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Kind of Cruel Free Preview
A free preview of Kind of Cruel by Sophie Hannah including a special essay by the author
“Kind, cruel, kind of cruel.” Amber thinks it’s just nonsense, a side effect of being hypnotized for the first time. But when she’s arrested for a brutal murder two hours later, those four words are the key to clearing her name… if only she could remember where she’d seen them.
Amber Hewerdine suffers from chronic insomnia. As a last resort, she visits a hypnotherapist, doubtful that anything will really change. Under hypnosis, Amber hears herself saying, “Kind, cruel, kind of cruel.” The words awaken a vague memory, but she dismisses the whole episode as nonsense. Two hours later, however, Amber is arrested for the brutal murder of a woman she’s never heard of, and the only way she can clear her name is by remembering exactly where she’s seen those words.
Kind of Cruel is the latest page-turner in Hannah's Zailer and Waterhouse mystery series, and will enthrall Hannah’s ever-growing readership.
“Kind, cruel, kind of cruel.” Amber thinks it’s just nonsense, a side effect of being hypnotized for the first time. But when she’s arrested for a brutal murder two hours later, those four words are the key to clearing her name… if only she could remember where she’d seen them.
Amber Hewerdine suffers from chronic insomnia. As a last resort, she visits a hypnotherapist, doubtful that anything will really change. Under hypnosis, Amber hears herself saying, “Kind, cruel, kind of cruel.” The words awaken a vague memory, but she dismisses the whole episode as nonsense. Two hours later, however, Amber is arrested for the brutal murder of a woman she’s never heard of, and the only way she can clear her name is by remembering exactly where she’s seen those words.
Kind of Cruel is the latest page-turner in Hannah's Zailer and Waterhouse mystery series, and will enthrall Hannah’s ever-growing readership.
30 pages, Kindle Edition
Published July 8, 2013
8 people are currently reading
86 people want to read
About the author
Sophie Hannah
107 books4,537 followersSophie Hannah is an internationally bestselling writer of psychological crime fiction, published in 27 countries. In 2013, her latest novel, The Carrier, won the Crime Thriller of the Year Award at the Specsavers National Book Awards. Two of Sophie’s crime novels, The Point of Rescue and The Other Half Lives, have been adapted for television and appeared on ITV1 under the series title Case Sensitive in 2011 and 2012. In 2004, Sophie won first prize in the Daphne Du Maurier Festival Short Story Competition for her suspense story The Octopus Nest, which is now published in her first collection of short stories, The Fantastic Book of Everybody’s Secrets.
Sophie has also published five collections of poetry. Her fifth, Pessimism for Beginners, was shortlisted for the 2007 T S Eliot Award. Her poetry is studied at GCSE, A-level and degree level across the UK. From 1997 to 1999 she was Fellow Commoner in Creative Arts at Trinity College, Cambridge, and between 1999 and 2001 she was a fellow of Wolfson College, Oxford. She is forty-one and lives with her husband and children in Cambridge, where she is a Fellow Commoner at Lucy Cavendish College. She is currently working on a new challenge for the little grey cells of Hercule Poirot, Agatha Christie’s famous detective.
Sophie has also published five collections of poetry. Her fifth, Pessimism for Beginners, was shortlisted for the 2007 T S Eliot Award. Her poetry is studied at GCSE, A-level and degree level across the UK. From 1997 to 1999 she was Fellow Commoner in Creative Arts at Trinity College, Cambridge, and between 1999 and 2001 she was a fellow of Wolfson College, Oxford. She is forty-one and lives with her husband and children in Cambridge, where she is a Fellow Commoner at Lucy Cavendish College. She is currently working on a new challenge for the little grey cells of Hercule Poirot, Agatha Christie’s famous detective.
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Displaying 1 - 10 of 11 reviews
February 19, 2020
I read about half of this book. After 300 pages, I read a few more and then asked myself "why are you reading this? Do you really care about ANY of the people in this book or what happens to them?" I immediately said, "I have no idea. And no, I don't care." I'm counting this as a book 'read' in Goodreads, 'cause 324 pages should count as a book. I like this author's Agatha Christie-esque books, but this one was not for me. (Also, this was the whole book, not the Kindle edition, but I couldn't find on Goodreads the regular book to review).
May 9, 2017
Wow, I've never given a book a one-star rating before. I couldn't even get halfway through this, so I guess I shouldn't count it as a book I've read. Anyway, it is the ninth book of the series, so the others must have been good enough or the author wouldn't have made it this far. Totally confusing lead character, zero empathy for her and her problems, and a confusing plot with too many people led me to put this book down quietly and walk away.
February 24, 2019
El libro se basa en la historia de Amber, una mujer que sufre de insomnio. Su vida pega un giro rotundo cuando su mejor amiga Sharon es asesinada en un incendio, y sus hijas Dinha y Nonnie quedan a su cargo.
