#BookReview Ritual by Mo Hayder

Ritual by Mo Hayder
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Just after lunch on a Tuesday in April, nine feet under water, police diver Flea Marley closes her gloved fingers around a human hand. The fact that there's no body attached is disturbing enough. Yet more disturbing is the discovery, a day later, of the matching hand. Both have been recently amputated, and the indications are that the victim was still alive when they were removed.

DI Jack Caffery has been newly seconded to the Major Crime Investigation Unit in Bristol. He and Flea soon establish that the hands belong to a boy who has recently disappeared.

Their search for him - and for his abductor - lead them into the darkest recesses of Bristol's underworld, where drug addiction is rife, where street-kids sell themselves for a hit, and where an ancient evil lurks; an evil that feeds off the blood - and flesh - of others ...

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One of the best things when it comes to reading is discovering new authors. I have wanted to read Mo Hayder's Jack Caffery series for a long time and now I have finally read the book three in the series. And, Ritual is a pretty awesome book, with a compelling story and interesting main characters.

I instantly came to like both Jack and Flea and I enjoyed getting to know them both in this book. Jack, new in Bristol, has come to the city looking for the Walking Man to ask him something. Flea has not recovered from losing her parents in an accident two years earlier and she is also looking after her younger brother who is depressed after the accident that took their parents life. I think the twist and turns in this story were really great, and I liked how the Jack and Flea's life become intertwined with each other. Both are two damaged people and have their own personal demons.

The African witchcraft theme that felt new and interesting and made the book deliciously dark and engrossing. I was curious to see who would be behind it all and I must admit that I was surprised that it did not turn out to be the one I came to suspect towards the end of the book. I felt the book did end with some loose threads (but since I now also have read the next book do I know that the next book will pick up directly after this book ends and address the loose threads).

I liked this book very much and I recommend it warmly!