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    Close To Home
    Close To Home
    Close To Home
    Audiobook16 hours

    Close To Home

    Written by Peter Robinson

    Narrated by Ron Keith

    4/5

    ()

    About this audiobook

    Peter Robinson is the critically acclaimed New York Times, LA Times, and London Sunday Times best-selling author of the Inspector Alan Banks series, as well as a winner of the 2001 Anthony and 2001 Ellis Awards, and Le Grand Prix de LittErature PoliciEre. Close to Home traverses the difficult landscapes of a painful past-and an uncertain future for Inspector Banks. Two 15-year-old boys are lost, and the circumstances of their disappearances seem oddly parallel save one detail. The first boy disappeared and was presumed dead 35 years ago.
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherRecorded Books, Inc.
    Release dateFeb 4, 2008
    ISBN9781449801670
    Close To Home
    Author

    Peter Robinson

    One of the world’s most popular and acclaimed writers, Peter Robinson was the bestselling, award-winning author of the DCI Banks series. He also wrote two short-story collections and three stand-alone novels, which combined have sold more than ten million copies around the world. Among his many honors and prizes were the Edgar Award, the CWA (UK) Dagger in the Library Award, and the Swedish Crime Writers’ Academy Martin Beck Award.

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    Reviews for Close To Home

    4/5

    299 ratings24 reviews

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    • 5/5
      In this 13th book of the DCI Banks series, we get an interesting view into Banks' childhood when he returns home to investigate a murder of his childhood friend. Soon Banks' finds himself engrossed in a more current murder of Luke Armitage, another teenage boy. I liked following the aspects of both murders while the author slowly builds the level of suspense/tension as each new plot development is revealed so that you really had an on-the-edge-of-your-seat feeling. The characters were also well drawn and fully developed. All in all this book was a very entertaining read.
    • 4/5
      Interesting having to cases from different decades. A little confusing but all came together at the end.
    • 4/5
      An Inspector Banks mystery13th in the seriesA good well written book
    • 4/5
      Banks is enjoying the joys of a Greek island getaway to recover from his last case when he reads about the body of a young man uncovered at a building site. When he discovers the body is an old friend who disappeared while doing his paper route in 1965, Banks rushes off to give whatever aid is needed. Meanwhile in Yorkshire, Annie is investigating a missing 15 year old boy. These parallel cases made for an intriguing mystery novel with a clear, uncomplicated presentation. As Banks has plenty of of reason to look back to 1965 and his youth the reader is treated to a reminiscence of the politics and music of the era. This is one of my favourites from Robinson.
    • 2/5
      ponderous, women characters are whiny, had a hard time finishing
    • 5/5
      One of my favorite authors and favorite characters. This story is composed of parallel cases that have a three decade time lapse between them. The police are trying to figure out why boys, as a whole... and these two in particular...one in the past and one in the present...have run away or become easy prey to abductors. Alan Banks finds that the reasons have changed very little in the 35 years since his friend, Graham...whose bones have just been unearthed... disappeared. It mattered very little that Graham was cool and popular where the current boy, Luke...was lonely, talented, and precocious. Banks must also reveal one of his own most closely guarded secrets...the evidence he withheld as a boy during the initial police investigation into Graham’s disappearance. Robinson creates a complex and intriguing story while bringing into question if we can really know anyone...even those closest to us.
    • 5/5
      You've got to love a DI Banks book. I took a break from reading this series because I didn't want to gorge all the goodies in one sitting. The lure has become too much and I returned to the fold with The Summer... I bought it as an omnibus with Cold is the Grave, interestingly, the book presents them in reverse order (CitG being the earlier book, but the second presented). It is surprising, as there are certain spoilers in the Summer... As one would expect, the story, whilst not true to life, presents a credible landscape for Banks to inhabit. Robinson always does a fine job of balancing the detective's private and work lives. Some knowledge of Banks, the man, is needed to understand the way he works but some detectives are too 'interesting'; their back story subsumes the crime tale. Not Banks.In this tome, Banks and side kick, Annie Cabbot, operate separately on two tales of child death. Banks on that of his childhood friend, whose bones have been discovered many years after his disappearance and Annie on a recent death, seemingly part of a failed kidnap. I shall say little more about the plot because it might spoil it for any reader - including myself, should I return to re-read. Suffice it to say, that it was a hugely entertaining read and I shall go on a binge of DI Banks for a while.
