4 out of 4 stars
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Pancake Money is an astounding story of serial killings written by Finn Bell. This is a story that comprises mystery, psychology, oppression, friendship and many more things that can't be totally expressed through my short review.
The book starts off with the painful and sad demise of one of the most important characters in the story. Pollo and Bobby Ress are two brave police officers who are investigating a serial killer mystery. At first, they encountered the murder of a local priest called Aldo Mucci. But the murderer didn't stop there. He/She continued to kill more people and ended up killing three priests. But the police including Bobby and Pollo was clueless as the murderer had always succeeded in killing the priests without leaving any evidence. After the murder of Pollo in a gunfight, Bobby embarked on the path to avenge his partner's death. Luckily, he was able to meet the head of a tribal gang called Manga Kahu who promised him to hand over the murderer of Pollo. Meanwhile, another murder had happened, and Bobby deduced that it was the same killer who had killed the priests and his beloved partner. In the end, Bobby found this man, but the story surprises the reader at the very end by exposing the real killer.
The story is great without a shadow of a doubt. The book has a very realistic storyline. The characters such as Pollo, Bobby, Bowldy were very well-written. Also, the murder scenes were very explicit in their description. The plot is written in a way that the reader can also take part in solving the murder mysteries. I mostly liked how the book discussed the negative impacts of colonization on the tribal people. The tribal people called the Maori's were oppressed by the Europeans. Though the names and stories are made up, the problems of colonization are very much real in our world. The book discusses a lot about Forensic Psychology. It sheds light on the mind of a serial killer and shows us how trauma and pain can lead a man into the wrong path. It also explains how vengeance can be self-destructive and turn people into monsters.
I was unable to find any loopholes in the story. The murder scenes in the story were really brutal, but I found them okay. Though it can be too much for someone else. I rarely found any grammatical or spelling mistakes in the book. Since the conversations between the characters in the book were in the colloquial language, the grammatical mistakes are not questionable.
Impressed by the rich storyline and strong character development, I rate this book 4 out of 4 stars. I didn't give it a 3 or 2 because there were no grammatical or spelling mistakes and the story was able to surprise me at the very end. I would recommend this book to someone who loves Crime, Mystery, and Thriller. I would not recommend this book to someone who doesn't like to read about traumatic events. Also, there is some sexual content in the book. So kids should stay away from this book.
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Pancake Money
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