Sleepyhead (Tom Thorne Novels Book 1)

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In 2002, he was "in the middle of writing a screenplay for an Andrew Lloyd Webber musical and about to write a screenplay for a cult children's show," a sci-fi drama for the BBC, but turned to writing novels. [3] [9] Novels [ edit ] From an early age, Billingham wrote often "funny" stories for popularity and enjoyment. As his interests moved towards crime fiction, he set an early novel (the unpublished The Mechanic) in his native Birmingham. Inspired by the comic-crime work of Carl Hiaasen and other authors, he attempted to use his experience as a stand-up comedian and crime fan to write a similarly comic novel. [2] Ultimately he abandoned the unfinished novel and the comic-crime genre to focus on another book that would become Sleepyhead. These characters re-appear in the novels following this one and Sleepyhead does a good job of introducing them. Despite the fact that they are all rather 'of a type', they have enough individuality to produce a good framework for the main story. A body is discovered in London, near a train station. Always a good beginning for a murder mystery. But then another one is discovered, It takes Thorne a bit to realize that there is not one killer, but two. And these two commits crimes at the same time. Buried (Little, Brown & Company, May 2006), ISBN 0-316-73050-5; Orbit, May 2006, ISBN 0-356-24410-5; ( HarperCollins, August 2007), ISBN 0-06-125569-6

This series recently celebrated it's 20th anniversary and still holds firmly as a strong debut in the genre. After graduating with a degree in drama from the Department of Drama and Theatre Arts, he helped form a socialist theatre company, Bread & Circuses, in Birmingham. Bread & Circuses toured with shows in schools, colleges, arts centres and the street. [3] In the mid-1980s he moved to London as a "jobbing actor", taking minor roles in episodes of TV shows Dempsey and Makepeace, Juliet Bravo, Boon, and The Bill. [2] [4] After playing a variety of "bad guy roles such as a soccer hooligan, drug addict, a nasty copper, a racist copper or a bent copper", he claimed that he had become disenchanted with acting and that the emphasis was not on talent, but on looks. [3] Other contributors include: Laura Lippman • Lee Child • John Connolly • Lynda La Plante • John Harvey • Peter Robinson • Fidelis Morgan • Val McDermid • Karin Slaughter• Emma Donoghue• Denise Mina • Kelley Armstrong • Jane Haddam This is the second book in Mark Billingham's series about Tom Thorne, detective extraordinaire. This one dates from 2002 and, apart from a few period references e.g. Dixon's and teletext, it can easily be read as a contemporary police thriller. Indeed, the Tom Thorne series continues; the latest one, the 14th book, due in June 2017While there were familiar elements for fans of police procedurals and serial killer tales, Billingham also brought something fresh, both through his personal mix of elements and the hook to his debut storyline: the villain wasn't aiming to kill his victims; instead something that was even more chilling. SLEEPYHEAD is a goosebumps in the dark, restless sleep kind of read. A chiller more than a thriller. This latest case involves not one but two killers and the key to it all is what they struggle with. As usual the murders themselves have an air of creepiness about them (which is always a bonus in my eyes) but the actual story felt a bit boggy. I apologise for my descriptions (this is why I am a reader and NOT a writer). Do you know what I mean though, you are enjoying it, but you just feel like its all too much effort?!? Mark Billingham's Newsletter". December 2012. Archived from the original on 16 February 2013 . Retrieved 21 May 2013.

Besides the poor plot the book is written rather badly and what really annoyed me was the way the author talks about the characters as "He" I was left guessing as to who he was actually talking about. Then one of the worst pieces of writing I have ever seen where the Detectives lover gets into a car with the guy who he suspects as being the perp then is drugged and kidnapped. Although she has known the guy for 25 years, it's not him but his son, the real killer and he turns up to save the day completely unaware of what's going on. There are moments of genuine poignancy. I think in particular of some of the dialogue between Thorne and his junior, Holland or again the encounter between Holland,( incidentally a character I felt was a great creation but severely underused, maybe he comes more into his own in future books)and Maggie Byrne. This showed real sensitivity in the writing and added another strata to the novel which took it beyond mere blood and guts and began to move me to forgive Billingham for creating such a cliché ridden hero.The two basically share a birthday and have interest in music. When talking about the creation and development of his main character, the author notes the difficulty and worry which is involved in trying to create a personality different from those in other existing, popular and familiar works. He can also write a bit on the 'grisly' side, but it's not so much that the average mystery reader can't take it. If anyone is looking for a mesmerizing read, with rich character detail, and a complicated story which slowly, almost painfully unwinds, then this is the series for them. This was my first read of Mark Billingham's novels and his character Detective Inspector Tom Thorne. Nearly ten years on now when this debut was launched and I am guilty of not reading many British authors when it comes to crime and thrillers, I have loved John Connolly and his character Charlie Parker and read quite a few in the series and read maybe one Ian Rankin. I am impressed, the was pace was good and he got me on the perpetrator of the murders I did not see it.This was my first read of Mark Billingham's novels and his character Detective Inspector Tom Thorne. Nearly ten years on now when this debut was launched and I am guilty of not reading many British authors when it comes to crime and thrillers, I have loved John Connolly and his character Charlie Parker and read quite a few in the series and read maybe one Ian Rankin. I am impressed, the was pace was good and he got me on the perpetrator of the murders I did not see it. When it comes to reading this genre I have tended to lean more to across the shores and to the U.S.A talent of writers, the U.K novels have increased in number over the years since Ian Rankin and Billingham's and their are plenty of tastes to satisfy. I wanted to get a taste of Tom's debut appearance before I jumped in to a recent release Bloodline which I received via the publisher's galley pre-release.