The Ink Black Heart by Robert Galbraith

 The Ink Black Heart by Robert Galbraith follows private investigators Cormoran Strike and Robin Ellacott on yet another adventure after a cartoon creator comes to their office regarding an online troll shortly before she is murdered. Soon after the murder, private investigators are hired by her agent to discover who this online troll, Anomie, actually is. This sees the detectives navigate the depths of the internet and social media whilst risking their own lives as they come under threat by a terrorist organisation named The Halvening. On top of this, we once again follow Strike's and Robin's distinct love lives and the struggles they both face.

This is an incredibly gripping thriller and does not disappoint from the last book I read in the series, Troubled Blood. This book has kept me up late at night and has made it a great challenge to stop reading this book as there is always something new happening which makes the reader's heart rate increase and makes them continue reading the book in anticipation. This is particularly towards the end of the book where it becomes increasingly difficult to stop reading due to the increasing amounts of Twists and Turns. However, it does take a while to get to the most exciting parts of the book so it helps to have some patience. This book definitely does not disappoint though as the writer never runs out of plot twists.

This book is extremely long being over 1200 pages in length. This definitely makes it hard to find time to read the book and get into it. I quite like this long length of the book as I feel it allows me to fully emerge myself in the plot of the book to the point where I feel that the events in the book are real life and I feel a sense of urgency and feel like I should be reporting the happenings to the private investigators! This book is definitely much longer than it necessarily needs to be and could be cut drastically shorter by perhaps excluding some of the romance themes and not going on quite as many twists and turns. This is without mentioning that the plot of this particular book only really starts 200 pages within the book. However, I like the length and the twists and turns and the romance as it makes the book feel more reflective of everyday life where there will be many twists and turns in such mysteries and you won't just walk into the answer and also where detectives have their own private lives to worry about as well. I suppose with this book the reader just needs some patience and for this reason as well as other reasons I will come to, this book is likely most suitable to an older teenage audience or even more suitable for young adults. 

This is a murder mystery unlike any other with some unique murder and attempted murder scenes. The book looks at knife crime, bombs and so much more with a total of about three murders in this book and four attempted murders. This definitely adds excitement and anticipation to the book as the reader becomes even more intrigued at who is behind all these murders. Yes, they prolong the book but they definitely add to parts of the book that may otherwise be a bit dull but also create a degree of frustration in both the detectives and the readers which again encourages the reader to continue reading. 

Like the previous book I read, this book not only covers murder but also romance. This is explored in a number of ways in this book including the relationship of the two cartoon creators, males' relationships with underage girls and the romantic relationships of Strike and Robin. This is another part of the book that helps entertain the reader and is also unique as one could argue this is in away two books, one covering romance and the other covering murder. I was disappointed in this book that Strike and Robin have kind of given up on pursuing a romantic relationship with Robin not being in a relationship but considering going on various dates, and Strike entering a romantic relationship with Madeline where they break up before the end of the book. However, the romantic connection between Strike and Robin is still present so I really hope that in the next few books in the series, they will get closer to the point where they will be in a romantic relationship as well as being business partners and I do really sincerely hope it will all work out for the two of them.

I am well aware that the author, J. K. Rowling under the pseudonym Robert Galbraith, loves taking risks in her books. In the previous book, I believe it was on the themes of transgender topics and it was the controversy that emerged from the book that made me want to read it. In this book, the writer's controversial theme focuses on disabilities. This on its own is not entirely controversial but I would argue the language used within the book could be considered controversial. In the book, the characters can be seen using derogatory language towards disabled people such as calling them 'vegetables' or 'spoons' to name just a few. This is a big risk to take as the book may be in danger of being seen as discriminatory but I believe the author may have saved themselves from possible scrutiny after the use of such terms. However, even with saving oneself from some of the language used, the author is still taking risks which they should be mindful of when writing the future books in the series.

On the topic of language, this book does contain erotic language and expletives. Starting by focusing on the expletives, there is infrequent use of some of the strongest expletives in the English Language and more frequent use of some of the more common expletives. This is an interesting feature of the book as some of the language adds to the book whereas other words do not add anything. It is therefore an interesting choice for using some of these words but not something I can really criticise as one may argue this language is just the reality of everyday life and is the kind of thing that young adults want to read as it is more relevant to them and makes them more engaged in the book. There are also erotic themes in this book with sexual imagery with may make one consider this book a borderline erotica. However, there are no explicit sexual scenes and the use of such sexual imagery is moderately mild.

Altogether, I want to rate this book 5 stars as it is outstanding. It is incredibly gripping and unique which an author who loves to break the laws of literature using techniques which aren't very common when writing books. The author makes the book really interesting for the young adult audience and includes a number of themes to try and maintain the interest of the reader. There are also frequent moments which will have the reader on the edge of their seats. However, it is important to remember that this is a very long book so may take patience when reading, but if one perseveres one will reap the benefits by the end of the book. I definitely recommend this book to older teenage and young adult audiences as it is one of the best murder mysteries out there. I really cannot wait to read the next book in the series which I hope will be as busy, and exciting and will again keep me up late at night at the edge of my seat.