Amazon.com.au:Customer reviews: The Cuckoo's Calling: Cormoran Strike Book 1

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UNEXPECTED GEM

Reviewed in Australia on 24 January 2020

I had stereotyped J K Rowling as being the author of the Harry Potter series, all of which I enjoyed immensely. Harry Potter is a genre universes removed from the crime/private investigator genre. The Cuckoo's Calling is amazingly well written, in my humble opinion; loved the characterisations and the twist in the tale at the end - never would have guessed it. Now working my way through Book 3, having devoured Book 2.

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Not a book I would recommend

Reviewed in Australia on 10 June 2020

This may be a new project but it is not to my taste. The language very is crude at times and frankly unnecessary. It was a reasonable plot set in an immoral industry. Frequent writing of swear words in a book does not make it an adult book or a clever writer. If this is an accurate depiction of the current British culture I am glad I left England 50 years ago. Would do better to study the writings of Agatha Christie and Patricia Wentworth or stick to the excellent Harry Potter type book. If the purpose of the novel is to highlight the stupidity of hero worship of popular idols then there is some positives about the book, Not a book I would recommend to waste money buying.

One person found this helpful

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From Australia

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Would not recomend :(

Reviewed in Australia on 21 September 2020

Verified Purchase

Like me I am sure everybody who reads these books are fns of murder mysteries. All I can say from a murder mystery lover to another is that it is very compllicated. The story line is confusing and hard to follow. It wouldn't appeal to me as a good book. I have given this book a solid 2 stars because of this problem. There is unnecessary swearing and a lot of it too. As we are in lockdown this is probably something I would read if I was so desperate. I have definitely read better and would recommend other books over it. (·_·)
COVID SUCKS !!!!!

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MillaB

Not my favourite book. Although I can't put my finger on ...

Reviewed in Australia on 28 August 2016

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Not my favourite book. Although I can't put my finger on the reason why, I found it slightly irritating … I read a couple of other books, coming back to Cuckoos from time to time - I'm not a believer of completely discarding a book once started - ie, unless it's truly appalling, and by no means was this book appalling … just not my cup of tea. I doubt I'll be purchasing any more books by this author.

One person found this helpful

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John McClure

I was disappointed with J

Reviewed in Australia on 25 April 2015

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I was disappointed with J.K. Rowlings attempt at crime fiction. While she was successful with the Harry Potter series she is now dealing with a different and more mature reader.

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pearl

Two Stars

Reviewed in Australia on 18 August 2016

boring.

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Leigh

Not as Magical as HP

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 9 September 2018

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The book is written in third person narration and written from the perspectives of Cormoran Strike and his assistant Robin Ellacott. I found the writing style quite difficult, it was written in the same style as the Harry Potter series, with the same kind of descriptions being used, for example these are the first two sentences, The buzz in the street was like the humming of flies. Photographers stood massed behind barriers patrolled by police, their long-snouted cameras poised, their breath rising like steam." Which to me seems quite awkward and it just doesn't sit right with what the book is about and its general tone. To me the writing style for Harry Potter helped add to the magic of the story, it enriched it, here it just seems out of place and distracts from the story.

The story focuses on Cormoran Strike and his P.I business. He is asked by a former class mate's brother to investigate the death of his sister, who was a supermodel and which the police have decided was a suicide. We then go along with Cormoran as he investigates her death.

I did this like this book, it was a good read and Rowling weaves quite a few different plot points together well and we get to know the both Cormoran and Robin quite well, as there is a lot of their backstory in the book. The plot isn't massively complicated though and while there are a few twists and turns as the events unfold, it all feels a bit underwhelming in the end.

I found there was also a little bit of spitefulness in Rowling's writing style too, towards many of the characters, mainly the female ones and the celebrities, while there seems to be hints of outward dislike to Rowling's press in the book. I can't really put my finger on exactly what it was, but there seemed to be an edge of smugness and spitefulness while Rowling is narrating scenes involving them.

