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(Ni Hao)
The Running Grave is the 7th instalment in the Cormoran Strike series by Robert Galbraith aka J.K. Rowling.
The book was published by Sphere Books on the 26th of September, 2023.
The Running Grave sold 50,925 copies in it's first week of sales in the UK, placing first on the UK Official Top 50 Book Sales list.
Private detective Cormoran Strike is contacted by a worried father whose son, Will, has gone to join a religious cult in the depths of the Norfolk countryside.
The Universal Humanitarian Church is, on the surface, a peaceable organisation that campaigns for a better world. Yet Strike discovers that beneath the surface there are deeply sinister undertones and unexplained deaths.
In order to try to rescue Will, Strike's business partner Robin Ellacott decides to infiltrate the cult and travels to Norfolk to live incognito among them. But in doing so, she is unprepared for the dangers that await her there or for the toll it will take on her...
Utterly page-turning, The Running Grave moves Strike and Robin's story forward in the epic, unforgettable seventh instalment of the series.
I won't deny that this took me at least a year and a half to read, as I just stopped reading books for a while. But I won't deny that while I enjoyed the book and when I began reading and continued it, I was gripped. It's definitely the darkest book so far in the series, I found it at times really hard to read at times, with just how dark it really got.
I won't lie and say this book didn't scare me as, we all know there are cults out there that brainwash people, that make it so you believe whatever your told and separate you from friends and family so that no-one really knows what's happening, or even remove you from the situation.
I lost count of the amount of times I was holding my breath while reading this book, as well as the shivers that ran down my spine as I read each of the chapters at the farm. I honestly believed that Robin wouldn't safely make it out of there. And I definitely didn't believe that anything good would come out of her going there.
In this book, we get to see how Strike and Robin move around their decisions when it comes to their business and personal relationship. We also see Strike have to deal with his own issues and demons without Robin around as he deals with his uncle's health deteriorating as well as Charlotte's final attempts to get back at him.
This book is the lowest we've seen Robin go with her mental state, while on the farm and off the farm, with her relationship also taking a few knocks.
We meet many new characters in this book, and sadly the main ones I remember and think about from this instalment are the Wace's, their characters really made an impact and not in a good way.
I've already started the next instalment in the series, but I've not got too far yet, I hope it's a little lighter than the last book, but with how the last 2 books have been, I feel like it can only get darker and more bone-chilling. That being said, I do look forward to what the case will be and how Robin and Strike's relationship may change and will they keep fighting their true feelings or be honest with themselves and with each other.
PRAISE FOR THE STRIKE NOVELS:
'The work of a master storyteller' - Daily Telegraph
'A Superlative piece of crime fiction' - Sunday Times
'Strike and Robin are just as magnetic as ever' - New York Times
'Outrageously entertaining' - Financial Times
'One of Crime's most engaging duos' - Guardian
'A page-turner that will keep you up all night' - Observer
'Finely honed, superbly constructed' - Daily Mail
Robert Galbraith Strike Series:
The Cuckoo's Calling
The Silkworm
Career Of Evil
Lethal White
Troubled Blood
The Ink Black Heart
The Running Grave
See you soon!
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さようなら
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再见
(ZaiJian)
Bye
