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Content snapshot
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Violence
A lot
Serial killings; the investigation involves victims who are themselves defined by inherited association with violence
Language
Some
Some strong language
Sexual Content
Barely any
Mild content
Substance Use
Some
Heavy drinking
Emotional Intensity
A lot
The moral question of whether children can be held responsible for their parents' crimes; Thorne's ambivalence about the killer's apparent logic
What this book is about
The children of a notorious serial killer — killed as adults, years after their parent was executed — are being targeted by someone who appears to be completing what their parent started. DI Tom Thorne investigates whether the killer is a copycat, a vigilante, or someone with a more personal connection to the original crimes. Mark Billingham's eighth Thorne novel is his most interested in heredity and the question of what, if anything, children inherit from their violent parents — and whether killing the children of a monster makes the killer a monster by different logic.
Notes for sensitive readers
Reader-flagged moments and themes that may affect your experience.
eighth of the Tom Thorne series
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