I will be reading the next book in the series as I am intrigued enough by the characters of Cormoran (even though he seems to be a copy of Hagrid, less the half giant part of course) and Robin.

35 people found this helpful

Amazon Customer

The Cuckoo's Calling by Robert Galbraith aka J K Rowling

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 14 August 2020

Verified Purchase

I listened to the Audiobook, read by Robert Glenister. His delivery and interpretation was entertaining and the plot moved along, albeit slowly, to the inevitable conclusion, offering few surprises. However, the excessive use of expletives in the dialogue detracted from the flow of the story. Does all the fashion, service and wealthy population of London pepper speech with bucketloads of unnecessary profanities? It smacked of a former children's author trying to gain street-cred rather than adding anything constructive to the book. Perhaps the author is in a better position to judge, with the advantage of being able to move in such circles and the resources to research background in detail. However, so many expletives lessened their impact when they could truly a reflect shock, anger or disgust. There were many cliches in the characterizations, like the wealthy women being predatory, spiteful and saying "yah", and the predictably gay fashion designer. Some judicious editing, often lacking with previously established authors, would have enhanced the quality of the writing and made the book far more readable for me but I suppose it is a matter of personal taste.

3 people found this helpful

Michael Burke

I can understad why Rowling did'nt want this book under her own name

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 4 December 2015

Verified Purchase

I read the reviews of this book and thought i was onto a good who-dunnit. Then I read it. Then i read Amazon customers reviews ,so fulsome in their compliments that initially i thought they were writing about another novel. The plot grinds slowly around like a millstone, the dialogue is dismal and the characters stereotypes or unbelievable, for example Cormoran is described as meticulous methodical ,and painstaking to a fault in his investigations and yet he works and lives in an office which the author describes as chaotic,disordered and shambolic. O.K.its only a detail.
but slotted into a scenario where other characters are cut-outs from a roll call of personna in a post-Dallas 1990's television series , Rich millionaire who thinks money can buy anything , ex-girl friend with a bipolar disorder that make her imposible to live with. the novel is difficult to swallow and in fact i did'nt swallow i gave up around the middle.

3 people found this helpful

Groovy Grandma

Don't bother

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 18 February 2015

Verified Purchase

I was a big fan of JKR Harry Potter books except for the last two which should have been edited better as they rambled too much. As I was a fan of her work I thought I'd try her adult foray into writing. I am a big fan of crime novels and have read the best. I am not a big fan of Brits writing crime as they spend too much time on minutae. JKR has a sympathetic main character as the detective and I feel we could have liked him and his sidekick more if we had seen better interaction between them and with the other characters. I love London but the endless descriptions and ramblings were tedious. I already guessed who the murderer was and the rest was just dressing. As a very intelligent writer she should have produced a better novel than this. I cannot believe her editor did not advise her better on its content. The bad language was uncalled for, the occasional swear word may be authentic perhaps but I've never seen as much as this in the books I read. A very disappointing experience and one I shan't be repeating. A pity because I thought she might be able to cross genres well.

One person found this helpful

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Comprehensive plot BUT

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 16 August 2020

Verified Purchase

The plot was interesting enough, but the overall style was fussy. There was way too much unnecessary detail that frequently brought the forward momentum to a halt. Most of this detail didn't enhance the story or advance the plot in any way, it seemed like gratuitous padding just to embellish the characters. I found myself skimming quite a few sections without feeling that I had missed anything of any relevance.

SIMON PICKERING

Needed an edit

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 18 November 2020

Verified Purchase

Having not read the Harry Potter books I would have expected better things. The book is easily 150 pages too long and each conversation or meeting that Strike has with people is about 30 pages. I persevered with the book but only because I bought 3 more in the series at the same time when they were a Daily Deal. The writing is clunky and a little self-admiring. I don’t understand the rave reviews but as an avid reader of crime fiction there are much better and more entertaining stories out there.

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