The Treatment: Jack Caffery series 2

The Treatment is book two in the Jack Caffery series but it can be read as a stand alone.

What else can I say than that, when you do not think it could get worse, it does the book. The Treatment is in many ways a very unpleasant book. I think there is nothing worse to read about than pedophiles, and in this book, you certainly get a dark insight into a world one would have hoped didn't exist.

Mo Hayder is a brilliant author, every book I have read by her has been amazing, this is no exception. However, this book is by far the worst I read by her. The Treatment may not be the scariest book I've ever read, but definitely, one of the most unpleasant and I wish I could forget some of the passages from the book for good.

The book is also deeply tragic, in so many ways, from Jack Caffery's own childhood trauma with a brother who disappeared and was never found to the poor jeopardized children. I wanted to scream at the police several times during the book to just find the murderer before it was too late for the next family. This is a nightmare that does not end with the disappearance of one boy ...

The Treatment is a very good book, but also very unpleasant and I only recommend it to readers who can handle such dark themes.

Detective Inspector Jack Caffery is summoned to investigate a revolting crime committed in Brixton, a middle class southern London suburb. A family, the Peaches, have been found manacled in their home. They've been beaten, starved and dehydrated and their 9 year old son, Rory is nowhere to be found.
Caffery, a fixture on the AMIT (Area Major Investigation Team), has been tormented for nearly 30 years by the disappearance of his 9 year old brother Ewan. Ivan Pendericki, a portly aged neighbor and twice convicted pedophile, is suspected of the abduction but it's never been proven. Caffery has remained in the house he grew up in as means to continue the vigil for his long lost brother.
Caffery and his superior the coarse but kind hearted, butch Chief Detective Inspector Danniella Souness are combing the crime scene for clues as to the whereabouts of Rory Peach. Through interrogation of the disoriented parents Alek and Carmel, they determine that the crime had been photographed and the house reeked of urine. Caffery, using all his investigative experience and through the use of body seeking dogs find the corpse of the young boy tied up in a tree in a nearby park. Forensic examination determines that the boy had been sodomized. While this has been discovered the unexpected suicide of the pedophile Pendericki, who had been scrutinized for years by Caffery, opens a new avenue of investigation. Pendericki, who has been harassing Caffery for years over the memory of his brother, leaves him a map leading him to a large stash of child pornography. Examining the videotapes lead him to a Tracey Lamb, who might have information about his brother Ewan.
Eventally, it is learned that the man suspected of the crime, is called the "troll" and there is a history of similar crimes. We learn that these hideous repugnant acts have been committed by a demented psychopath to combat his impotence. These crimes represent "The Treatment" to cure his sexual inadequacies.
Hayder pens a disturbing tale of the sleazy underbelly of the world of child pornography and pedophilia. She does an admirable job in illustrating the dichotomy in the distraught mind of Caffery between his brother's disappearance and his present case and the feelings they invoke.

This is an outstanding sequel to Birdman, carrying on the story of DI Jack Caffery as he works on another case with London's AMIT team. A note here is appropriate: it is strongly advisable to read Birdman before reading this book.
Caffery's past continues to haunt him as he is still unable to deal with the disappearance of his brother, Ewan, 28 years ago. The latest case brings back the same feelings of rage and helplessness he felt as a child, so much so that it begins to affect his objectivity.
The details of the case that affects him so deeply involve a boy who is taken from his family home where he and his parents had been terrorised for days by an intruder. The boy was later found, dead and showing signs that he had been sexually assaulted and tortured. The chilling part is that Jack is sure that the man who did this was interrupted and would strike again, an opinion that is revealed to us to be right on the money.
A parallel story involving Jack's brother ties in nicely to the case and focuses Jack's, and consequently our, attention on the dim dark world of paedophilia. The story of the disappearance of Ewan is familiar to those who have read Birdman and it is carried on here. Jack is determined to solve the mystery that has been plaguing him regardless of what he may find. Although it's a tragic story and strains all sorts of friendships and relationships, it proves to be a vital part of the plot.
I particularly appreciated the diary pages at the end of the book and thought they were a brilliant addendum to the story. They gave us a peek at the distorted mind behind the unspeakable acts and the justification the guy had for his actions in the story.
Mo Hayder has produced another thriller that deals with a seemingly deranged maniac performing horrific crimes on innocents. She walks a fine line between fascination and repulsion, tipping to the former emotion in my opinion. My recommendation to absolutely devour this book comes with a caveat that it contains graphic scenes involving children. If you don't like reading about these kinds of subjects, then this book is not for you.

