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Feb 27, 2011

Jerome rated it:

Birdman is Mo Hayder's first novel, published in 2000. As an entrée served by Hayder before a long list of courses more bloody and frightening than each other, Birdman is perfect. In her debut novel, Hayder introduces Jack Caffery, a detective who will feature in some of her subsequent novels. "Birdman" is the nickname given by the police to a serial killer who has buried five of his victims - five butchered women - in an empty field in London's Greenwich area. Caffery soon realises th More...

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Jul 09, 2009

Devin rated it:

This book reminds me a lot of the Hannibal series. Very creepy, a little disturbing, but very suspenseful and exciting. What was very unique about this story is that it takes whole chapters in the point of view of the killer and relates years of development that led to the way things are currently. There isn't a whole lot of guess work, so you are often waiting for the main character to figure out what you already know. I thought it was interesting because I really came to understand the sus More...

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Feb 09, 2011

Nikki-ann rated it:

There’s a sadistic killer on the loose in Greenwich, London. At first, one young woman has been found murdered and dumped on wasteland, but she’s not the only one. Another four are found shortly afterwards. They are all found to have been ritualistically murdered, raped and mutilated, each with a disturbing signature, revealed during post-mortem, linking them. It’s up to Detective Inspector Jack Caffrey to investigate and catch the killer before any more women come to harm, but it’s not going to More...

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Dec 26, 2009

Mazel rated it:

Greenwich, dans la banlieue de Londres. Cinq cadavres de femmes sont découverts dans un terrain vague, non loin du Dôme du Millénaire. Toutes ont été effroyablement mutilées, selon un étrange rituel...

L'autopsie révèle une signature commune a ces cinq meurtres, et un premier profil de l'assassin : un maniaque sexuel de la pire espèce, aussitôt surnommé Birdman pour une raison des plus sinistres. Tout dévoué à sa tâche et endurci, malgré sa jeunesse, par l'expérience et les drames de More...

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Dec 28, 2009

Ashley rated it:

I thought this book was brilliant. This is the third book that I have read by Mo Hayder and it is by far my favorite. Birdman is one of those books that hooks you from the start and keeps a hold of you until the very last page. I found the plot pretty original, especially with how the bad guy dies in the end. The characters are well rounded and dynamic. What I really love about this book is that the reader is able to get into the mind of the antagonists. We get a first hand glimpse as to what po More...

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Mar 05, 2011

Everybookhasasoul rated it:

Hayder has created a fast paced thriller that had me as a reader hooked from the very first sentence.

This thriller introduces police detective Jack Caffery who is on the hunt for a killer that all the tabloids are nicknamed 'The Millennium Ripper.' Caffery is an interesting character that keeps the reader guessing who he really is.

The 'Millennium Ripper' has murdered five prostitutes; all the victims have been brutally mutilated and murdered in a way that would suggest th More...

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Jul 26, 2011

John rated it:

I don’t remember when I started to read the Jack Caffery stories by Mo Hayder what I do remember is thinking wow! What terrific dark and frightening stories these are, I like Mo Hayder’s style of story weaving and the reality is she is not afraid to engage in topics that many people would rather not read about and yes I know I have read most of them out of series order, I’m still blaming Maureen for that because in one day in May of this year when I was laid up, she brought home from the library More...

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Nov 23, 2009

Catherine rated it:

This was my second reading of this book. I enjoyed it so much a few years ago that I decided to read it again when a 3rd linked book came out. A very well written serial killer thriller. Includes graphic details of the very deviant crimes - for me this made it more realistic but not for the squeamish. The reader is told who the killer is before the end of the book and is an observer on the facts that the police know to see if they will find the answer. Also has an interesting subplot for the mai More...

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Jun 24, 2011

Corinne rated it:

Impressive first novel. Hayder really knows how to "go there." I thought the female characters were somewhat two dimensional and there was a lot of telegraphing going on in the first half of the book. The second half was full of excellent twists, but also plagued with a lack of urgency on the part of the police characters. I know this is a cultural difference: British police are much more methodical and by the book than Americans. But don't have a cup of tea with a neighbor when y More...

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May 09, 2011

Kasandra rated it:

This is the 2nd of her books that I've read; I'm trying to decide whether I like the fact that she makes her plots so transparent that you can easily figure out who the killer is (or who the bad guys are, plural). One of my peeves with Christie was always the secret twist or hidden information that meant no matter how smart you were, you'd never figure out the ending without the author. Hayder's the exact opposite: unless you're brain-dead, you figure out what's going on quickly; it only remain More...

