Terrifying serial killer thriller set in the gritty Glasgow of the near future, from the bestselling author of the Logan McRae series. Glasgow, no...
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Aug 23, 2011
Alex
rated it: 
Crime thrillers can quickly become overly repetitive as well as predictable, since they almost always feature a serial killer of some sort, and a detective, ex-military or journalist on their trail. Sometimes it's personal, sometimes not - either way, at the end of the day, what keeps me coming back is a new fresh twist on the old formula.
Which is why I was delighted to stumble upon Halfhead - an action packed crime thriller set in the near future - thus many giving it the sci-fi tag in th More...
Which is why I was delighted to stumble upon Halfhead - an action packed crime thriller set in the near future - thus many giving it the sci-fi tag in th More...
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Jan 11, 2011
Lilla
rated it: 
[There's a small spoiler in the last paragraph - so stop reading when you get to the ellipsis!]
For a science fiction crime novel, written by a crime writer, I found the science fictional elements far more interesting than the crime element (serial killer psychopath blood violence - the usual). The story is set in a futuristic Glasgow struggling against increasingly mindless violence (attributed to "VR syndrome"), where the underprivileged are crowded into high-rise slums (co More...
For a science fiction crime novel, written by a crime writer, I found the science fictional elements far more interesting than the crime element (serial killer psychopath blood violence - the usual). The story is set in a futuristic Glasgow struggling against increasingly mindless violence (attributed to "VR syndrome"), where the underprivileged are crowded into high-rise slums (co More...
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Nov 28, 2009
Gary
rated it: 
Halfhead is a science fiction novel set in Glasgow, in the ‘not too far in the future…’ The story revolves around the ‘establishment’ practice of lobotomising criminally insane citizens to produce weird ‘halfhead’ humans who, now harmless, are set to complete menial, but socially useful, tasks. The narrative follows the gruesome work of a ‘dark and twisted’ serial killer and the attempts of state law enforcement officials to solve the crimes.
I struggled to finish this book but to be fair More...
I struggled to finish this book but to be fair More...
Sep 07, 2009
Dreadlocksmile
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First published in 2009, ‘Halfhead’ is the seventh novel to be published for the Scottish author Stuart MacBride. Set in the not too distant future, MacBride’s brutally dark vision of Glasgow throws together echoes of Ridley Scott’s classic sci-fi vision of the future - ‘Blade Runner’ with an even more gritty and home-grown edge.
Glasgow has been separated in two with the poor and under privileged, who are now crammed into large high-rise blocks, whilst the other wealthier citizen More...
Glasgow has been separated in two with the poor and under privileged, who are now crammed into large high-rise blocks, whilst the other wealthier citizen More...
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Oct 06, 2011
Stuart
rated it:
Stuart B MacBride, a good Scottish crime writer, follows in the footsteps of his compatriot Iain M Banks by adding a middle initial and writing Sci-Fi. Not as successfully, though, in my opinion. The book actually crosses genres - it can be called sci-fi because it creates and populates a believable if unattractive future world, but it is also a crime novel, with the future police chasing a murderer, and it is also a thriller.
It features a dystopian future Glasgow, with a climate seriousl More...
It features a dystopian future Glasgow, with a climate seriousl More...
Oct 24, 2011
Fionna
rated it:
Stuart MacBride takes a break from Aberdeen police procedurals, to write a police procedural set in Glasgow in the near future.
Life is cheap, in this future, especially if you come from the wrong side of the river, and corruption is rife. William Hunter is an assistant director of "The Network", a kind of special ops branch of the police in the independent Scotland that he has envisaged, and while investigating a routine murder he stumbles on a huge weapons and eugenics consp More...
Life is cheap, in this future, especially if you come from the wrong side of the river, and corruption is rife. William Hunter is an assistant director of "The Network", a kind of special ops branch of the police in the independent Scotland that he has envisaged, and while investigating a routine murder he stumbles on a huge weapons and eugenics consp More...
Apr 03, 2011
Robert
rated it:
Looking back now, I struggle to think of why this book caught my eye and interest. I think I confused it with another book I had meant to read.
Either way, this is a science fiction serial killer thriller. It's set in a Glasgow of the future that is very Blade Runner in look and feel. It is about a somewhat maverick but skilled detective type character, trying to solve some grisly murders. In this world, criminals are halfheaded - their lower jaw is removed, all their orifices are stitc More...
Either way, this is a science fiction serial killer thriller. It's set in a Glasgow of the future that is very Blade Runner in look and feel. It is about a somewhat maverick but skilled detective type character, trying to solve some grisly murders. In this world, criminals are halfheaded - their lower jaw is removed, all their orifices are stitc More...
Oct 03, 2010
Zero
rated it:
Halfhead is set in a near future Glasgow. Centred around the deprived housing of much of Glasgows population, those dewelling in the connurb blocks escape reality by immersing themselves in virtual reality (VR)worlds.
Deprivation from the release of VR can lead to trouble though, as experienced in the previous VR riots. Now, the problems look to be building again. Add a brutal mutilated serial killer out for revenge, a shadowy government organsiation and a haunted cop into the mix a More...
Deprivation from the release of VR can lead to trouble though, as experienced in the previous VR riots. Now, the problems look to be building again. Add a brutal mutilated serial killer out for revenge, a shadowy government organsiation and a haunted cop into the mix a More...
Aug 20, 2011
Stefani
rated it:
What would happen in a world where virtual reality is such a vital escape for people that they occasionally lose their minds and become out of control cannibals if it goes offline for a moment? According to Stuart MacBride, the new punishment for criminals would be to have half of their face removed, get a lobotomy, and sent to work menial labor as an example to society at large about what happens when you break the law.
But what if one of these procedures goes wrong? Then you have a More...
But what if one of these procedures goes wrong? Then you have a More...
Nov 28, 2009
Scotchneat
rated it:
The future is not so bright in Scotland. Most people are in a drug-induced state of complacence, stacked in high rises built in neighbourhoods that are rife with violence, big weapons and "every person for themselves".
The government has a fail-safe way of dealing with rapists and murderers that involves a surgery saw, and thus the name of the book. Only one of the killers figures out a way to come back.
It's up to William Hunter, Asst Director of the Network, whi More...
The government has a fail-safe way of dealing with rapists and murderers that involves a surgery saw, and thus the name of the book. Only one of the killers figures out a way to come back.
It's up to William Hunter, Asst Director of the Network, whi More...
Sep 27, 2009
Shona
rated it:
It took me a while to get into this book but when I did it was great. The whole concept of it being set in the future was a bit weird, as where the changes that have taken place because of the future.
The book is about a "halfhead" - someone who has had the lowe part of their face removed and their brain lobotomised due to them being convicted of a violent crime and trained to do menial tasks such as cleaning - who has not been lobotomised properly and manages to get her lif More...
The book is about a "halfhead" - someone who has had the lowe part of their face removed and their brain lobotomised due to them being convicted of a violent crime and trained to do menial tasks such as cleaning - who has not been lobotomised properly and manages to get her lif More...
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Mar 28, 2011
Chris
rated it: 
Dark, gripping and imaginative. Set in a world where the worst crimes are punished with being made a mindless zombie with no jaw, the book follows a nasty serial killer as she tried to become whole again and get her revenge on the man who caught her.
The hero desperately tries to unravel a series of murders and the threat of another outbreak of the VR syndrome that caused severe rioting in the past. Little does either him or the serial killer realise about the manipulation going on in t More...
The hero desperately tries to unravel a series of murders and the threat of another outbreak of the VR syndrome that caused severe rioting in the past. Little does either him or the serial killer realise about the manipulation going on in t More...
Oct 16, 2011
MN
rated it: 
Oh dear, oh dear, oh dear.
This was plain awful. I was either bored or nauseated. In regard to gratuitous graphic descriptions of violence, MacBride shows exactly why 'more is less'.
If you're at all tempted by this book, I strongly suggest you find something else to read - even if it's just the telephone directory.
This was plain awful. I was either bored or nauseated. In regard to gratuitous graphic descriptions of violence, MacBride shows exactly why 'more is less'.
If you're at all tempted by this book, I strongly suggest you find something else to read - even if it's just the telephone directory.
Jun 24, 2011
Mary
rated it:
Loved it! Wasn't sure about it initially, as it is a departure for Stuart McBride from his usual Logan MacRae series and it is a futuristic novel, but I love his books and gave it a go. Delighted I did. It's way more sinister and you need a good stomach for the violence, but it was a page turner, no doubt about it and the setting was perfect for the subject matter.
May 23, 2011
Norma
rated it:
MacBride's Glasgow of the future is gruesome,absolutely drenched in gore, and full of weapons of annihilation. If blood and guts is your thing, you'll like this book. It's a good guys (the cops) versus the bad guys (psychopaths) adventure that I did finish despite the carnage.
Aug 22, 2011
Petrina
rated it:
Quite a departure from Logan McRae. I liked it. Interesting spin on the zombie genre. Perhaps a serial killer in the middle of it all is a bit much though.
Feb 22, 2011
Helen
rated it:
Very gloomy and bleak, yet also often fast-paced and exciting, with some truly disturbing gross-out bits. I really liked it.
May 28, 2011
arjuna
rated it:
Thoroughly enjoyable (and distinctly Dreddy) for most of the book, really liked the grotesque elements, but the story and characterisation both fizzle out somewhat toward the end.
Jul 14, 2011
Joanna
rated it:
Gruesome is a word that really captures it. I think stories set in slightly different versions of a world we know walk a tough line between explaining too much about the divergence points and differences, and not enough. I think this one erred too much on the side of the latter. Although the source of a lot of the changes could be inferred, I wanted to know a bit more about this world's history, which I found more intriguing about the actual plot.
Mar 30, 2011
Kaia
rated it:
One of those books that you read faster and faster because it's so captivating, BUT some of the details were so very disgusting and off-putting that I will not read another one of his books. So sad to give a book just one star, but OMG.
Mar 30, 2011
Grahambootle
rated it:
great book, only criticism, plot was a bit predictable, and the book was far too short, 376 pages just was not enough. Loved the characters, technology believable, setting/geography - don't know glasgow that well, but it worked for me a glasgow- future
Mar 05, 2011
Steven
rated it:
Wow, absolutely brilliant book. It was pretty gruesome to be fair but Macbride is just that sort of writer. Really enoyed it and would leave to read a sequel.
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