• 30/11/2022
• By wizewebsite
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REVIEW Robert Bryndza, The Abyss of Death. As for the murders, another motif dominates the book<

Photo: Courtesy of Cosmopolis (as well as images in the text)

Description: Kate Marshall's third case is out now...

When I read about all kinds of murderers and people who like to cause pain to others, I always wonder what drives them to do it. I am not alone. Investigators, survivors, and the media are looking for an answer. Why? Because the key to uncovering the perpetrators is not only the modus operandi, but above all the motive. I was afraid that the violence in the new Bryndza, which could be expected, would be conditioned by the so-called love of readers. That he will pander and try to shock. It did not happen. The reasons for the actions in the Abyss of Death are all too compelling. Unfortunately.

Robert Bryndza is a British author living permanently in Slovakia with his husband Ján. His first thriller, Girls in the Ice, sold more than two million copies abroad. The title was named a bestseller by The Wall Street Journal and USA Today, and rights were sold into twenty-nine languages.

The Girl in the Ice (Dívka v led) was the first part of the series with investigator Erika Foster. Other sequels, Night Stalker (Night Hunt), Dark Water (Dark Depths), Last Breath (Until the last breath), Cold Blood (Cold Blood) and Deadly Secrets (Deadly Secrets) remained on the top of the best-selling books.

Bryndza has been working since the turn of 2018 / 2019 on a series of cases of the new heroine Kate Marshall, a woman with a troubled fate and a strong sense of justice, whom she introduced as an investigator in the book Cannibal from Nine Elms (Nine Elms). Next was the Mist over the Shadow Sands and now the Abyss of Death. All of them are interesting because of how firmly Bryndza alternates inner worlds (personal life) with dialogues leading to the detection of the perpetrators.

We wrote

REVIEW The expected book by Robert Bryndza again excellent. Mist over Shadow Sands

We wrote

REVIEWS Robert Bryndza changed his saddle, created a new heroine and a new series. Cannibal from Nine Elms is out

If you don't know the author, definitely start with Cannibal from Nine Elms. As I forget some detective stories, not this one. In addition, you will meet her several times during the reading of the current novel. These are small and casual flashbacks, through which the author reveals the development of the characters, especially Tristan Harper and Kate Marshall.

It is their detective agency that gets the first big case. Twelve years ago, investigative journalist Joanna Duncan uncovered a political scandal and then mysteriously disappeared. Most people have already forgotten, only Joanna's mother is still searching for her daughter. Kate and Tristan use Joanna's files and notes as their investigation, following her footsteps step by step. Among her personal belongings, Kate discovers the names of two young men who have also disappeared.

As she pieces together the final days of these three missing people, Kate realizes that Joanna may have encountered something far more sinister than anyone could have imagined: a serial killer.

The whole story takes place over a period of about one month. It is introduced by a bravura scene in which you learn what happened to the journalist. It was on September 7, 2002. Then you move forward thirteen years and gradually uncover the truth. As always, Bryndza distracts and tries to get the reader to focus on one significant stimulus. I got hooked too. I was at home when it came out that Joanna had called attention to the wrongdoing of an MP who was about to resign. I thought that was a fairly simple explanation. But it wasn't. You can read about MP Huntleym (hunt - hunting) in the introduction. The denouement thus occurs twenty pages before the end. By the way, the book has approximately 350 pages, which is a sufficiently significant footage to highlight the author's writing.

Robert Bryndza's new thriller will show you just how deep the Abyss of DEATH can be

Bryndza writes in the end that he values ​​readers' reactions and personal recommendations the most. If I didn't know his entire body of work, I might be on edge. I have one question mark. Abnormal underlining of homosexuality. Bars, relationships, prostitution. I hesitated several times. I was still searching for meaning. After all, it is not primarily important to say who is sleeping with whom. It doesn't matter, I told myself. And flipped back. Sure sure. It didn't dawn on me that certain italicized text was the key and driving force. If the same thing happens to you, don't worry, everything is explained at the end. By which I am responding to my own annotation. Where the motive is... The motive is where the cause is. In many cases, the cause is helplessness leading to bullying and violence. The pent-up feeling inside the victims grows. When it grows into forms that none of us want to meet.

If you were to wave your hand at a similar development, you would be making a mistake. An awful lot of children, for example in children's homes, still remember in their adulthood who ever stood up for them, who on the contrary pretended that they would rather see nothing and did not help. It doesn't matter if it was parents, teachers, other children. They have it in them for decades. Now translate that into a world where you get beaten up as a child because you think differently. Everyone kicks. An authority figure, such as a teacher, from whom you primarily expect help, looks on indifferently...

When I'm thinking out loud, it's nice to key English puns with names. As Huntley is the hunter, David Lamb is the scapegoat. Lamb has exactly the same expression in English. Bryndza, I'll put my hand in the fire, that's what he meant.

The cost of Bryndz's next book is high as usual. On the publisher's website, it is already in first place on the list of best-selling titles.

Although the book is about several murders, I think there were five in total, and a couple of them the killer doesn't even remember by name... (completely believable and defensible), the background was mainly human rights and human hatred. This is the most valuable thing in the Abyss of Death. Robert Bryndza can write, he doesn't have to defend himself.

Abyss of death, which is also nice to add, nothing mythical is meant. The meaning clicked for me the moment I read about the hovercraft. The original title of the book is Darkness Falls. The translation by Kateřina Elisová was published by Cosmopolis, to whom I thank for the review copy. I will once again draw attention to another of the series of successful Bryndz covers, the author of which is Petr Hůlek (Honewa).

P.S. I tried, but he didn't find the error (Markéta Šlaufová, Julie Gonzálezová).

In all aspects, literally, a spirited text, a perfect denouement that confused even experienced readers like me. To this I add the overall comprehensibility of the killer's actions, friendly language without unnecessary clichés and an invisible emphasis on respect for others.

The Abyss of Death therefore earned 82 percent.

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REVIEW Jean-Luc Bannalec, Brittany Surf. Although French, he will not deny England. Agatha Christie would be delighted

Posted by: Zdeněk Svoboda