    • 4/5
      One of Inspector Banks' friends disappeared in 1965 and when the friend's bones are unearthed several decades later, Banks cannot help but take part in the investigation at the same time as Annie Cabbot deals with a new disappearance case that starts to closely resemble Banks' old one. You know when you start reading a book in this series that you'll get a solid mystery with solid characters in a solid environment and this installment is no different. Not riveting, but very much a what-the-doctor-ordered kind of read. I only wish that the two story lines would have had more to do with each other as that's more the norm in mystery fiction, but it was still a good read. Reading Banks is like wearing comfortable slippers and I will continue to put said slippers on when the mood strikes.
    • 5/5
      I haven't read the other books in the Inspector Banks series (this is the 13th). I found this book to be very good. There are two stories that intertwine through the book. Two missing teenage boys with one in 1965 and another now. Both story lines were really well done and both interesting in different ways. I had been concerned that it was going to be the ordinary sort of detective story but I’m left wanting to read more about Inspector Banks.
    • 4/5
      This is book 13 in the Inspector Banks series. A long buried body is discovered buried in a field now being excavated for housing. It turns out to be the long lost teenage friend of DCI Alan Banks. A friend who disappeared without a trace over 30 years before. But Banks is on holiday in Greece and he works in a different police force over 2 hours drive away. Nevertheless, he is intrigued by the finding and feels that he can contribute to the case. The cold case becomes difficult, especially when it appears that others would prefer things be kept hidden. A few days later, the teenage son of a celebrity couple disappears on Banks’ home patch. A ransom is demanded, but the pickup never happens. Soon after, his body is found in a lake. This case also is difficult for a myriad of reasons. Not the least being the celebrity stepfather’s insistence that police interference has caused the death. Banks becomes involved in both cases, although the capable female detective inspectors, Michelle and Annie, are nominally in charge. The cases unfold due to the persistence of Michelle and Annie with the assistance of Banks. In my opinion, it took a while to get hooked, but generally, the story was good, but I felt the ending was a little weak. Still, I am prepared to give it 4 stars out of 5.
    • 4/5
      4 stars, would have been more as difficult to put down but felt the ending was a touch rushed - seemed to end very quickly.
    • 4/5
      Close to Home gives us two story lines to follow. Both of course involve DCI Banks. In present time Alan Banks is on a holiday in Greece, trying to get rest after a particularly harrowing case from the last book. While there, he reads a newspaper account about skeletal remains being found in Yorkshire. The bones were discovered during a construction excavation.What makes this close to home is the identity of the victim, 14 year old Graham Marshall , Banks childhood friend. It was mentioned in previous books that Graham had just disappeared and Banks had always wondered what happened to him. He returns to Yorkshire since this is personal.The other story line involves the kidnapping of a local teenager. This case will generate publicity since Luke’s mother is a famous fashion model and his step father is a retired football player. Banks offers assistance with the investigation DCI Annie Cabbot is heading up.I like how he ties things together at the end, finding parallels between Graham and Luke. They were both teen aged boys with 40 years between them, but there were indeed comparisons.Now, something I always meant to do was mention some of the music banks plays. I am on book 14 now and his taste in music evolves each time. This time I bookmarked the Kindle for each musical entry. As always, there is pub food.. I mentioned that too.MUSICFrom Chapter one: While the coffee was brewing he put on a CD of Mozart arias, picked up last week’s newspapers he hadn’t read yet and walked out on the balcony….He brought a stack of his favorite CDs