4 out of 4 stars
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Pancake Money by Finn Bell is without a doubt the best book I have read in 2018 so far!
A sleepy New Zealand town is rocked to its core by the violent murder of a beloved Catholic Priest. The murder is well planned, perfectly executed and horrific in every conceivable way. Shocked by the brutality of the scene, Detectives Bobby Rees and Pollo Latu are left reeling when two more priests are killed in equally appalling ways. Surrounded by death, secrets and needless tragedy, just how far are our heroes willing to go to stop the 'Holy Man Killer' before anyone else is killed?
I genuinely didn't want to put this book down. Any spare second I had, at home, at work, on the bus; I was reading this book. I devoured the entire thing within 24 hours.
Finn uses first person narrative to put his reader right in the centre of the action, which for me, unfolded like a great TV show. I felt fully immersed in events as they happened. Finn uses sentence structure exquisitely as a tool to build tension and anxiety. He accurately represents the inner dialogue of someone undergoing stress, which in turn takes the reader along with the protagonist. I felt like I was seeing through Bobby's eyes, I saw what he saw and felt what he felt. At one point in the story I was brought to tears as I grieved along with one of the characters. It has been a long time since a novel had that effect on me.
One of the themes I loved most within this book is its focus on family. Rees and Latu aren't just partners, they are brothers. They have experienced so much before the story starts and continue to grow together. They are a part of one another's family, they regularly have dinner together and they know their children and wives. Latu and Rees are a package deal. Rees’ family are his world, we learn about his relationship with his wife and daughter who help to shape him as a person and play a huge part in his decision making process. It is wonderful to see an author put so much effort into the backstory of his characters. As someone with agoraphobia I wanted to scoop Eva up and give her a big cuddle.
I have seen a review or two which takes issue with the book's name. Personally, I love the name. Pollo explains early on in the book that his mother protected him and his siblings from any violence from their drunken father by giving them money to go and buy pancakes when he came home in a bad way. This kept them out of the house and away from any danger. They all knew what was going on and not all of them appreciated the gesture. I feel Finn named the novel Pancake Money because Pollo is saying that life is full of evil, that everything we have or experience that is positive is purely to give us respite; giving us a treat to allow us to temporarily ignore the evil. It is a clever choice and links in beautifully with the philosophical and psychological aspects of the book.
This leads me nicely onto my next love, the psychological side of the book. This story doesn’t just focus on the motive of the murders it also discusses what leads a person to reach the motive stage. As someone with a serious mental illness I was absolutely fascinated by the psychology in this book. I highlighted passage after passage and it really made me think. I can’t go too much into this for risk of ruining parts for you but if you have any interest in psychology or what motivates people to do things I am certain you will enjoy this.
If you are in any way squeamish, be warned this book is graphic. The murders are brutal as are the descriptions of them. I have to say I thoroughly enjoyed this; there are only so many ‘single gun shot to the head’ you can deal with in the crime genre before you get bored. The deaths are unlike anything I’ve read before, they are well thought out and set this book apart from others in the genre.
I rate Pancake Money by Finn Bell 4 out of 4 stars, I thoroughly enjoyed it and would absolutely read more by this author.
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Pancake Money
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