Para frenar con su problema de sueño, Amber decide visitar a Ginny, una psicóloga. La historia comienza cuando en su primer sesión Amber menciona la frase: “Cruel. Kind of cruel” y tiene un recuerdo vago de haberlo visto escrito en un papel azul. Confundida, Amber sale de la consulta y se topa con Charlie, quien formó parte del cuerpo de policía e investigación dónde trabaja su esposo Simon. Amber explica lo ocurrido a la desconocida, convencida de haber visto esas palabras en el cuerdo que ella sostenía, y se marcha a su hogar. Al día siguiente, Simon aparece en su puerta, pues las palabras: “Cruel. Kind of cruel” fueron halladas en la escena del crimen en la que la joven Kat Allen fue asesinada. Amber jura no tener nada que ver en relación con aquella mujer, pero también cuestiona porqué aquellas palabras aparecieron en su mente. A partir de ese momento, Amber, Simon y Charlie trabajan en equipo para descubrir la relación entre estas dos personas.
Al mismo tiempo, Amber carga con otro misterio en su vida: Little Orchard, una casa a la cual fueron a pasar las fiestas con la familia de su esposo en el año 2003. Durante esa noche de Navidad la familia del hermano de Luke (esposo de Amber) desaparece, y vuelve sin emitir palabras un día después. Nunca nadie cuestiono el porqué habían desaparecido, pues Jo (esposa de Nail, hermano de Luke) dejo en claro que no deseaba indagar más en lo ocurrido. Pero Amber siempre lo tuvo presente en su memoria, junto con una habitación que permaneció cerrada durante su estadía.
A lo largo del libro, Simon interroga a varios miembros de la familia de Amber e intenta descifrar el enigma. En mi opinión el final es muy rebuscado, la relación entre el asesino de las dos muertes y el porqué lo hace son exageradas y se conoce muy al final del libro sin mostrar que ocurre una vez que lo capturan.
Para frenar con su problema de sueño, Amber decide visitar a Ginny, una psicóloga. La historia comienza cuando en su primer sesión Amber menciona la frase: “Cruel. Kind of cruel” y tiene un recuerdo vago de haberlo visto escrito en un papel azul. Confundida, Amber sale de la consulta y se topa con Charlie, quien formó parte del cuerpo de policía e investigación dónde trabaja su esposo Simon. Amber explica lo ocurrido a la desconocida, convencida de haber visto esas palabras en el cuerdo que ella sostenía, y se marcha a su hogar. Al día siguiente, Simon aparece en su puerta, pues las palabras: “Cruel. Kind of cruel” fueron halladas en la escena del crimen en la que la joven Kat Allen fue asesinada. Amber jura no tener nada que ver en relación con aquella mujer, pero también cuestiona porqué aquellas palabras aparecieron en su mente. A partir de ese momento, Amber, Simon y Charlie trabajan en equipo para descubrir la relación entre estas dos personas.
Al mismo tiempo, Amber carga con otro misterio en su vida: Little Orchard, una casa a la cual fueron a pasar las fiestas con la familia de su esposo en el año 2003. Durante esa noche de Navidad la familia del hermano de Luke (esposo de Amber) desaparece, y vuelve sin emitir palabras un día después. Nunca nadie cuestiono el porqué habían desaparecido, pues Jo (esposa de Nail, hermano de Luke) dejo en claro que no deseaba indagar más en lo ocurrido. Pero Amber siempre lo tuvo presente en su memoria, junto con una habitación que permaneció cerrada durante su estadía.
A lo largo del libro, Simon interroga a varios miembros de la familia de Amber e intenta descifrar el enigma. En mi opinión el final es muy rebuscado, la relación entre el asesino de las dos muertes y el porqué lo hace son exageradas y se conoce muy al final del libro sin mostrar que ocurre una vez que lo capturan.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
May 19, 2017
This is a crime story riding atop a heaving sea of dark psychology. Honestly, the main story took a backseat for me compared to the interspersed (in italics) sections of pure psychoanalysis. Although the end of the book left me feeling vaguely unsatisfied, I found myself rereading some of the psychological insights. Disturbing, educational, and, I'm betting, touching on bits of many readers' inner workings and maybe shedding some fascinating light into semi-dark corners. It was like a pleasant cross between a text book and a pulp fiction. Quite an interesting mixture. I didn't know this was part of a series...I'm still not entirely sure. But I'll be looking for more by this author.
March 2, 2023
I finished it. Contemplated not finishing it multiple times. The book has some good parts but they are drug out for too long with too many irrelevant conversations. Unfortunately, I do not recommend.
August 10, 2021
Kind of drawn out and all over the place...didn't love the ending either.
January 19, 2025
It was okay? Bit of a strange story line and quite frustrating but was an easy read.
April 7, 2016
The book-Kind of Cruel-is one of my favourite books to read. I would recommend anyone to read this book if your into action yet upsetting books. The little girls in the book are my favourite because they were strong and brave when their mother left them to go to heaven, which seemed like help because she was set elite in her own home.
August 27, 2016
Tedious. When I found out "who done it" I wasn't even surprised. No plot twists. Boring.
January 12, 2017
The characters are very well developed and the plot/subplots intricately woven for a shocking ride!
Displaying 1 - 10 of 11 reviews