Wolf

A Jack Caffery Thriller, Book 7

By: Mo Hayder

Narrated by: Jot Davies

When a vagrant - the Walking Man - finds a dog wandering alone with the words Help Us written on its collar, he's sure it's a desperate plea from someone in trouble and calls on Detective Inspector Jack Caffery to investigate. Caffery has no idea who or what he is searching for, but one thing he is sure of: it's a race against time. Meanwhile, the Anchor-Ferrers, a wealthy local family, are fighting for their lives in their remote home 10 miles away. Two men have tricked their way into the house and are holding the family for ransom. Yet as the captors' demands become increasingly bizarre and humiliating, it becomes clear that this is more than a random crime - it's a personal vendetta.

©2014 Mo Hayder (P)2014 Random House Audiobooks (UK)

Unexpected Twists and Turns

The late Mo Hayder was an excellent writer. The first book I ever read of hers was called Pig Island and I was hooked on her style and characters.

It’s such a bummer that she died so young - fifty nine. It’s a real loss to the writing community that has made me cherish her books more.

Wolf is the seventh book in her Jack Caffery thriller series. I listened to it as an audio book (Thank you Audible!). It was narrated by Jot Davies who does all of the Jack Caffery books (I think). Excellent narration of an excellently written book.

As some of you know, I am an author myself. I feel like that gives me an insider’s view of stories which makes it super surprising to me that I didn’t expect the twists Mo did with this book.

Personally, I hate the spoilers I find in some reviews. Sometimes it’s like those movie trailers where they show you every good part of the movie. So, I will try to tell you how great this book is without telling you about what happens in it.

The book seems to be heading one direction with the bad guys doing bad things to the good guys and then, bada bing, something truly unexpected and surprising happens to change the situation. And then it happens again. I know, I know - that’s not saying much. But trust me, the shuffling that happens during the third act is pulled off masterfully. If you like British crime thrillers with realistic and flawed characters, you will love this book.

Highly recommended.

Different narrator than the other novels

Would you recommend this book to a friend? Why or why not?

I have enjoyed the entire Jack Caffrey series with a combination of reading and listening. I've liked them all, and was especially captivated by the narrator for the other audio books. This recent novel has a new narrator that I didn't care for, although it's difficult to replace a narrator that you've really come to appreciate.

As for the story itself I must also say that I'm sure it was just as good as the other books in the series. I, however, couldn't continue once I realized part of the story involved a dog being tortured. I want to emphasize that this is not a bad review- it's just a personal viewpoint and a caution for animal (particularly dog) lovers with sensitivity to animal cruelty.

Excellent Mystery and Suspense

This is 7th Jack Rafferty book, but my first experience with this author. It's a terrific story with great characters, even with the sad undercurrent of ,child abuse flowing throughout the book.

The walking man is fascinating, an ex-con and father of a murdered daughter who took revenge on his daughter's killer. While serving time he learned all he could from the imprisoned pedophiles, their motivations, fantasies, networks, etc. Now he's a nomad, searching carefully for the grave of his long dead daughter. He becomes a colorful, mysterious and valuable source for Jack Rafferty to help find a kidnapped family.

It's well written and read. Ive already tried another Mo Hayder book and plan on listening to several more.

Intense!

The violence in this book is graphic and disturbing. I fast forwarded through one of the earliest scenes because I saw no need for the violence aimed at an innocent animal. It really wasnt necessary to the storyline. All in all, however, I could not put the book down.

love love love all the jack Caffery books

I do not like that the narrative keeps changing and he doesn't pronounce the names the same as other books and also in this story.... but still a great book.