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Jo Birmingham #4
Blink
A hitmanDI Gavin Sexton is looking into a spate of teenage suicides when he encounters a young girl, paralyzed with locked-in syndrome. Unable to communicate in any other way, she blinks the ‘I hired a hitman’.Was it suicide?Recovering from loss of sight, Sexton’s old partner DI Jo Birmingham is keeping her promise to investigate the apparent suicide of Sexton’s own wife, Maura. But why does he no longer seem to care?Secrets thrive on stigmaSexton believes the girl who cannot move has suffered enough. But how far should he go to protect her? And what if Jo discovers an uncomfortable truth?Blink will grab you from the first page, and won’t let go.
320 pages, Paperback
First published August 15, 2013
10 people are currently reading
45 people want to read
About the author
Niamh O'Connor
23 books24 followersNiamh O'Connor is one of Ireland's best known crime authors. She is a crime reporter with the Sunday World, Ireland's biggest selling Sunday newspaper, for whom she has written five true crime books which were given away with the newspaper. Her job, in which she interviews both high profile criminals and their victims means she knows the world she is writing about.
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Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews
September 9, 2013
I have always enjoyed this series featuring DI Jo Birmingham, and the last book was left with a potentially great start for the next book. The synopsis also sounded intriguing so I was really keen to get started with the latest instalment in the series. What threw me overall was how little Jo actually featured in this book. I think you would be hard pressed to say 25%! Instead we get to see her colleague Gavin Sexton take more of a central lead along with DS Aishling McConigle.
The story sounded intriguing, but what frustrated me was the feeling that the general story was very disjointed. There were huge sections on the `if's, buts and maybe's' and not enough of everything else. I also managed (don't know how) to get really confused keeping track of all the teenagers names. This alone, and then coupled with the fact that Jo Birmingham features so little made me feel like this book just didn't fit.
I also don't recall Gavin Sexton being such an idiot! It seemed like he had morphed into a different character in this book and I felt like I was reading somebody's first (and clumsy) attempt at a series. The book wasn't a total write off and there are glimmers of O'Connor's talent as an author. But I felt like the series had made a shift that wasn't necessary. Overall, and towards the end of the book it seemed to be coming together a little more and my interest was higher than it had been. That said, this was way off the mark for NOC, and I ended up feeling really disappointed.
I have been a fan of this series, but as I've said in previous reviews for her books; I feel like I'm waiting for the brilliance to shine through. Thankfully, the book ended with an insight and (hopefully) the return of Jo back as the lead character (which is as it should be!). I hope that people continue reading this series and don't base all of her books on this single one as I feel the readers would be missing out. I never like giving books such low star ratings, but I really couldn't justify any more that this based on this story alone. I can only hope that the next book sees the return of that great writing Niamh O'Connor has produced in the past.
The story sounded intriguing, but what frustrated me was the feeling that the general story was very disjointed. There were huge sections on the `if's, buts and maybe's' and not enough of everything else. I also managed (don't know how) to get really confused keeping track of all the teenagers names. This alone, and then coupled with the fact that Jo Birmingham features so little made me feel like this book just didn't fit.
I also don't recall Gavin Sexton being such an idiot! It seemed like he had morphed into a different character in this book and I felt like I was reading somebody's first (and clumsy) attempt at a series. The book wasn't a total write off and there are glimmers of O'Connor's talent as an author. But I felt like the series had made a shift that wasn't necessary. Overall, and towards the end of the book it seemed to be coming together a little more and my interest was higher than it had been. That said, this was way off the mark for NOC, and I ended up feeling really disappointed.
I have been a fan of this series, but as I've said in previous reviews for her books; I feel like I'm waiting for the brilliance to shine through. Thankfully, the book ended with an insight and (hopefully) the return of Jo back as the lead character (which is as it should be!). I hope that people continue reading this series and don't base all of her books on this single one as I feel the readers would be missing out. I never like giving books such low star ratings, but I really couldn't justify any more that this based on this story alone. I can only hope that the next book sees the return of that great writing Niamh O'Connor has produced in the past.
August 17, 2014
A lot of characters and side stories, twists and turns. An intriguing book that keeps you guessing all the time but can also be a tad confusing as different people are introduced throughout. Some parts are a bit far fetched for me but I did like the book overall. Well except the ending where the final secret is revealed and which meant I gave a 3 instead of 4
August 31, 2023
This, I think, is the best book in the series. I prefer the complex, flawed character of Sexton to Jo Birmingham, so it's good to see him occupying most of the story. And what a story! It's not just that it's "twisty" with some great surprises (those of us who read a lot of thrillers will expect that, and early on will have figured out who to trust, if not exactly why); it's the use of real human nature to drive the main plot that I find fascinating. The story focuses on a group of teenagers who are all apparently committing suicide or trying to, including a paralysed teenager who tells a detective she hired a hitman. What emerges is a devastating story about peer-group dynamics, teenagers and their parents, the thin veil between Dublin's respectable middle-class society and the crime gangs who really run the city, and modern policing vs the old-fashioned, instinctive kind . I don't want to spoil it so I'll stop here.
July 15, 2017
I just couldn't read this book past the first paragraph. The blurb makes the book sound good enough to read but literally the first line of the book is;
"Lucy Starling claps a GHD down a length of two-tone hair - dark at the roots, peroxide blond at the tips - tilting her hair with the tug."
