Aftermath: A Novel of Suspense

Robinson does a fabulous job of combining some of the realisticdetails of violent crime, and police work, along with makingthe story an entertaining read.There is a fine line between the technical details of crime andpolice work, on the one hand, and the entertaining, readablestory-telling on the other, but this author knows exactly howto handle this line, and "Aftermath" is a masterpiece of combining the 2 facets of crime-writing.This book contains a few necessary "dirty" details, but no morethan is required for this story. Anyone who complains about toomuch detail of blood, vicious and depraved motives, and twistedpersonalities have no concept of what is present in genuinecrime and the shocks real police officers encounter.The author touches on, and explores a bit, the very complexquestions of the level of responsibility of a woman involved ina bloody crime along with her male partner. The fact that hedoesn't present some veneer-thin explanation, that might beeasy to understand, shows his understanding of the difficultyof explaining and categorizing some of these relationships.Robinson has said this novel wasn't based on the infamous Bernardo-Homolka case in Ontario, but there are some veryparallel facts present, and we should give credit for someinspiration from a very real, and more horrific, case than hiswork here could convey.Here is a work that is thought-provoking, realistic and quiteentertaining. Most highly recommended.

I have loved Peter Robinson since reading his first book. He has continued to develop the character of Alan Banks and the women that populate his life, all appearing in "Aftermath." Since I am not fond of reader reviews that tell me all the details of a novel before I read it, I will only say this is one of the more disturbing cases Banks has investigated. Yet, the events that unfold are made more understandable, particularly by the character of Dr. Jenny Fuller, a psychologist and recurring figure in Bank's life both personally and professionally. The best part of this novel, as always, is Banks; a man who really loves women. I suspect that Peter Robinson does too, he seems to understand the subtle nuances in the way women think, and the complexities and frustrations of the "new" women working in traditional male roles. On the other hand, male readers will identify with Banks' confusion about the women in his life, specifically, Banks' emotional relationship to his ex-wife and the sometimes rocky road he walks with his son and daughter. In "Aftermath" he discovers something about his ex-wife, something he never expected. His reaction struck a realistic cord for me.If you love the Alan Banks series, if you love descriptive writing about places and people, if you want more than just a gruesome mystery, Peter Robinson is your man. I am English born and Robinson brings my country and countrymen to life. They are real, living and breathing on every page. Frankly, Robinson can't write these novels fast enough for me.

"Aftermath" by Peter Robinson is an excellent and precise look at police procedure. More accurately, it is a look at what happens after the police have 'nabbed' the wrongdoer, but when there are still loose ends and niggling doubts about the case at hand. As usual Peter Robinson has written a wonderfully crafted novel that is an absolutely compelling and absorbing read.When probationary PC Janet Taylor and PC Dennis Morrisey respond to the call to checkout the Payne residence because of a report of suspected domestic abuse, they little expect the horror that awaits them. They find Lucy Payne, badly beaten up in the hallway, and a crazed Terry Payne in the basement, armed with a machete. He attacks them, and mortally wounds PC Morrisey; and while PC Taylor does manage to subdue him, she has to use extreme force in order to do so. For the paramedics and the police who respond to the 'officer down' call, the sight of a badly beaten and concussed Terry Payne, and that of Taylor drenched in Morrisey's blood is horrendous enough, however a further grisly find also awaits them in the basement: the body of a young dead girl, tied to a bed. It looks as if unwittingly, Taylor and Morrisey had stumbled onto the lair of the Chameleon, a sadistic serial murderer and rapist who, magically, over a period of months was able to kidnap young teenage girls off the streets, without ever having been seen or detected. Acting Detective Superintendent Alan Banks has been in on the case from the very beginning, and is jubilant that Payne has finally been apprehended (even if he is currently in a coma). However, a few things niggle at Banks. The biggest being exactly what role Payne's wife, Lucy, played in this horrifying crime. Was she, as she claims, the extremely fragile and abused wife who knew nothing of her husband's exploits? Or was she a reluctant accomplice? Or was she something much, much more? Banks cannot shake the conviction that Lucy was a lot more involved in the crimes than she is letting on. But evidence is in short supply. With time running out, Banks enlists the help of an old friend, forensic psychologist Jenny Fuller, to help unravel the enigma of Lucy Payne.Once I started reading "Aftermath" I simply could not put it down. With each new chapter, fresh horrors were revealed, that kept me absolutely riveted to the page. "Aftermath" is not really an armchair detecting kind of mystery novel. It's more of a look at the truly dark and horrendous side of the human psyche. It is also a look at police procedure -- the never-ending interviews with suspects and potential witnesses, the collating of facts and forensic evidence, and the politics that dictates how an investigation will go. The pacing of the book was brilliant: Robinson juxtaposed the subplots that dealt with Dr. Fuller's investigation into Lucy's past, with those that dealt with Banks's private life, his tying up of loose ends in the case and the subplot that dealt with the police investigation in

