Review: The Cutting Room

The Cutting Room by Jilliane Hoffman

My rating: 4 of 5 stars



Bloody ending, for this 1 star more than the book deserved.
A complicated storyline, going back to the first CJ-Book: [b:Retribution|90334|Retribution (C.J. Townsend #1)|Jilliane Hoffman|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1375371701s/90334.jpg|1469352], I wrote a review/comment a few days ago there.
The other book helps in understanding what happens here, but is not totally necessary.
As with the first book I was disturbed not by the gruesome murders, torture and other things, but by law enforcement, cops, lawyers and judges twisting the law and creating crime scenes or changing them.
Also, as most is told again, for those, who like me have read [b:Retribution|90334|Retribution (C.J. Townsend #1)|Jilliane Hoffman|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1375371701s/90334.jpg|1469352], it dragged at times, there was a lot of flashbacks and internal thinking of the main characters which did not advance the story for me nor heighten the suspense.
The vigilante-actions where not criticized and even the actions within the law where sometimes highly questionable, although all of this is more realistic than I like it to be, these things do happen, and like the death-sentence something I strongly object. At least in the book it shown that these kind of deals is morally questionable. The goal was not achieved, so in the end most is lost, and some lost their live.
While in the beginning most characters from law enforcement seem to be on the good side, in the end, there are only bad ones and worse ones - and some serial killers, which always have my sympathy.
With C J being the main character of a few books, and me having only read 2 so far, the already mentioned Retribution and this one, skipping the other with CJ, I did not like her in the first book and still do not like her, and I think, in the end that the loser-cop Manny is the only one who has done nothing wrong.
The main reason, why I bought this book was also a let down: I read the blurb about the club and hoped there would be a lot more about the case being technical and the investigation not about the (boring) people, but about the internet, proxies, VPN etc. the stuff we all work with every day to muddy our tracks from surveillance by the GCHQ and NSA. Also the club-site of hiding their tracks was not explained.
OK, that maybe hard for a non-technical-person to write, but there are only few books which are not in the SF-genre writing about this.
For Fans of vigilantism, self-justice and the death-panalty. Else (and for me) not recommended. And recognize that I give 1 star for the audacity of the ending, which is difficult to review without spoiling the story.






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