Pig Island

Never read such a sickening book. Only reason I finished it was to see what the "devil" was.

Wow. This was good but WAY messed up... Mo Hayder is a strange, strange woman. I did enjoy reading this, but part of the mystery was given away by reading the acknowledgments (so beware of that!). And there were definite hints to the ending twist... it does seem to beg for a sequel, as there were a few loose ends but, all in all, I really enjoyed reading this. I am, however, at a total loss as to what to read next, though I will definitely keep an eye for more of this woman's work.

I just finished this book last night, literally in one setting. Another success from the pen/keyboard of Ms Hayder. This work is in the vein of her first two novels. Dark, mysterious, and a final slam-dunk conclusion at the end. For anyone who has read her earlier works I highly recommend Pig Island. If you loved the earlier ones, you will this one as well. I am currently on the hunt for her latest work, Ritual. I'm looking forward to it as it reunites us with her earlier detective character. It will be interesting to see how she develops it.

I can't believe how Mo Hayder comes up with this stuff to write about. I have read all of her books and now am waiting for "Ritual" to come in the mail. This book's plot was just plain weird and crazy--not too much gore going on, but a whole lot of freak weaving its way through the book. Plot: Journalist who debunks religious cults and healing remedies pisses off a cult leader, because he calls him a fake. He finds out the cult leader is living in the northern part of Scotland on an island that is being used as a chemical waster dump. Also on the island is another cult who is much nicer and needs a bit of financial help to keep its Wicca ways alive. They invite journalist (who happens to be involved on the mainland with a emotionally high maintenance girlfriend) to write a story about how stable this little community on the island is-----BUT---all hell breaks loose with madness, deformity, murder, lies, manipulations, and a whole lot of rotting pigs......................mmmmmmmmmmmmm. Like I say about Mo Hayder. If you can't stand a lot of profanity, sex, gore, vulgarity, decadency and plain crudeness, her books are not for you.

Mo Hayder is certainly eclectic. Her newest novel is a departure from her last book, which took place in Nanking during World War II. This one is centered on a religious group that occupies a small island off the coast of the United Kingdom and their bizarre evangelical leader. The protagonist is a writer from London with a compulsion to expose the religious zealot who, years before, had falsely diagnosed and then "cured" him of a supposed cancer. The story is shocking and I don't want to give away too much here except to say it revolves around mass murder and the mysterious daughter of the man leading the cult. The story is told from the point of view of the writer and his wife, a woman that has serious issues of her own. The writer, wife and young woman form a dangerous triangle which leads to a twist at the end that, although you may see it coming, is still shocking and yet satisfying. Mo Hayder may not be everyone's cup of tea but she has a distinctive voice and I find her writing to be compelling and original.

This is a smart, fast moving and violent mystery novel with the sort of final twist that leaves you shocked and surprised. It is a very clever book indeed. The plot in a nutshell - Pig Island is not too far from the mainland, but is notoriously isolated and famous for 2 things - a home made video, apparently authenticated, of a "monster" living there, and the fact that the local inhabitants are from some sort of religious sect who keep to themselves. A journalist, who has made a career of debunking myths surrounding such sects and their new found messiahs decides to visit, and find out for himself what is really happening there. He finds the locals, all seemingly "normal" existing in fear of the devil, who lives in isolation on half of the island. Of course all is not what it seems, and I must warn that the violence (or rather the aftermath of the violence) depicted here is graphic to the extreme, but it quite cleverly adds to the disturbing nature of the tale. Drawn into this atmosphere of fear is the journalist, and his family, who remain on the mainland. There are many questions of acceptance and tolerance woven into this clever tale, and at the very end there is a twist which I never saw coming, and that just makes this fast moving story all the more satisfying. If you like your mysteries a little different, then this is for you.