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| Friend of the Devil | 
 enlarge | Author: Peter Robinson
Publisher: William Morrow
Category: Book
List Price: $24.95
Buy Used: $2.39
You Save: $22.56 (90%)
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Avg. Customer Rating:  40 reviews
Sales Rank: 16443
Media: Hardcover
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 384
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.1
Dimensions (in): 9 x 5.9 x 1.3
ISBN: 0060544376
Dewey Decimal Number: 823.914
EAN: 9780060544379
ASIN: 0060544376
Publication Date: March 1, 2008
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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Amazon.com Review
Amazon Significant Seven, February 2008: Fans of Kate Atkinson's Jackson Brodie novels, and anyone who enjoyed In the Woods as much as we did, will love Peter Robinson's smart and absorbing Friend of the Devil. Be sure to set aside some time to dig in--you'll be tempted to devour it in one sitting, but this gripping and finely plotted mystery deserves to be savored. If this is your first introduction to the intrepid Inspector Alan Banks, count yourself lucky--Robinson has been crafting these award-winning police procedurals for more than two decades now, so there are plenty of opportunities to enjoy what Stephen King has called "the best series of British novels since the novels of Patrick O'Brian." --Daphne Durham
Product Description
Chief Inspector Alan Banks and Detective Inspector Annie Cabbot must work together to solve two chilling crimes in a stunning new novel by New York Times bestselling author Peter Robinson One morning in March, on the edge of a cliff overlooking the sea, a woman named Karen Drew is found in her wheelchair with her throat slit. Back in Eastvale on that same morning, in a tangle of narrow alleys behind a market square, the body of Hayley Daniels is found raped and strangled. Two murders . . . two towns . . . On loan to a sister precinct, Detective Inspector Annie Cabbot draws the first case. Karen Drew seems to have lived a quiet and nearly invisible life for the past seven years. Try as she might, Annie turns up nothing in the woman's past that might have prompted someone to wheel her out to the sea and to her death. Meanwhile, in the Hayley Daniels murder, Chief Inspector Alan Banks has suspects galore. Everywhere she went, the nineteen-year-old student attracted attention. Anyone could have followed her on the night she was out drinking with friends, making sure she never made it back home. Then a breakthrough spins Annie's case in a shocking and surprising new direction, straight toward Banks. Coincidence? Not in Eastvale. Banks and Annie are searching for two killers who might strike again at any moment and with bloody fury.
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| Customer Reviews: Read 35 more reviews...
 4.5 Stars: Murders and Memory, a British detective suspense novel March 13, 2008
12 out of 13 found this review helpful
Best enjoyed in the context of his earlier work AFTRMATH, Peter Robinson's FRIEND OF THE DEVIL is a stunning addition to his British police detective series. Not only does the reader glimpse more of the unfolding dynamics between the main characters, but also, the case hearkens back to the past as new murders challenge both the detectives and the reader to look at the past through a different perspective.
Detective Chief Inspector Alan Banks and Detective Inspector Annie Cabbot investigate a series of chilling murders. Cabbot investigates a brutal and chilling murder of a parapalegic woman in a wheelchair while Banks investigates the brutal murder and rape of a woman found in The Maze. Although these crimes seem unrelated, the murders provoke both Banks and Cabbot to look into their own histories to past crimes that have touched their lives. The eerie murder of the mysterious woman in the wheelchair haunts the imagination as the detectives ponder the thoughts a woman unable to defend herself or even voice a protest in her last moments. The first layer of clues unraveled is only one layer to this finely constructed suspenseful mystery. When Banks' investigation solves the mystery of one crime detail of the rape and murder, more mysteries emerge. Will the security cameras around the Maze aid or complicate this investigation? Each clue, each new development twists and turns the investigation, keeping the reader in suspense until the final dramatic scene.
