The Hallmarked Man - Robert Galbraith.
My Rating: 3/5
8th book from the Cormoran Strike series by J K Rowling under the pseudonym of Robert Galbraith, that I waited for with bated breath, not to read how Cormoran Strike and his partner Robin solve their next mystery, but to read what happens next in both their personal lives too. Got the book on the same day it was launched, and super thanks to Uncle Bezos for sending it within 24 hours my way. This is unfortunately the weakest book from the series and I guess the longest with almost 900 pages of mess that JKR has created, roped in so many characters and mysteries in one story that beyond 300-400 odd pages I totally lost the interest but somehow kept ploughing to know what happens to Strike and Robin personally as nothing better happens for the remaining 500 odd pages too. She tried her level best to keep it engaging by not only adding Free Masons theory in this one (to my total disinterest) but also MI5 and MI6, too, ruffling some feathers with Strike and his partner. But the only thing that worked in this one for me was like I said, what they do on personal front to make their own lives better, Strike going back to his sister and passed out uncle, Robin going back to her family, new boy friend and even looking for help when needed and as the reader in me kept on rooting for the same. Strike’s past is coming back to haunt him in such a way that there is no undoing it. His difference with his own father takes another turn in this one, to my pleasure though, for a change. Even with so much going on in the story with multiple murders, abductions, missing persons, a mutilated body found in a vault in such a way that hard to tell who it belongs to. Yet, somehow it all was so disconnected that it didn’t work for me at all. On top of that, the agency is working multiple cases with fresh blood who have their own stories to tell.
I am certainly going to wait for others to read and come back with their opinions to check if I am the only one for whom it didn't work, or if others feel the same. This is shocking that two books back-to-back from two of my favourite authors have not worked for me. First, it was Dan Brown’s The Secret of Secrets, which fell flat and now this one. I am must say The Hallmarked Man was a two star book for me for almost 99% of its length, what made me give it one more star in addition is something that I can’t disclose but if you have read the earlier books, you will get the hint (Wink Wink) and THAT was not only a big respite but will be a huge reason why I will wait another year for the next in the series to get a final closure. Do let me know if you have read this and liked it any better. My personal favourite from this series will be her last book, The Running Grave, so far her best work, and eagerly waiting for its TV adaptation.