with him including Billie Holiday, John Coltrane, Shubert, Walton, The Grateful Dead and Led Zeppelin.Chapter six: Banks is staying at his parents’ home and has been installed in the room he had growing up. He’s always liked music and was pleased his mother still had his old collection of LPs. “Here they were, in all their glory: Dusty Springfield’s “Goin’ Back,” “The Shadows’ “The rise and Fall of Flingel Bunt,” Cilla Black’s “Anyone who had a Heart,” and “Alfie,” Sandie Shaw’s “Always Something There to Remind Me,” “House of the Rising Sun” by The Animals and “As Tears go By” by Marianne Faithful.” There were more references as Banks took a walk down memory lane.Chapter twelve : That evening at home Banks glanced through the evening paper over a Madras curry he’d bought at Marks and Spencers, slipped a Bill Evans’ Paris Concert into the CD player, poured a couple of fingers of Lahroaig and flopped on the sofa with his 1965 Photoplay diary.”FOODChapter three: “Banks bought a pint of Black Sheep bitter and a packet of cheese and onion crisps, sat down as far from the door as he could….”Chapter Four: Banks and DI Michelle Hart meet in a pub to discuss the case at hand. They order a pint and shandy, Michelle ordered a prawn sandwich while Banks goes for a huge Yorkshire pudding filled with sausages and gravy.Chapter ten: DI Michelle Hart meets a witness in the pub to discuss a prior case. They order Guinness, Cumberland Sausages and mashed potatoes, roast beef and mentioned avoiding the Lamb Curry.There were strong opinions about Margaret Thatcher included in this book too.“And what came between them and Blair’s Britain? Mostly, Margaret Thatcher, who dismantled the country’s manufacturing base, emasculating the trade unions and demoralizing the workman, leaving the north especially a ghost land of empty factories, thrift shops and decaying council estates, where those growing up had no hope of a job. In the idleness and hopelessness, many turned to crime and vandalism; car theft became commonplace; and the police became the enemy of the people..”Coronation StreetThe character Alan Banks speaks about a television show called Coronation Street. It was one of the “rituals every Monday and Wednesday when , when tea was over and dishes washed and out away, homework and odd jobs done, the family sat down to watch television together.” I may need to check on this show!I enjoyed this book. The two different murder investigations were different enough to keep separate but when I set the book aside for a few days, I had to think about some of it before continuing.
    • 4/5
      Always enjoy his stories
    • 5/5
      The Inspector Alan Banks series is incredible! It just keeps getting better and better, and Alan Banks is a wonderful character. A good policeman, but a man with many flaws and uncertainties which he always seems to work his way through when he's working on a case. I have read a lot of mysteries about past and present homicides, but this one is a step above. The book is about the disappearance and murder of two teenage boys. One from 1965 and one from the present day. The boy lost in 1965 was a school pal of Alan's. He was 14 yeas old when he disappeared from Peterborough where Alan and his friends grew up. His remains were not found until the present day (30 years later). In Eastvale Annie is working on the disappearance of a teenage local boy. Alan is on holiday in Greece when he is drawn into the present-day case of the missing teenage boy in his home patch. He then finds out that his old friend's remains have been discovered in an open field that is being excavated. He hurries home in order to help gain some insight into what happened to his friend thirty years ago. The story slips seamlessly from 1965 to present-day as Alan sets out on a mission to find out what could have happened in both cases. As always there is music and lyrics woven throughout the book. And these lyrics help to weave the two disparate plots together. Peter Robinson is a remarkable author, and this series is such a delight. Can't wait to read the next one.
    • 3/5
      Peter Robinson has a long running series of crime novels set in the Yorkshire moors. They're good, but not great; atmospheric and interesting without breaking new ground. This thirteenth installment, was a solid offering. Banks begins this novel on vacation in Greece, but he is called home again when the body of a childhood friend who disappeared when they were both sixteen is found. He doesn't know what he can do to help the local police solve the cold case, but he knows he has to try. At the same time, his former subordinate is called in when another teenage boy goes missing.
    • 3/5