FRIEND OF THE DEVIL explores the ambiguity in the relationship between Detective Chief Inspector Alan Banks and Detective Inspector Annie Cabbot. Peter Robinson's unflinching and realistic look into the conflicts in their personal lives add a depth to the characterization as their past chafes and recalls earlier moments and the character's personal weaknesses. In FRIEND OF THE DEVIL, relationships aren't easy or simplistic and, to the reader's delight, neither is the path to catching the perpetrators of these crimes. Precise, sometimes stark descriptive details heighten the terror of these crimes all the way to the shocking climatic end.
Chilling, eerie and full of surprises, Peter Robinson's FRIEND OF THE DEVIL gradually builds up a fascinating look into memory, interweaving it into the very thematic structure. Memory underpins this mystery, interwoven within the very core as reminiscences from a former case haunt Banks. Past events present obstacles to personal relationships. Even in the murders themselves, Banks and Cabbot must delve into the memories of witnesses. Quite simply, Peter Robinson's kaleidoscope into memory makes FRIEND OF THE DEVIL a good choice for readers who might crave a little extra to ponder in addition to riveting suspense.
unputdownable in spite of my grumbles March 26, 2008
12 out of 13 found this review helpful
I have really mixed feelings about "Friend of the Devil" -- on the one hand I rather enjoyed the book (I am an avid fan of the series); however, I did think that the pacing was uneven and found several plot gambits a little tedious. In spite of my reservations, however, "Friend of the Devil" did turn out to be a 4 star read. And that is a testament to Peter Robinson's storytelling talents.
When a paraplegic woman is found near a cliff edge with her throat cut, DI Annie Cabot thinks that she has another seemingly straightforward murder to investigate. The last thing she expected was that this murder would reopen a can of worms. For the murdered woman turns out to be none other than the notorious Lucy Payne, the other half of a pair of killers who kidnapped, tortured, raped and murdered several young girls some years ago ("Aftermath"). Trying to come up with people who would have wanted to see Lucy dead, isn't going to be that difficult; if anything it's going to hard work trying to narrow the field. But who would have had access to Lucy's new identity? In the meantime, Alan Banks is in the middle of investigating the murder-rape of a young college student, Hayley Daniels. Closing the Daniels case is a first priority for Banks, but he still finds himself drawn to the Lucy Payne's investigation and wondering why Lucy's murderer chose to act now and in such an open way...
I'm a huge fan of the series and Peter Robinson's Alan Banks series is pretty much an auto-buy for me. That said, I have to say that I am getting a little tired of certain regular plot features/devices -- like the detailed references to the music Banks listens to -- sometimes it almost feels as if they were stage directions to the filmed version of the novels. More often than not however they read like indications that we're to take Banks as something more than a plodding policeman. The thing is that I rather thought that we'd moved away from such thinking! And then there was the little segue into Banks' and Cabot's private, screwed up love lives. My impatience with this plot gambit however may have more to do with the fact that I have never really warmed up to Annie Cabot as a character. I'm definitely in the minority here, I know and really think that the author should worry more about his characters' alarming drinking habits. My real problem with "Friend of the Devil" though was that I felt as if the entire subplot dealing with Banks' investigation into the murder-rape of Hayley Daniels was wasted, and that it made the pacing of the book uneven and seemingly plodding at times. I much preferred the subplot dealing with the murder of Lucy Payne and rather wished that Banks had been the investigating officer on that!
In spite of all my niggles, however, this still was a fantastically riveting read, with the last half of the book proving to be absolutely unputdownable. Which just goes to show how brilliant an author Peter Robinson truly is, and how in spite of all my nitpicking grumbles, I still found "Friend of the Devil" to be an utterly compelling and absorbing read.
The best Inspector Banks novel till now! September 14, 2007
11 out of 12 found this review helpful
Aah, to be able to write this well. To make readers lose themselves in a book even before the story has started properly, and in some passages manage to even make a crime story almost poetic.
