbacks
Thriller
ISBN: 9780061688973
“Beneath the bleeding hands, we feel the sharp compassion of the healer’s art…”
--- T.S. Eliot
Val McDermid, the author of the popular Tony Hill novels, feels that violence in her books must have a role in the plot and storytelling. Her latest work, BENEATH THE BLEEDING, is no exception.
Dr. Tony Hill’s day starts off normally enough, but soon it takes a near-fatal turn when he races from his counseling office in Bradfield Moor, a psychiatric facility housing violent, unstable mental patients, at the sound of a blaring alarm. Understaffed, the facility erupts in carnage and murder when a dangerous inmate goes on the attack. The man swings a fire axe with aplomb, reaping blood and destruction with each swath. Hill attempts an intervention when he confronts the frantic man but becomes a toppled victim, his leg exploding in pain and blood. He wakes up --- still alive, albeit badly injured --- in a Bradfield hospital bed.
Coincidence places star midfield footballer Robbie Bishop at the same hospital with Hill. Bishop has been complaining of flu-like symptoms, and the athlete deteriorates with headlong decline into a comatose state and, eventually, death. Body fluid analyses bring a startling diagnosis: ricin poisoning. Detective Chief Inspector Carol Jordan and her team, along with the wounded Hill, investigate the bizarre poisoning, racing against time to hunt for a murderer.
Jordan and Hill have worked as a team in the past; Jordan is adept as a profiler, and Hill has earned a stellar reputation as a homicide sleuth. But contrary to their partnership in previous Tony Hill books, they act independently in this case. Despite all their skills, they find themselves facing new challenges as Hill drifts in and out of drug-induced pain relief, and Jordan’s team is undermined by the sensational nature of the case. The intelligence service threatens to replace Jordan, but Hill manages to escape from his sickbed for brief periods in order to probe for clues on his own, uncovering new information and twists that keep the reader coming back for more.
Intertwined with the plot of the mysterious poisoning, BENEATH THE BLEEDING challenges the political scene with inclusion of a terrorist activity. Yousef Aziz, son of an immigrant textile merchant, contrives a bomb plot in secret. His target: Bradfield Downs, the site of the anticipated Bradfield Victoria-Ratliff soccer match. When a blast of billowing gray smoke and mayhem shroud the field, carnage and disaster fill it, with bodies piling up all around.
What’s the connection between the poisoning and the bombing? Why was this athlete murdered along with dozens of innocent people? And will Hill and Jordan be able to find the people responsible before any other lives are lost? One must read to find out the shocking answers to these questions. Although I have read only one other McDermid novel, she has truly secured me as a fan with her latest book. BENEATH THE BLEEDING satisfies one’s thirst for complicated plots, personal struggles and rapidly advancing action.
--- Reviewed by Judy Gigstad
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