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Apr 18, 2008

Will rated it:

Deeply, cripplingly indebted to Thomas Harris and about fifty brand names conspicuously sported or consumed by the main characters.

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Dec 18, 2011

Chilly rated it:

In some ways, this first novel is incomplete and I'll be anxious to see if Hayder learns to fill things out more in her later and continuing work. But I'm still going 4 stars for the gore details and creepy vibe here, which is what one wants from such books. Frankly, I was surprised when I found out half way through the writer was a woman. She gives background details on the killers, and by flushing them out, like Harris did in the Hannibal series, makes them all the more real and disturbing. More...

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Feb 28, 2011

Jodi rated it:

This is a serial killer book set in England and introduces DI Jack Caffery. Someone is killing women in a local area with very gruesome and distinctive results. The beginning was a little tough for me trying to figure out some of British slang. I liked Caffery a lot, even though he makes some pretty foolish decisions in his life. Caffery has a history and some baggage which he works through in the book. It is an interesting chase after the killer with some real bungling by the police couple More...

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Jan 31, 2012

Chad rated it:

Found this one recently and thought it was fantastic. My first Mo Hayder experience was "The Devil Of Nanking" and I loved the creepy factor. This to me had a similar feel. Very creepy, with a nice twist. I have read some of the later Caffery novels and have not liked them nearly as much. This novel is a much more raw and unpolished version of Jack and I like it much more. I know characters need to develop of the course of a few novels but this rougher version of the character is More...

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May 11, 2009

Bruce rated it:

As my first Mo Hayder novel, Birdman remains vivid in my memory for the sheer audacity of the vitims' macabre fate. I always enjoyed a good P. D. James who-dunnit, moved to Ian Rankin's Rebus stories and then Stuart MacBride, but Hayder is a gift to the genre: the nastiness of the scenarios is so fresh to crime fiction that she reigns supreme in this, perhaps, subgenre of the suspense/police-procedural/psycho-thriller. I no longer read the blurb or the reviews; when Ms.Hayder's the author, I ju More...

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Dec 07, 2011

Beth rated it:

Grisly and gripping, a really strong police-focused crime thriller (recommended for crime fiction fans)

The crimes in this book are not for the faint-hearted (fans of Val McDermid and Kathy Reichs are likely to find much to enjoy here), but the strength of the novel lies in its plotting and characterisation.

Caffery is a realistic and sympathetic character: flawed, complex and interesting. His problems are not limited to needing to catch the killer, which allows Hayder to spac More...

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Oct 19, 2011

Maria rated it:

Depois de ter lido Pele da autora e de ter tido opiniões fantásticas de algumas colegas de blogues e do facebook, não resisti comprar e a ler este livro e não estou nada arrependida. Este livro ainda é melhor do que o anterior.
Mo Hayder apresenta-nos em Os Pássaros da Morte o primeiro caso do inspector Jack Caffery de uma forma chocante de assassinatos a prostitutas que aparecem mortas num terreno abandonado, mas cujos corpos têm uma particularidade: todos apresentam, junto à caixa toráxica More...

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Oct 19, 2011

Estefânia rated it:

Depois de ouvir comentários excelentes de pessoas que costumam ler policiais e de ler na sinopse que é comparável ao livro "Silêncio dos Inocentes" parti para esta leitura com fortes expectativas!!!
É um policial forte com descrições realistas dos crimes, com algum sangue à mistura!
Os crimes são de ordem fundamentalmente sexual e o titulo do livro advém do facto de as vitimas surgirem com pássaros no corpo....Interessante não é?
Outro factor muito interessante é a personag More...

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Mar 03, 2011

Bill rated it:

Man, what is it about female mystery writers that makes them come up with the most heinous of crimes? From her bio and picture, Mo Hayder seems like such a nice lady. But with Birdman, her debut novel, she launches herself right into the darkest of Val McDermid's territory.

I couldn't burn through Birdman quickly enough. There is nothing not to like about this novel. Take a serial killer with a bizarre signature, an inspector with a dark past and struggling relationship, and short ch More...

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Aug 06, 2009

Stefan rated it:

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here

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Oct 13, 2008

Kendra rated it:

After recently reading Mo Hayder's The Devil of Nanking, I decided to start her Jack Caffery series. Caffery, a British homicide detective, is a likeable but deeply flawed character who is obsessed with a family tragedy that happened 20+ years ago. In Birdman, he catches a serial killer case the first time he is operating as the lead inspector of a murder squad. The story is very grisly and disturbing, but definitely a page-turner -- I couldn't go to bed until I finished it. One thing bother More...