Okay, I found this book in my school library clearance bin (I know, a clearance bin!) and it was given to me for free. Having never heard of the author before then, or knowing what it was about (I grabbed it for the cover) I began to read, and change. I had never read anything like it before, and in hindsight I was probably a little too young for this story at the time, but I swear I felt myself change inside. This book changed me. It is a pure adult thriller, with some heavy characteristics. Child abduction, abuse and murder, rape, drinking and drug-taking to name a few. This is the second book in the Jack Caffery series, with Birdman first, but it is readable on its own. This book set the bar for how I chose my books and thrillers in particular. And there will never be a sexier fictional character. Ever.

Mo Hayder, The Treatment (Dell, 2001)
The last page of The Treatment, Mo Hayder's second (and, according to interviews, final) Jack Caffery novel, is likely to leave readers screaming in frustration. It wouldn't surprise me to find out she'd been abducted by some crazed male version of Stephen King's Annie Wilkes and held against her will until she promises a third novel tying up the loose ends left at the conclusion of this book. We are an impatient lot, we mystery readers, and we don't want the questions left unanswered. More fool us. The end of The Treatment, as with the whole latter half of the book, is wonderfully written, a cracking good mystery that does her debut novel, Birdman, justice. Unfortunately, it's prefaced by the first half, which does nothing much justice.
The book starts slow. Did I mention slow? I mean slow. Proust could have given Hayder some pacing lessons in the opening chapters. We are reintroduced to Jack Caffery, just about a year after the events in the final pages of Birdman. He's still Jack Caffery, jaded, not sleeping well, far too thin for his own good, unable to figure out how to make a relationship work, and completely obsessed with his job. his time, his job involves figuring out what happened to a child who was abducted from his home after the abductor had stayed in the house for three days. Readers of Birdman will recognize that this is ground Jack Caffery will not want to tread. (There is also, in the opening chapters, a piece of misdirection that is blatant, after one finishes the book, and very badly handled. A few points off for lack of editing.) We then spend the next hundred fifty pages or so getting to know the principals and a few ancillary characters; while character development is never a bad thing, it's as if the plot slows to a crawl while we get to know the folks, and then takes off again in a rocket halfway through. Credit goes, though, to the fact that it does take off again.
Readers of Birdman will want to pick this one up to close the book on the unanswered questions left from that novel (and really, when it comes right down to it, you know, deep in your gut, the answers to those questions left at the end of The Treatment); those who have not yet been introduced to Hayder will definitely want to go with Birdman first. *** ½

Plot has many similarities to the first in series with Jack still searching for answers in his brothers abduction as well as working on a challenging case and dealing with his girlfriend's problems. Tension runs throughout as the police investigation snakes along while the perpetrator repeats his crime. While this is an excellent police procedural I gave it only 4 stars as it is not quite up there with the best of class. The repitition in this and the first book in the series is a little annoying. While they are totally different crimes we have similar devices for spinning out the investigation. Shoddy police work and faked reports on grunt work, Jack taking the law in his own hands, failure to follow up critical witness reports and delays in getting crucial evidence. Strangely we have a new boss in the unit, now a straight talking, drinking large lesbian scotswoman - anyone read Stuart McBride? For all its faults this is a good read and worth a whirl.

I'm really reading this books in the wrong order - I started with Six, now I've gone to number two. Nonetheless I've found Mo Hayder's writing to be exciting and genuine enough to follow whats going on without fuss.

To some extent however, I almost didn't want to know what was going on in this book. Jack Caffrey, Our main man is investigating a child-killer, and has to investigate several pedophiles along the way. The horror verges on the disgusting for the sake of shock, but at least its original.

Overall the book is a fairly generic police procedural, once you eliminate the perverted parts. Although I did like the unusual touch of throwing in some 'notes' from the antagonist explaining their reasoning for their crimes. Chilling and bizarre stuff.