Of course, as a huge fan of Peter Robinson I'm well acquainted with Chief Inspector Alan Banks, DI Annie Cabbot, the rest of the Eastvale police force and the goings on in a small Yorkshire village. But even to first time readers of Robinson, "Friend of the Devil" will prove this author's magic, his unique talent as one of, if not THE best British crime writer today.
The Inspector Banks novels have two main story lines. The solving of one - or more - crimes, and bits and pieces from Bank's private life. Not the least his personal relationship with Annie, with whom he is still working on a regular basis. There is however much emotional baggage between the two and obvious that their personal story is far from over.
In "Friend of the Devil" two nasty murders are discovered on the same Sunday morning. Banks and Annie are working on one case each. First separately, until Annie is reaching a breakthrough which brings her case in a new and shocking direction - a direction which involves Banks.
It soon becomes clear that there are two killers among their midst, ready to strike again at any moment.
Some readers may feel that Annie's personal life is taking up too much space in the book. However, being a woman, I must admit that Annie's doings are not without interest, and I am pretty sure that male and female readers may be reacting differently to the part Annie's lovelife is playing in the book.
Apart from this, I would hope - and believe - that most readers will find "Friend of the Devil" to be Peter Robinson's finest work until now.
With Chief Inspector Banks, Peter Robinson has created a very human and likeable hero, a soft-hearted man in spite of his profession. Bank's choice of literature, music and food, his relationship with his children, his struggle with the aftermath of his marriage - and the complicated feelings for Annie - all add to the picture of an interesting, attractive and complete hero one does not easily tire of.
As all books in the Inspector Banks series, "Friend of the Devil" is a book of contrasts. The harsh realism of brutal crimes, the investigators' necessary blocking of feelings in order to fulfill what has to be done, and the humanity behind it all. Whether the pain of the victims' relatives or the personal reaction of police and investigators.
Don't miss this nor Robinson's other books. Simply brilliant!
 Something's Lacking October 4, 2007
11 out of 17 found this review helpful
Peter Robinson has, for many years, been one of the best writers of British procedurals around. However, with this outing, someithing is missing. Alan Banks and Annie Cabbot have lost their edge - they've become ordinary and boring as only characters in a long-term series can.
The mystery here is interesting and Robinson ties the mystery in this book back to a particularly horrific serial killer in a previous outing. But the mystery isn't such that it can carry this book by itself. And it's painful to realize that Robinson's characters are not helping to lift this book out of the dulldrums.
Robinson's loyal readers can only hope that this is a transition book and that Robinson will return to form in the next book because if the next book isn't up to what his readers have come to expect from him, this reader will be one of his loyal readers no more.
Aftermath of Robinson's 2001 Alan Banks Novel AFTERMATH April 27, 2008
11 out of 12 found this review helpful
I've read all of Peter Robinson's excellently written series of novels featuring Yorkshire detective Alan Banks and highly anticipated this latest installment. For whatever reason I didn't find this volume as interesting as most of the others. The plotting is good and Robinson has provided Banks and his fellow detective (and ex lover) Annie two intriguing cases. Annie handles the death of a paraplegic woman in her late 20's who was checked out of her nursing home by an unknown person and found with her throat cut on a beach looking out to sea. Banks is in charge of the murder of a pretty young college student found dead after a drunken Saturday night. The plot twists several times with some genuine surprises before all is concluded and one of the murders will have direct ties to the serial killer story told in the 2001 novel AFTERMATH.
As with all Robinson's novels lots of details from what music loving Banks has in his CD player to the menus at the pubs where the detectives order lunch are provided. Though I generally appreciate such touches in FRIEND OF THE DEVIL all this detail begins to seem like tedious filler. Like another Amazon reviewer I've never been fond of the character of Annie and she is featured almost as much as Banks in the novel (there is a subplot about her being stalked by a young man half her age) so that may have contributed to me not being as taken with this novel as the others in this series. Still, for fans of British suspense novels that are definitely not cozy, Peter Robinson writes among the best in the genre.
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