The Treatment Book

Holy crap.

Mo Hayder has just moved into my number 1 slot for crime fiction. The Treatment closely follows Birdman, so be sure to read her awesome debut before reading this one.

A fair warning though: I have a pretty high tolerance for reading about the evil that people can do, but I lost sleep over this one. Even if you don't have kids, you'd have to be completely without empathy or even humanness to not be affected by the crimes that come out of Hayder's mind here.
Sometimes you may ask yourself why you're allowing these disturbing images and ideas into your head. Certainly anyone (those of the softer persuasions) who I've talked to about this novel must wonder it of me, but anyone who reads intense crime fiction does so for the hope of retribution. The more heinous the crime, the more we root for the home team to find that one little break to nail the monster.

There's very little I want to say about the plot: As in Birdman, DI Jack Caffrey is still haunted by the abduction of his kid brother 25 years ago. Now, there are disturbing parallels to this that he must cope with while on a case involving a child. Caffrey knows his self control is hanging by a thread, he knows he should be pulled off the investigation, but there is no way he can let this case go. Combine this with his tenuous relationship with his girlfriend and it seems just a matter of pages before he rips apart at the seams.

Hayder advances the story using alternating perspectives, a typical formula, but in her hands each thread creates its own tension. I couldn't put it the book down. It is perfectly paced, and the characters are as strongly represented as they were in Birdman.

It's amazing to think Mo Hayder quit school at 15. I saw an interview with her on youtube, and she says it is something she has been embarrassed about, but she has always had a passion for learning and had continued this on her own. It shows. She is a very good writer and maybe one of the best crime writers working today.

I've read a lot of crime fiction, and it takes a lot to jar me. She's done it twice, now. This is unsettling stuff, kiddies, so know that there be demons here. Otherwise, you're hard pressed to find better crime writing. Enjoy the ride.