Ok, so I read Birdman and was impressed enough to try Hayder's second, and... it impressed yet again. I have to say this is one of the best thrillers I have ever read, I'm sure you've heard that before, but I was genuinely interested in what was going to happen.
I thought the story was excellent, I thought the characters were excellent, I thought the descriptions were excellent. It was detailed enough that you got the inside of police work but not so much that it dragged the book down, the back ground story of Caffery was well developed and very interesting, and how it all came together was very well done. The only problem? I had with the book was... the killer. When it came down to who it was, well, I was less than enthused, but, I didn't care, the rest of the book was more than strong enough to carry on. I didn't care who it was, but what they did and how and to who, and the chase and the detective's story and and and and...
I certainly recommend it, but I suggest reading Birdman to get more of the story on Caffery and how it back fills (more on his current girlfriend and how that came about as well as his obsession).

Finally, an heir to Thomas Harris! When you finish this one, and Hayder's equally enthralling previous novel Birdman, you'll come away thrilled (and asking when another Hannibal book will be coming our way).

I've been trying to think of an articulate way to describe why the Mo Hayder books stand out as scarier and more disturbing than other talented authors writing crime fiction today. I can't seem to do it. They just ooze a sense of uneasiness--about the main character detective, about the crimes committed, and about the motives of those characters close to our protagonist.

Hayder's criminals are perfectly portrayed--they are clearly sociopathic and twisted in ways no sane person can comprehend. Their proclivities are so original and horrifying--and yet the killers are not smugly laughing at the police and chasing down the main character like in so many more predictable novels. They are barely functioning misfits and outcasts, and their crimes are unique and disturbing.

I can't wait for the next installment in the series, and I'm excited about the U.S. release of Hayder's latest novel, Tokyo.

Okay, I found this book in my school library clearance bin (I know, a clearance bin!) and it was given to me for free. Having never heard of the author before then, or knowing what it was about (I grabbed it for the cover) I began to read, and change. I had never read anything like it before, and in hindsight I was probably a little too young for this story at the time, but I swear I felt myself change inside. This book changed me. It is a pure adult thriller, with some heavy characteristics. Child abduction, abuse and murder, rape, drinking and drug-taking to name a few. This is the second book in the Jack Caffery series, with Birdman first, but it is readable on its own. This book set the bar for how I chose my books and thrillers in particular. And there will never be a sexier fictional character. Ever.

A few years ago, Mo Hayder shocked readers with her truly amazing debut effort Birdman. Her follow-up, The Treatment, reteams the reader with Jack Caffery, a London DI who once again finds himself on the trail of a sadistic killer. Only this time, the murders hit a little too close to home.
A man kidnaps an entire family and then performs horrible acts on them. Jack needs to find the killer before he takes over another family. But at the same time, Jack has to face his past. When he was younger, his older brother disappeared and was presumably kidnapped by one of Jack's neighbours. When this man dies, Jack is thrown back into his past and forced to come face to face with the demons that have been haunting him ever since his brother disappeared.
This is a very realistic thriller that will shock, excite and trouble you all at once. It is amazingly well written and it is very powerful in its realistic portrayal of human emotions and of violence. Though the book is often gory, the violence is written with tact and skill; the book has enough darkness to shock the reader but never repulses him. The plot is very intricate and full of believable twists and turns. You'll never be able to guess what's coming next.
Mo Hayder is the brightest new voice in the mystery/thriller field. I cannot wait to read her next book. There is no doubt in my mind that The Treatment will be the best mysetery of the year.

Each character laid out in detail, each Burrough or home described in detail making the story come to life as a movie in my mind as I read. I recently discovered Mo Hayder and have now read two books by this author. I can't wait to read the next book featuring Jack Caffrey.

I like detective novels, even serial killer detective novels, and I don't generally think of myself as faint-hearted. But I have to say that _The Treatment_ made me feel rather faint-hearted. Or faint, anyhow.
Jack Cafferty investigates a case which has disturbing echos to a case from his personal history. The kidnap of an entire family and the ordeal suffered by the boy taken from the house of the family lead Cafferty into the underworld of pedophiles, pornography, and killers.
Well-written, but the scenes with the children are really quite awful and I sometimes had the uncomfortable feeling that the book came dangerously close to exploitation-- the descriptions were quite explicit, honestly too explicit for my tastes. Still, probably a question of taste, but be aware what you're in for when you pick up the book.

