Great page-turner, that is lifted a bit above the ordinary by the author's confident handling of the routines of police investigation and her clever use of the everyday coping mechanisms of Underground commuters in London (or any big city, really ...)
Nifty little psychological thriller that, for me, resonated because I remember all too well the day-to-day indignities that a commuter has to endure, and the routines that you slip into, in order to make your journey easier and more bearable. Mackintosh has come up with a clever way that someone with the appropriate computer skills could exploit that stoic endurance, and that autopilot behaviour.
The groundedness of the concept, and description of the investigation is somewhat undermined by things turning a little "Jason Bourne," as things progress. Saying more would be risking spoilers. Also, with all due respect to Mackintosh's background in law enforcement, I really wonder whether anyone who has such a tendency to ignore orders, and has such a lot of personal baggage, as her protagonist London Transport Police officer and would=be member of the CID, Kelly Swift, would have lasted more five minutes after her first I'm following my instinct moment ...
But very readable, for all that ...
Nifty little psychological thriller that, for me, resonated because I remember all too well the day-to-day indignities that a commuter has to endure, and the routines that you slip into, in order to make your journey easier and more bearable. Mackintosh has come up with a clever way that someone with the appropriate computer skills could exploit that stoic endurance, and that autopilot behaviour.
The groundedness of the concept, and description of the investigation is somewhat undermined by things turning a little "Jason Bourne," as things progress. Saying more would be risking spoilers. Also, with all due respect to Mackintosh's background in law enforcement, I really wonder whether anyone who has such a tendency to ignore orders, and has such a lot of personal baggage, as her protagonist London Transport Police officer and would=be member of the CID, Kelly Swift, would have lasted more five minutes after her first I'm following my instinct moment ...
But very readable, for all that ...