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Sep 16, 2011

Vince rated it:

http://www.dailycamera.com/ci_13105364?I...

This review originally appeared in the BOULDER CAMERA

Thirteen horrifying reads for Halloween
by Vince Darcangelo
Posted: 10/24/2008 02:34:00 AM MDT

October is the time of year to indulge those horror cravings. As the leaves turn, and a haunting chill fills the evening air, there's nothing better than curling up with a good thriller, be it a psychological mystery or supernatural scare, a genre gore-fest or high More...

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Jan 23, 2008

Robert rated it:

Mo Hayder, Birdman (Dell, 1999)

Another of the sheaf of new British mystery novelists who've been getting picked up by American presses recently, Mo Hayder offers up her debut novel, Birdman. And what a debut.

Birdman gives us a serial killer with a pathology unlike any other I've ever encountered, and it's actually somewhat distressing that someone managed to come up with it in the first place. To then backtrack through the lives of the characters and make the pathology plausi More...

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May 11, 2008

Indah rated it:

Birdman (Psikopat Pembunuh Berdarah Dingin)

Penulis : Mo Hayder
Penerjemah : Basfin Siregar
Penyunting : Marvel Neydi
Penerbit : Dastan Books
Tebal : 552 hlmn
Ukuran : 14 x 21 cm
Cetakan : 1 September 2007

Dalam tugas pertamanya di Area Major Investigation Pool (AMIP), Inspektur Detektif Jack Caffery menangani serangkaian pembunuhan sadis, dengan korban 5 orang pelacur berusia muda. Seluruh korban meninggal dengan cara yang sama, disuntik More...

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Aug 20, 2010

David rated it:

A prosa não é grande coisa, mas "man, does it rock!"
"Birdman" é um thriller sobre um pavoroso assassino em série que retira os corações das vítimas e cose pássaros vivos na cavidade torácica vazia, mas as delícias que esta história que Mo Hayder nos conta não se esgotam nessa premissa. Raras vezes um thriller foi tão longe na apresentação de material verdadeiramente extremo. O equivalente literário de beber uma garrafa de absinto: só para estômagos fortes.

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Mar 09, 2011

Wonderbunny rated it:

Gah... I'm not sure what I think of this. It was very involving and I couldn't stop reading it but a small part of me wishes I had. I guess I'm out of touch with this sort of suspense story because the murder details were ick to me. I've read a number of serial killer mysteries but I had real issues with some of the scenes in this book. In fact, I had to stop reading it on more than one occasion and switch to something lighter and less gory. I thought the characters and plot were well done and e More...

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Feb 24, 2011

Daystar rated it:

Thoroughly enjoyed this book. Loved Jack Caffrey a tortured main charcater, his past and present blend seamlessly to provide a roller coaster of a read. It can at times be a disturbing book, getting an insight into the mind of a psychotic deviant sexual predator is very unsettling. There are some very good plot twists and just when you think it is all neatly wrapped up, off it goes again. A very gritty read, gruesome but gripping. I will certainly be reading other books by this author.

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Feb 08, 2011

Becci rated it:

Gross and creepy but I did enjoy it. There's something quite appealing about jack caffery; I will be looking for more of these books. Probably best not to read on your own in the middle of the night, you'll be checking all your windows and doors! You can tell this is Hayder's first jack novel as some of the writing is a bit stunted in the beginning unlike a later jack novel I've read. It quickly builds pace and leaves you wanting to read more. Good stuff.

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Oct 22, 2011

Shy rated it:

With its dark, disturbing storyline and graphical details of the deviant crimes, Birdman surely promised to make readers shiver down to their spines. While the writing may be a little shaky and plain at the beginning, it did improve drastically when the plot thickens and piece of puzzle started to drop into places. Birdman is indeed a good start of a series and I'm pretty sure that I'll be reading more books by this author.

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Jan 19, 2012

Sian rated it:

This has been my favourite book of the year so far and it's hard to explain why. You jump, feet first, into the murder. It's almost like going underwater, you have to take a deep breath, and it's not until you've finished that you can breathe again. Mo Hayder has a brilliant, if rather gruesome imagination, and reading the detailed descriptions of the bodies and the acts taking place, can at times make you feel physically sick. For me, that's part of the reason why I loved it. To get such a stro More...

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