The rather demure-looking Mo Hayder writes somewhere on the cusp between crime fiction and grand-guignol horror, and has produced one of the most hideously grotesque novels I have ever read.

As a scarily plausible insight into the mind of a sadistic, psychotic paedophile, it is undeniably, a very competent achievement.

As entertaining fiction though .... well I'm not so sure. I felt no satisfaction in actually finishing the book, which made me feel like some guilty voyeur at the scene of something extremely nasty.

This is unremittingly grim stuff. If you like a happy or even a satisfying ending, I would give this a wide berth.

Horror buffs, even the most jaded, should certainly find something in here to melt their butter.

Me? I felt like I needed a bath afterwards.

Beware!

It took me six months to get through The Treatment by Mo Hayder. I didn't bothered so much by the dark subject matter-- it was awful, yes, but pedophilia is pretty awful no matter how you look at it. It is more that I just couldn't make myself care about any of the characters with the possible exception of Benedicte's family. (My spelling may be off- I listened to the audio version.)

I found Jack Caffery's character to be annoying and just plain idiotic-- yes, I understand that he was traumatized and having trouble getting over what happened to his own brother, but I still didn't like him. I didn't like his girlfriend either. Caffery made dumb mistakes, used and misused the people around him and was just generally an unpleasant person.

Even though I didn't like the book, I grimly listened through the end because I wanted to find out what happened to Benedicte's family. I needn't have bothered because Hayder ended the book pretty abruptly without resolving issues involving most of the characters. I also could have used more of an explanation of what the treatment was supposed to be-- the vague references to it as it was found in the killer's belongings really didn't give a good idea of what it was supposed to be.

I don't imagine I'll look for more books by this author, and certainly not more books featuring Jack Caffery.

Mo Hayder once again brings us into the dark world of DI Jack Caffrey. This time the case revolves around another madman capable of unspeakable acts of perversion. While not quite as gruesome as "Birdman", the mental imagery in "The Treatment" is equally disturbing. Jack is brought to the edge of his own sanity, as he cannot ignore the case's apparent connection to the disappearance of his own brother decades earlier. Another well written page turner by Ms Hayder, I look forward to the next installment. Once again a warning, like "Birdman" this novel is not for the squeamish.

Hayder returns to her familiar character of Jack Cafferty, a tortured London detective, in this explosive sequel to the Birdman. Cafferty is on the trail of the troll, a ghastly little man who delights in torturing families in ways not appropriate to describe here. The clock is ticking and you can feel the tension mounting in the book as Hayder goes from one subplot to the next. Some people have criticized the many sublots in this novel, but I think they serve to build up the tension. Plots unfinished in the Birdman continue here. Hayder's character development, ear for dialogue, and knowledge of police procedurals come through crystal clear.
If you enjoy books like Silence of the Lambs, the novels of Patricial Cornwell or Kathy Reichs then you will enjoy this.
Keep a light on at night and disregard that scratching you hear in the attic....

I've been reading and watching mysteries/horror/thrillers since I was 10 (I'm now 32) and I'm pretty desensitized to some of the gore and wackiness in these books (please don't interpret as bragging). So for me, I've found that many books which are supposed to be "emotional rollercoasters" are actually fairly run-of-the-mill. This book ain't like those. This book is a punch in the gut. My jaw was hanging loose in shock through the last one third or so of the book. I finished the book 5 days ago, and I'm still thinking about it, turning it around in my head, thinking about how it relates to my own life. It's hard for me to get my head around it. I appreciate that the author was able to elicit that kind of response from me, so it's a great book for that reason. But other reviewers are correct, the huge emotional response is not a pretty one, so be ready for that. The ending is tidy, in a sense, but not really what you expect. Fortunately, I don't see how the book could have ended any other way, and I appreciate that the ending wasn't overly "Hollywood". Oh, and I haven't read The Birdman first, and was still very much able to appreciate this book. Am planning on going back and reading the first book now.

Crime drama
Not for the faint of heart.Very graphic tale of torture and death.
Focuses on pedophilia,delusional behavior,abduction,and so on.
Pulls you into the sick,dark,world of the criminally insane.
Even the good guy has dark issues in this one.You have been warned.
Well written and complicated plot goes in many directions at once.
I had a hard time putting it down.It called me to read on.

I have been reading serial killer, thriller, suspense type novels for a very long time. The book is NOT for the faint of heart. My jaw dropped over and over again at the hideous subject matter and the grotesqueness of the killer. Not an easy read, it just doesn't flow, but the plot twists and turns. It makes you want to ask Mo Hayder, "who are you, really?". I couldn't put it down. I will never forget this one. You'd never think a woman wrote this book.

This is an excellently written book by Mo Hayder. A trifle slow in taking off but wow! I suggest reading Birdman first though, also by Ms. Hayder as the two books are connected; however only in background nothing that would effect the story line.

....because your twisted mind is just far too entertaining. All I can say is Thomas Harris has nothing on her.
I read 333 pages of The Treatment in ONE SITTING. I could not put this book down. I obsessed at work all day about going home to finish it. And when I did I was not disappointed. I am begging my fiance to read this book so I can talk about it with someone b/c its killing me.
Birdman was excellent, but The Treatment is beyond words. I can't wait to see what she has planned for us next.

This book is definalty for those with strong stomachs. It will keep you on the edge the entire time. As the story starts to unfold, you frantically search for clues about one man's past, but only in the very end is completly revealed. Mo Hayder successfully paints the mind of a killer into a book, a ture terrifying masterpiece.

After reading this book, I've decided that Ms Hayder relies on shock value to sell her books. I think she needs "treatment" herself. We all know that sick maniacs exist in this world. But do we need to dwell on it in our writing? I gave it a one star only because there was no spot for a zero. I'm glad I didn't purchase it but got it from the library.

Having read Birdman (and impressed by Mo Hayder's talent to write a shocker), The Treatment seemed to promise another dose of the same medicine. Unfortunately the book seems to centralise on the life of "the hero" DCI Jack Caffrey. The Treatment fails to derive the suspense and terror associated with a Paedophile intent on holding an entire family hostage, while oblivious to whether they live or die. Potentially a masterpiece, but Mo Hayder's publisher should have sent it back and asked for more.

The main problem with this book is the psychology of the characters. They all felt wrong considering what they went through which was quite a lot. A lot of tediousness in terms of detail that has little significance to the whole point of the book. I also don't understand the significance of some of the events once you reach the end. In the end everything is left hanging in the air and incomplete. The subject matter is really depressing too, so defnitely not for anyone looking for any sort of inspiration.

If I had known what horrid tales this female came up with, I would never have opened the book. Of course I stayed to the end to see if Steven would be rescued. It seemed as if she wanted to make the point that Caffery got what he had coming for finally putting paid to Miss Lamb.
There is no redeeming quality to this vulgar book and most mid-stream moral readers will not be enriched or bettered by having read the thing.
I got it for 25 cents and now I know why. I will not be passing this book on. It doesn't even rate 1 star.

I'm at a loss. This was brilliant writing, brilliant characterization (with flawed, REAL people), and breathless plotting. All in all, this should be a 5-star review. BUT this had to have been one of the darkest and most sadistic books I've ever read. Even now, I feel nauseous at some of the passages and the truly hopeless ending. I admire Ms. Hayder's ability to write, but I can't say I will ever read one of her books again. I love horror; I love suspense...I can endure pretty gruesome drama, but Hayder crosses too many lines, digs too deep in the muck, and finally chooses ugliness and despair when she could made choices that might have left a reader with some sense of hope, instead of the sense of needing to shower. I have read several other of Ms. Hayder's novels, but this one has made me certain I'll never read another.

If I had known what horrid tales this female came up with, I would never have opened the book. Of course I stayed to the end to see if Steven would be rescued. It seemed as if she wanted to make the point that Caffery got what he had coming for finally putting paid to Miss Lamb.
There is no redeeming quality to this vulgar book and most mid-stream moral readers will not be enriched or bettered by having read the thing.
I got it for 25 cents and now I know why. I will not be passing this book on. It doesn't even rate 1 star.