      While investigating the disappearance of a musician's son, Banks also journeys back into his past to help solve the mysterious disappearance of a friend when he was a teenager. Thus allowing him a nostalgia-fest of music and culture in the 60's and contrasting this with contemporary life. Two mysteries for the price of one.
    • 4/5
      same as close to home.very good
    • 3/5
      Okay story; two somewhat parallel murders of teenage boys. Too sentimental for my tastes.
    • 5/5
      Robinson's mysteries are replete with critiques of modern-day culture and also contain the best descriptions of getting turned on to music that I've ever read. I actually sent him fan mail when I read a passage describing how he had discovered Dylan; his character's experience matched my real life experience so closely that I felt an instant kinship to the author. The Peter Robinson series are seriously addictive. He is an excellent writer, and a wonderfully astute observer of life in North Central Britain: the "who done it" aspect is almost unimportant in light of the book's other pleasures.
    • 4/5
      audiobook, police procedural, Yorkshire, series
    • 3/5
      Norman Wells, a teacher, molests 13-year-old Steven Farrow at school and has to leave. Years later, he gets beaten up having been falsely accused of abducting and killing another young boy.
    • 4/5
      The remains of a young man who disappeared in 1965 have been discovered in the neighborhood where Inspector Banks grew up. As Banks gathers clues abouut this death, he remembers his own friendship with the victim when they were schoolboys. When a teenager disappears from the same area, Banks feels there must be a connection between the two cases. But this new investigation will lead the detective beyond nostalgia into a rocky landscape of confusion and guilt. This was good - I don't usually like British stories.
    • 5/5
      A good fast-paced book and well written. Not only was Robinson able to weave two main plots sucessfully he was able to add individual colour as well. As someone who grew up in a large UK city as a teenager in the 1960's I enjoyed the opportunity to have my memory tickled. As Robinson took Banks back to events in the 60's he sprinkled the story with accounts of the British Pop scene at that time. Here was a chance to be reminded of many of the singers and bands of that time and of the many little 45 rpm records purchased in those teenage years. Very nice.
    • 4/5
      I have been reading the Inspector Banks series of books in sequence since In A Dry Season. I suspect I will go back and pick up the stories prior to that one later. In reading the books the way I have been reading them, I have come to know the mai character pretty well, as the author had intended it. There had been substantial foreshadowing of one of the murders invrestigated in this book. Alan Banks had always brought up the memory of his friend Graham Marshall and his unexpected disappearance in his previous books. Robinson had brought the memory up as an example of Bank's guilt and messy history. It punctuated his complexity as a person and how that complication marks his life so far and his work as a detective. As such, this book should have been the most emotional and cathartic. Instead, it was pretty much business as usual, wich was disappointing but it also underscores the fact that there is really nothing cathartic in police work. Peter Robinson is an extraordinary writer, or else I never would have read this many books in such a short time. His device of interweaving two separate story lines together would be disastrous in the hands of an amateur, but in Robinson's hands it is as natural as can be. He steers the narrative easily amongst the stories and builds the tempo of the story equally until the two lines comes to a parallel climax. In this book, the climax wasn't a real climax, it was just an ending, an explanation for the crimes. I didn't exactly feel cheated, since I got my enjoyment out of the process of building the case and edging further into the story. The nice moments of charater building was appropriate and it served to pull the reader into the character, made us sit notice of Alan Banks and Annie Cabbot and Jenny Fuller. One more note, Robinson could have used the same plotting device as In A Dry Season, soince both this story and that one involved going into the past to get at the truth, but he refrained. I think it may have hurt his narative somewhatbut I also think it was pretty brave of him to lay off the same device and stay with this plotting device, just to stay fresh. In the end, the confrontation with Bank's past was somewhat of a let down. The other story was actually quite engrossing, it did not quite supercede the Graham Marshall story, but it came close. This whole book had the feel of an intermediate step to somewhere else. But coming on the end of Aftermath, it was good to get into a standard whodunnit.