Tom Thorne - The Early Years; subtitle: When Tom met Phil.

Well if you ever wanted to find out what Tom Thorne was like back in the day, back when he was just a Detective Sergeant whose marriage had just fallen apart and for whom spending an evening chatting over a curry or talking football over a pint with a heavily pierced and tattooed pathologist was not remotely on the cards, then this is definitely the book for year. In a case that takes us all the way back to 1996, we meet Tom and the team as he is called in to assist on a missing person investigation. The person in question turns out to be a young boy, Keiron, who disappeared while playing hide and seek with his best friend, Josh, in woods not far from their homes. The potential implications of such an abduction do not need spelling out and the race is on to find the boy before it is too late.

Now it is fair to say that throughout this novel, Thorne is haunted by a case from his past, one which did not see a positive outcome. We are given the barest hint of the case at the start but this is more than enough, as Mark Billingham creates a scene which is so vivid, so stomach churningly real that there is no question of us not knowing the bones of what occured. Of course, initially we are only privy to Thorne's recurring nightmare, but the case is explored in a bit more detail later on, but we know enough to be certain that Thorne will stop at nothing to get Keiron back unharmed.

There are many elements to this story but the author does a grand job of drawing our attention to the differences in the lives of Keiron and Josh. Both are from a broken home but whilst Josh's parents are divorced, they are still both very much in his life. For Keiron he too has parents who love him but who are separated not by choice but by law, his father in prison for a serious assault. And this is where the story gets complicated because it is hard to tell whether the abduction was by a complete stranger or someone a little closer to home. And there are certainly a few suspects brought to light through the course of the story, the author using his usual skill to cast enough doubt over all of them in turn and to challenge out perception of who truly is guilty.

There are some more harrowing scenes that play out in the story, scenes told from the point of view of Keiron. These are hard to read, watching him try to stay positive, using every trick in his young mind to manage through what is a very dark and lonely time. There is never any hint of real abuse, it never goes that far, but it is not necessary as the thought of a seven year old being locked away in the darkness is hard enough to read without it. Then you have Josh. The emotional impact of his friends disappearance is so beautifully delivered on the page that it makes for quiet emotional reading too. This is not just a missing person case though, and there is a real sense of threat and danger that permeates the story. When some of the people very close to the investigation begin dying it is clear that things are far from straight forward, the sense of pace and urgency picking up and the tone of the book changing, ever so subtly.

But it's not all doom and gloom. As always there are those moments of light relief peppered throughout, none more so than the very first meeting between Thorne and his soon to be best friend, Phil Hendricks. They are such an odd couple and from this first meeting you'd be forgiven for wondering how they ever came to be friends in the first place. It is far from love at first sight, or in this case, phone call. But theirs is the kind of mad and mismatched friendship that just works, and seeing those early outings for the pair really brought a smile to my face.

I thoroughly enjoyed this look back into Tom Thorne's early years. It is a classic Thorne novel with the perfect blend of tension and wit. The tension continues to build right to the end, the bad guys staying hidden right to the end. And as for the end ... some definite face contorting, sensibility challenging reveals going on there. If you love Tom and Phil, or even just great storytelling, then this book is definitely recommended. Twenty years of Tom Thorne? I'll take another twenty to go please.

Mark Billingham is always a safe pair of hands if you want peace, quite, TV off and to immerse yourself in a great thriller.
This one doesn't disappoint either.
Enjoyed learning a bit of background to Thorne's character and the twists came aplenty.
A weekend well spent.

So nice to read the genesis of Tom Thorne's beginning, including his first meeting with Hendrick. I live in NW5 and glad to see how Tom got to live in Kentish Town. The case is gripping and I think that both first reader of Mark Billingham (is there any left?!) or love of the Tom Thorne's series will find their fill in this book.

Mark Billingham is easily one of my
Favourite authors and I adore the slightly irascible and sometimes cancerous character of Tom Thorne.

This novel is a prequel to Billingham’s earlier book Sleepy Head, and as such it can be read as a stand-alone, although regular readers of his will also enjoy it. As a long term fan of Tom Thorne, I found it very interesting to learn some more about his background, and see some earlier glimpses of other characters I am familiar with.

As always, the storyline and detail within is very well written and I highly recommend this book (and all works but this author).

You will not be disappointed.

Two young boys are playing in the playground and disappear into the woods while their mums are chatting. Only one boy comes out. DS Tom Thorne investigates the missing boy and the subsequent revelations.
A prequel to the Tom Thorne series. A great read, well written and highly recommended.

I have been a long time fan of Mark Billingham and of Tom Thorne in particular and this book did not disappoint.

As a prequel to Sleepy Head and Scaredy Cat it was interesting to learn some of the background, in particular the background to his friendship with Phil Hendricks. Having said that, it also works as a standalone novel.

There was a certain cruel irony in that the team, getting nowhere with solving this crime turned to Crimewatch with Jill Dando whose own murderer has yet to be found. Then there was, what in hindsight is a sickening reference, to the fact that a children's book about stranger danger featured Jimmy Saville on the cover. Very cleverly done Mr Billingham.