This is something I didn't expect to read when I read the blurb. It drags the whole tone of the book down. Plus could the author have not picked a better name that "sexton" Is that even a real second name? I didn't like the fact that I was seeing the word 'sex' everywhere.
If you want an interesting book then go read something else, this is terrible!
"Lucy Starling claps a GHD down a length of two-tone hair - dark at the roots, peroxide blond at the tips - tilting her hair with the tug."
This is something I didn't expect to read when I read the blurb. It drags the whole tone of the book down. Plus could the author have not picked a better name that "sexton" Is that even a real second name? I didn't like the fact that I was seeing the word 'sex' everywhere.
If you want an interesting book then go read something else, this is terrible!
September 14, 2018
Ok, so I didn't know this one was part of a series. But that being said, I didn't even really like the characters or story. Talking about characters, there were far too many and i had a really hard time working out who was who. I might have skimmed here and there ... the story just didn't grip me like the blurb promised.
February 25, 2019
A brilliant book couldn't put it down
July 6, 2020
Kept me guessing till the end
September 27, 2015
After reading all 3 previous books in the Jo Birmingham series I was highly anticipating the final book were it would all be wrapped up though to be honest I don't want the series to end as I have really liked Jo throughout.
Sadly this book really fell short, I was very disappointed and as a result I got bored,there wasn't that lure to read the next chapter and so forth.
This series is about Jo Birmingham and as a character I adore her but she was barely in about 5 percent of this whole book, we were thrown tit bits of her and her family, even though she was recovering from and dealing with being blind she obviously couldn't be working but this was a massive thing for her and her family to be dealing with but she was just forgot about. Oh yes she was there at the end so to wrap the series up but a mere few pages and that was it done.
The storyline itself was good and interesting but it was so confusing, there were so many teenagers involved that I was always stopping to remind myself who each one was, who she was friends with, and I was beyond lost as to who their parents were. There were just too many people involved for it to be a credible plot.
Sexton was featured heavily throughout and in previous books I liked him somewhat but he really came across as sly and underhand at times and quite unlikeable.
The female lead on the case, McConnigle I think she was just popped up out of nowhere really. She appeared in the last book as helping Jo and this one she is taking the lead and is all over it, when you barely know a character more than half way through a series to just thrust them into a leading roll is kinda insane and in this case not a good move as I could never take her seriously or really cared for what she was doing.
So all in all a massive let down.
As a stand alone book it would probably have worked better but not for fans of the series.
Sadly this book really fell short, I was very disappointed and as a result I got bored,there wasn't that lure to read the next chapter and so forth.
This series is about Jo Birmingham and as a character I adore her but she was barely in about 5 percent of this whole book, we were thrown tit bits of her and her family, even though she was recovering from and dealing with being blind she obviously couldn't be working but this was a massive thing for her and her family to be dealing with but she was just forgot about. Oh yes she was there at the end so to wrap the series up but a mere few pages and that was it done.
The storyline itself was good and interesting but it was so confusing, there were so many teenagers involved that I was always stopping to remind myself who each one was, who she was friends with, and I was beyond lost as to who their parents were. There were just too many people involved for it to be a credible plot.
Sexton was featured heavily throughout and in previous books I liked him somewhat but he really came across as sly and underhand at times and quite unlikeable.
The female lead on the case, McConnigle I think she was just popped up out of nowhere really. She appeared in the last book as helping Jo and this one she is taking the lead and is all over it, when you barely know a character more than half way through a series to just thrust them into a leading roll is kinda insane and in this case not a good move as I could never take her seriously or really cared for what she was doing.
So all in all a massive let down.
As a stand alone book it would probably have worked better but not for fans of the series.
July 2, 2015
I received a copy of Blink from the author, Niamh O'Connor, in return for an honest review.
DI Gavin Sexton is investigating a spate of teenage suicides when he meets Lucy, school d friend of the deceased who is paralysed with locked-in syndrome following a car crash. What appears initially to be the result of some kind of suicide club turns out to be something entirely different indeed. Sexton needs to unravel the many secrets surrounding the investigation to uncover the terrible truth. This novel had me hooked from the start and pulled me in to the case as I experienced that 'just one more chapter' effect in the early hours of the morning.
Blink is certainly enticing, living up to the 'realistic and gripping' Lynda La Plante quote on the front cover. 4.5/5
DI Gavin Sexton is investigating a spate of teenage suicides when he meets Lucy, school d friend of the deceased who is paralysed with locked-in syndrome following a car crash. What appears initially to be the result of some kind of suicide club turns out to be something entirely different indeed. Sexton needs to unravel the many secrets surrounding the investigation to uncover the terrible truth. This novel had me hooked from the start and pulled me in to the case as I experienced that 'just one more chapter' effect in the early hours of the morning.
Blink is certainly enticing, living up to the 'realistic and gripping' Lynda La Plante quote on the front cover. 4.5/5
February 8, 2014
this book is class! Grabbed me from the very start, how the chapters were set, focusing on different people was a bit confusing and I coildnt quite grasp who was who, especially within the polic force but that didnt change how fantastic and amazing the storyline is, the plot twists were crazy, the entire story was crazy! one of the best books ive ever read, super interesting
April 6, 2014
I felt the same about this as I felt about 'Too Close for Comfort'; really good until the end where it got messy and fell apart.
May 1, 2015
Original and compelling with lots of twists and turns. It would be impossible to predict all the answers. Very enjoyable.
Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews