false http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1179860308m/964996.jpg 964996 11 A contract killer is carving his way through North London's criminal underworld, leaving a bloody X on his victims' backs and taking Billy Ryan's gang down one thug at a time. Detective Inspector Tom Thorne and his team know there's a turf war going on, but who's attempting to take over Ryan's racket isn't quite clear. When DCI Carol Chamberlin comes out of retirement to work on the cold case squad and asks Thorne for help solving an old murder, the past and present catch up in what looks like a continuation of a twenty-year-old gang war. And when someone carves an X in Thorne's door, a fuse is lit that stretches from the eponymous burning girl of the title--Chamberlin's old case--to the gang war that's lighting up the London sky. It's a clunky plot that relies on telling more than showing, slowing down the pace and makeing it difficult for the reader to care about any of the principals involved--either the victims or those who seek justic for them. Billingham has written better thrillers (<I>Lazybones</I>, <I>Scaredy Cat</I>), but this one doesn't live up to their promises. <I>--Jane Adams</I> 1348433 2004 The Burning Girl (Tom Thorne, #4) total:126|5:25|4:45|3:45|2:9|1:2| 126 460 191 13 3 1 false false Mon Nov 01 00:00:00 -0800 2004 Tue Sep 04 11:47:25 -0700 2007 Tue Sep 04 11:48:13 -0700 2007 Mark Billingham – 4th in series
Little Brown, 2004 – U.K. Hardcover
Detective Inspector Thomas Thorne is in the middle of an investigation of what appears to be contract killings. A former colleague asks for his help with an...more...]]> 2 0 false false Sun Apr 26 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Thu Apr 30 07:58:08 -0700 2009 Thu Apr 30 07:58:26 -0700 2009 more...]]> 0 0 false false Fri Oct 02 09:51:46 -0700 2009 Fri Oct 02 09:51:46 -0700 2009 more...]]> 4 0 false false Sat Sep 06 00:00:00 -0700 2008 Thu Jul 03 11:13:01 -0700 2008 Sat Dec 06 08:18:29 -0800 2008 1 The Burning Girl (Morrow, 2004)

Billingham's fourth Tom Thorne novel opens with an old, old case that's been haunting folks recently, especially Carol Chamberlain, one of the tangential characters from earlier books; it's a case on which she was the lead back when it happ...more...]]> 3 0 false false Mon Apr 07 00:00:00 -0700 2008 Sun Mar 23 13:35:53 -0700 2008 Mon Apr 07 22:05:21 -0700 2008 more...]]> 5 1 false true Thu Oct 25 00:00:00 -0700 2007 Sat Dec 13 13:32:53 -0800 2008 Sat Dec 13 13:33:50 -0800 2008 more...]]> 3 0 false false Sat Aug 23 00:00:00 -0700 2008 Sun Jun 15 10:32:25 -0700 2008 Sat Aug 23 19:50:01 -0700 2008 more...]]> 1 0 false false Mon Jan 14 10:34:08 -0800 2008 Sun Jan 13 17:27:04 -0800 2008 Mon Jan 14 10:33:56 -0800 2008 more...]]> 2 0 false false Thu Oct 30 19:29:54 -0700 2008 Sun Oct 19 18:06:51 -0700 2008 Thu Oct 30 19:29:54 -0700 2008 4 0 false false Mon Jan 01 00:00:00 -0800 2007 Sun Sep 09 09:40:07 -0700 2007 Sun Sep 09 09:41:26 -0700 2007 5 0 false false Sat Sep 20 23:14:53 -0700 2008 Sat Sep 20 23:15:20 -0700 2008 3 0 false false Tue Aug 05 00:00:00 -0700 2008 Fri Jul 25 06:50:39 -0700 2008 Mon Aug 11 09:33:14 -0700 2008 0 0 false false Sat Aug 16 06:35:00 -0700 2008 Sat Aug 16 06:35:00 -0700 2008 4 0 false false Sun Nov 15 13:37:40 -0800 2009 Sun Nov 15 13:37:40 -0800 2009 0 0 false false Fri Nov 13 14:22:11 -0800 2009 Fri Nov 13 14:22:14 -0800 2009 3 0 false false Mon Nov 09 17:57:11 -0800 2009 Mon Nov 09 17:57:11 -0800 2009 0 0 false false Mon Oct 19 17:43:18 -0700 2009 Mon Oct 19 17:43:18 -0700 2009 0 0 false false Sun Oct 18 09:03:47 -0700 2009 Sun Oct 18 09:03:47 -0700 2009 0 0 false false Mon Oct 12 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Mon Oct 12 07:16:24 -0700 2009 Mon Oct 12 07:16:44 -0700 2009 5 0 false false Wed Sep 23 08:20:40 -0700 2009 Wed Sep 23 08:20:40 -0700 2009 http://www.goodreads.com/book_link/follow/8?book_id=964996