Recommended reading, thank you Netgalley.

Cry Baby is the latest book in the Tom Thorne series by Mark Billingham and it is another excellent police procedural thriller from a master writer.

This book is actually a prequel set 20 years ago and fills in some of the background to Thorne including his first meeting with Hendricks and a first visit to a local restaurant.

The main storyline is excellently plotted with all the major characters well drawn and clearly memorable.

Overall this is a book I would very highly recommend

I really enjoyed this book.

I loved the step back in time and all the mid nineties references.

Meeting early Thorne was a delight and to see what has changed in him over the years and what hasn't was really interesting.

The main plot is really solid and as always with Mark Billingham, the characters are what make the book stand head and shoulders above the rest of the pack. (I was 50% right in my deductions and had an inclining on the other 50%, so I'm feeling quite pleased with myself)

This could absolutely be read without having read any of the others.

It felt a little bit like a goodbye but I really hope I'm wrong.

It's June 1996 and football's European Championships are about to start in London. DS Tom Thorne is having a nightmare and it's one he has regularly. It relates to a case from ten years earlier when he ''knew'' that a man was guilty, but didn't take any action until the man's wife and three children had been murdered and the man had killed himself.

Cat Coyne and Maria Ashton are with their sons Kieron and Josh. It's a happy combination in that the boys are devoted to each other and - despite differences in the where and how they live - the women are best friends. The boys are seven-years old and they play on the swings in the park and then dash off to play hide and seek in Highgate Wood. Josh was the one doing the hiding - but he returned tearfully to the women: Kieron never came to find him and now he can't find Kieron.

DS Tom Thorne is on the case and struggling to cope with his boss, DI Gordon Boyle. The feeling's mutual and it's exacerbated by DC Ajay Roth who seems to be Boyle's only fan in the team. DS Paula Kimmel's another outsider: she's the only member of the team without a penis. As the investigation gets underway there's a feeling that the team isn't really pulling together and it's fairly obvious that Boyle thinks they're looking for a body. It's Thorne who bags the first suspect: Grantleigh Figgis is Cat Coyne's neighbour and no one would describe him as anything other than strange.

There's a complication for Cat Coyne: her partner is Billy Coyne is currently staying in one of Her Majesty's guest houses after a spot of road rage and attempted murder. Does he have anything to do with Kieron's disappearance? His sister, Angie Coyne, is doing her best to support Cat and says that she's warned her brother not to hurt anyone, but it's not unknown for this sort of thing to happen. Something which is obvious though is that Josh Ashton is not coping at all well with his best friend's disappearance. His parents are separated and even when he spends time with his father, who's a doctor, he doesn't improve. He's violent to other pupils at school and it looks as though he's going to need psychiatric help.

It was unexpectedly refreshing to spend time in a police procedural which wasn't dominated by CCTV, ANPR and mobile phones. I'm increasingly finding that the human side of investigation is being bred out of current police procedurals and there's less room for that brilliant hunch from the pathologist (you'll recognise him if you've read books set later in the series) which turned everything around. I was doubtful when I heard that the book would be set in 1996 - and even more worried when I realised that there would be a football background - but it worked perfectly.

The characters are excellent too. Some of them we know from other books in the series, but even the newcomers work well. The combination of Cat Coyne (lives in a highrise, partner in prison) and Maria Ashton (lives in a comfortable home and isn't short of money) shouldn't work as well as it does, but Mark Billingham catches it well, even down to the point when the relationship looks as though it will founder. I loved the two boys: genuine best friends who adore each other and hate being parted. But Cat was the star for me: grieving from the loss of Kieron, struggling on her own, capable of unwise decisions and actions and completely human with her knee-jerk, smartarse comments.

Did I guess who was responsible for the abduction of Kieran Coyne and the two murders which followed? No, I didn't. Both came as a complete surprise, although all the clues were there. It was a cracking read and despite my initial misgivings I really enjoyed it. I'd like to thank the publishers for letting Bookbag have a review copy.

In 1996, DS Tom Thorne – this is a prequel to Mark’s other books in this series – is having trouble with life, both professional and personal. His wife has left him and wants a divorce, he has to sell his house though he can never quite get around to making an estate agent appointment, and he’s haunted by a crime that he feels he let slip by. But when a seven-year-old boy goes missing, while playing in the woods with his best friend, Tom is forced back the present with sharply. And not just because more than one is going to pay for another’s decision making (or lack thereof). This feels and reads like a very credible crime book – everything isn’t handed to the police on a plate, there isn’t a sudden lightbulb moment when everything fits together, it’s police work and putting the pieces together that brings a resolution of sorts. I really, really enjoyed it and want to read all the other Tom Thorne books I haven’t read yet.

The very first Thorne.

1996. The World Cup's on. A seven year old boy goes missing in broad daylight.

Already haunted by the failures of a previous case involving children, Thorne cannot make the same mistakes again.

What looks to be obvious, isn't.

People end up dead.....

Can Thorne get a good outcome from it all?