The Treatment » (Reprint)

MO HAYDER is the author of the critically acclaimed Birdman (Doubleday). She lives in London, England.

From the Hardcover edition.

The suspense is relentless in The Treatment, an emotional powerhouse of a thriller that brings back Jack Caffery, the detective from Mo Hayder’s acclaimed novel Birdman. A masterful blend of psychological insight and forensic detail, Hayder’s latest thriller is as chilling as it is heartbreaking, a gritty, gripping tour de force of suspense.

It is a perfect summer day in London’s up-market Brockwell Park. Yet, behind the elegant facade of one house, a man and his wife have been taken prisoner in their own home and their young son has disappeared. But the final horror of their terrifying ordeal is still to be revealed.

Called in to investigate, Jack Caffery tries desperately to make sense of the meager clues found at the crime scene. But the echoes of a devastating disappearance in his own past make it impossible for him to view the crime objectively. And as Jack digs deeper, as the disturbing parallels between past and present mount, the real nightmares begin...

Publishers Weekly

This sequel to Hayder's 2001 debut Birdman is as raw as a predawn autopsy, and promises to please fans of her beleaguered protagonist DI Jack Caffery and his weary crew of London cops and coroners. The book trades its predecessor's taboo (necrophilia) for pedophilia, with Hayder delving deeper into the nitty-gritty of police work than many of her American counterparts dare. Called in when a young couple are discovered handcuffed and half-dead in their home, Caffery's infamous Area Metropolitan Investigation Team ("The murder squad, you mean?") combs a seedy park in a gentrifying slum looking for the couple's missing eight-year-old son. Caffery leaves no stone unturned, bringing in helicopters and human remains dogs ("You do know that if we find him the dogs might, uh, destroy some evidence, don't you?") and broods over the resemblance of the case to his own brother's childhood disappearance. With the discovery of the boy's mutilated corpse, Caffery and his boss, the affable DCI Danniella Souness, turn South London upside down hunting the sadistic killer. Meanwhile, the author introduces potential suspects in a parallel narrative, their hidden vices described with stomach-churning clarity. Hayder handles procedural detail ("All prisons in London insist on being informed about any helicopter that passes. It keeps them calm"), dialogue ("I'm not a shagging Yank, you know") and volatile subject matter with powerful dexterity, crafting another deliciously chilling thriller. (Dec. 26) Forecast: This was a bestseller in England and should significantly build Hayder's fan base in the U.S. Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information.