This is the 6th book of the Cormoran Strike series. Robert Galbraith aka JK Rowling continues to be one of my all-time favorite authors. Her storytelling and intelligence astounds me. This latest installment of Cormoran Strike and Robin Ellacott's detective adventures is a very complex story. I can't even imagine how Rowling keeps her details straight. She must have an amazing "story board".
Strike & Robin are finally making some money. They are becoming well-known private detectives. The problem is lack of help, not lack of cases. Personal issues always seem to interfere with their work lives as well. Strike pushes himself too hard, which is never good for his amputated leg/prosthetic. Reading how much pain he is in makes me grit my own teeth! And then there is Strike's personal life. He is still dealing with Charlotte. Heavy sigh. I am hoping after what she (and her soon to be ex-husband) put him through in this book, he will finally be rid of her forever. Strike also got involved with another woman named Madeline. I am still waiting patiently (impatiently??) for Strike to just admit to Robin how he feels about her and stop getting entangled with these other woman who sincerely don't interest him more than beauty and good sex. Honestly. Robin, who knows she loves Strike, can't bring herself to admit it either. So.... maybe in book 7??
This story brings us into the world of gaming. Edie Ledwell and Josh Blay develop a cartoon (a deep, dark cartoon) called the Ink Black Heart. This cartoon is a "hit" and inspires an impressive number of fans. Anomie & Morehouse decide to develop a game featuring the characters of the Ink Black Heart, called Drek's Game. Then things get crazy. Edie & Josh get attacked in a graveyard. Edie is killed and Josh is wounded so severely he is paralyzed after the attack. Strike & Robin are hired to find out the identity of Anomie who was terrorizing Edie online before her death. (She attempted to kill herself once.)
Rowling's knowledge of gaming is impressive. There are eight moderators of Drek's Game. The moderators talk (in the book) to each other in the Moderator Channel and also talk to each other using the Private Channel feature. They also use Twitter. The reader does not know who anyone is - and the moderators are not supposed to know who each of the other seven are. ("Rule 14") These chats are formatted within the book. It's super hard to keep everyone straight, especially since we don't know who anyone is, and we don't even know their genders. In order to figure out who Anomie is, Strike & Robin need to get into the game. Anomie, who admits online that he killed Edie, is wary of the police getting into the game, so he refuses to let new players in. Robin manages to figure out a way to get into the game.
Like I said earlier, this is a very complex storyline with a lot of characters! The book is over 1,000 pages long too. Despite the length, I am always sad when I get near the end. I really love Strike, Robin and their relationship. There are supposedly only four more books left in this series. I will treasure every word of them, because I will be super bummed when it's all over.
Wendy's Rating: *****
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