Mark Billingham - Tom Thorne Series

[Deleted User][Deleted User] Posts: 4,910
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Anyone read these novels? i have read the entire series twice now. I find them a really good read.Often funny and does throw in a few shocks every now and then.Thorne is a great main character, at times very unpredictable. The next book is due out sometime this year apparently.

What do you think of the series?:)

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  • SWW (SWW)SWW (SWW) Posts: 23,514
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    Really enjoying the series, and only reading one now and again.. just finished 'Buried'... possibly my all time fave detective series... or at least even stevens with 'Wallander' which I also hugely enjoy.
  • Deep PurpleDeep Purple Posts: 63,255
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    Read them all. Very good books, and I'm looking forward to the next one.
  • Button62Button62 Posts: 8,463
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    I love Tom Thorne, and I also love David Morrisey's portrayal of him on screen which is a huge bonus.

    Billingham's stand alone novels are good too.
  • David_QuintonDavid_Quinton Posts: 92
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    Read the first one and found Thorne to be smug, arrogant and generally unlikeable. I may give him a another chance though.
  • [Deleted User][Deleted User] Posts: 4,910
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    Read the first one and found Thorne to be smug, arrogant and generally unlikeable. I may give him a another chance though.

    Wouldn't it be a bit boring if he was perfect and wonderful?:confused:
  • [Deleted User][Deleted User] Posts: 7,440
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    I read the first three but have them all. I'll plan on reading them from the first one again this year or I'll find so far behind in the series I'll never get around to it.

    I didn't like David Morrissey as Thorne he wasn't at all how I imagined him to be. I pictured him more like Timothy Spall
  • Beautiful_HarvBeautiful_Harv Posts: 9,144
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    I read the first three but have them all. I'll plan on reading them from the first one again this year or I'll find so far behind in the series I'll never get around to it.

    I didn't like David Morrissey as Thorne he wasn't at all how I imagined him to be. I pictured him more like Timothy Spall

    Really! Though saying that i pictured Thorne not as smooth as David Morrisey. I actually picture him a bit slobbish.

    They changed one of the endings on the programme from the book didnt they? :(
  • [Deleted User][Deleted User] Posts: 7,440
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    Really! Though saying that i pictured Thorne not as smooth as David Morrisey. I actually picture him a bit slobbish.

    They changed one of the endings on the programme from the book didnt they? :(

    Yeah they did change the ending which is annoying. Still no news if Sky are going to do any more adaptations.

    I pictured Thorne a bit slobbish as well. A kind of mixture between Alex Norton, DCI Burke in Taggart in build and look and the scruffiness of Columbo.

    That is why I thought of Timothy Spall. Barry from Auf Wiederhezen Pet wearing a suit and it not quite fitting right so he doesn't look smart and tidy. When he speaks he isn;t what some people may see as common, like an Ray Winstone, but also not middle class either. Somewhere inbetween.
  • Blondie XBlondie X Posts: 28,662
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    I liked David Morrisey as Thorne but I almost saw him as a different character to the Thorne in the book if that makes sense.

    And as much as I fancy Aidan Gillen rotten, he was definitely a strange choice to play Phil Hendricks. Dave Holland being black and Brigstocke being a woman seemed strange casting as well.
  • Lily_MLily_M Posts: 1,328
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    I'm a big fan of the books too, Lifeless is my favourite. I didn't see the TV series - after what Robson Green did to Val McDermid's Tony Hill series, I now don't watch TV adaptations of books I like, because I get too annoyed at all the changes they make.
  • Beautiful_HarvBeautiful_Harv Posts: 9,144
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    Blondie X wrote: »
    I liked David Morrisey as Thorne but I almost saw him as a different character to the Thorne in the book if that makes sense.

    And as much as I fancy Aidan Gillen rotten, he was definitely a strange choice to play Phil Hendricks. Dave Holland being black and Brigstocke being a woman seemed strange casting as well.

    This dude is like the vision i have in my mind of phil hendricks

    http://www.imdb.com/name/nm4534098/?ref_=tt_ov_st
  • InsideSoapInsideSoap Posts: 5,981
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    Love Tom Thorne, have no desire to watch the TV series however. I am really excited for the upcoming book though, promises to be another fantastic read and can't wait to see how Thorne gets on
    back in uniform!

    I want Billingham and Stuart MacBride to write a joint novel perhaps with two crimes related with London and Aberdeen. Thorne and McRae in the same book would be amazing. Even a Kindle short story would do.
  • LaVieEnRoseLaVieEnRose Posts: 12,836
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    I pictured Thorne a bit slobbish as well. A kind of mixture between Alex Norton, DCI Burke in Taggart in build and look and the scruffiness of Columbo.

    That is why I thought of Timothy Spall. Barry from Auf Wiederhezen Pet wearing a suit and it not quite fitting right so he doesn't look smart and tidy.

    Definitely. My mental picture was someone a bit like Tosh Lines from "The Bill", for anyone who can remember that far back :o

    I've been reading these in order, and right at the start Thorne gets called "the Weeble" and is described as being a bit, er, bottom-heavy or words to that effect. There's a distinct lack of physical description after that, though.

    I have enjoyed these, the plots are interesting and the focus is still mainly on crime and investigation, rather than the personal side. I think MB has got the balance just right here, I've given up on some series because they got too soap-opera for me.

    They're also well-written, with the occasional marvellous phrase that captures something perfectly, yet without any sense of "look how clever I am".
  • [Deleted User][Deleted User] Posts: 4,910
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    I have enjoyed these, the plots are interesting and the focus is still mainly on crime and investigation, rather than the personal side. I think MB has got the balance just right here, I've given up on some series because they got too soap-opera for me.

    True. I'm still waiting for Thorne's affair with Yvonne Kitson though:D
  • [Deleted User][Deleted User] Posts: 5,219
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    I enjoyed the first three Thorne books a while back. I think I'll try the later ones.

    I never watched the TV versions as I knew they'd get the casting wrong. I could see Eddie Izzard doing a good Phil Hendricks.
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