"Aftermath" is the most recent entry in the British police procedural featuring Superintendent Alan Banks. For those of you who have followed this series, you are in for quite a surprise. Peter Robinson has done what very few authors of a series have been able to accomplish. He has taken a very popular series of books that were on the cozy side and with each succeeding book made the stories deeper and more meaningful and the characters richer and more complex. With this book, he has passed over from the rather mild British police procedural into the realm of Val McDermid land. In a brutally graphic manner, Mr. Robinson tells his story about a serial rapist and murderer while exploring child abuse, sexual exploitation, espousal abuse and the very dark side of the human psyche. Along the way, Mr. Robinson adds more layers to the straight forward Alan Banks we met in the earlier books. We have come to discover that this is a complicated man who is in conflict about his broken marriage and the demands of his job. Mr. Robinson has paid the same attention to each character in this book, creating a rich and multi-dimensional cast of players. One can only applaud him for taking this series in a totally new direction. I imagine it is not that easy for an author to fiddle with a wildly popular series. Mr. Robinson took that chance and we, the readers, are the beneficiaries of his willingness to explore new vistas.

I have followed Robinson's Alan Banks through his entire Eastvale career in the previous books, and this current look into his life reassures me that Banks is continuing to mature in his profession and his private life.As with all good mysteries, the plot is engaging, the story line compelling, and the suspense keeps the reader turning page after page, chapter after chapter long past the sensible time to turn off the light and catch a little bit of sleep before work the next day.But in my estimation, a great novel's true value is not in its ability to entertain with the imagination, but instead to enrich with reality. That's what Aftermath does. Through the characters and events of this wonderfully crafted world, the introspective reader can learn and grow about self-destructiveness, noble character, honesty, duplicity, deadly misperceptions, kindness . . . . A truly rich mine of personal discovery and awareness that affects not only the lives of Robinson's characters, but also the lives of attentive readers.I had a special interest in the aspect of the story dealing with satanic ritual abuse of children (SRA) since as an investigative journalist I was one of the first (in 1989)to uncover evidence that the almost fad-like scare was almost entirely urban legend fomented by irresponsible therapy and the completely unscientifically supported theory that SRA could be validated through "recovered memories" hidden by "robust repression." While my articles were vilified as satanic disinformation at the time, the tide has turned and most of the scientific, philosophy of religion, therapeutic, and media circles now concur with my initial findings (and those of other careful researchers). Unfortunately, many novelists haven't kept current nor thought critically about the issue and simply use it as a literary device, a convenient paradigm for grisly crimes and emotions of terror. By buying into such non-truth, their novels immediately throw the knowledgable reader like me into complete awareness that I'm not viewing a corner of reality put to paper but a "made up story." Thankfully, Robinson rises to the occasion and treats the issue with a sensitivity, thoughtfulness, and complexity that does justice to the truth without didactic preaching, black-and-white polarization, or cheap sensationalism.Does anyone know Robinson's E-mail address or author's Web site? I would love to thank him for an excellent book that has made me a better person for having viewed the world of Eastvale and Inspector Banks through Robinson's eyes.