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    Ragdoll: A Novel
    Ragdoll: A Novel
    Ragdoll: A Novel
    Audiobook10 hours

    Ragdoll: A Novel

    Written by Daniel Cole

    Narrated by Alex Wyndham

    4/5

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    About this audiobook

    William Fawkes, a controversial detective known as The Wolf, has just been reinstated to his post after he was suspended for assaulting a vindicated suspect. Still under psychological evaluation, Fawkes returns to the force eager for a big case. When his former partner and friend, Detective Emily Baxter, calls him to a crime scene, he’s sure this is it: the body is made of the dismembered parts of six victims, sewn together like a puppet—a corpse that becomes known as “The Ragdoll.”

    Fawkes is tasked with identifying the six victims, but that gets dicey when his reporter ex-wife anonymously receives photographs from the crime scene, along with a list of six names, and the dates on which the Ragdoll Killer plans to murder them.

    The final name on the list is Fawkes.

    Baxter and her trainee partner, Alex Edmunds, hone in on figuring out what links the victims together before the killer strikes again. But for Fawkes, seeing his name on the list sparks a dark memory, and he fears that the catalyst for these killings has more to do with him—and his past—than anyone realizes.

    With a breakneck pace, a twisty plot, and a wicked sense of humor, Ragdoll announces the arrival of the hottest new brand in crime fiction.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherHarperAudio
    Release dateApr 4, 2017
    ISBN9780062669971
    Author

    Daniel Cole

    Daniel Cole is the author of Ragdoll, an international bestseller published in nearly forty countries. He lives in Bournemouth, England, where he is at work on another Ragdoll novel.

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    Reviews for Ragdoll

    4/5

    135 ratings7 reviews

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    • 4/5
      Really enjoyed the suspenseful plot and creative deaths (does that make me sound like a psycho?) but thought that Wolf was a bit of a twat. I mean, fair enough given what he's been through, but he wasn't my favourite main character ever. I would like to see more of Emily in future books. Despite thinking Wolf was a bit of a dickhead, I would still definitely pick up future books in this series and am excited to see where Daniel Cole goes with this. In summary: a bit of a wanker, but a wanker I definitely want to read more about.
    • 5/5
      Ragdoll (2017) (Fawkes & Baxter #1) by Daniel Cole. The title is the name the Press has given to the corpse that was left for “Wolf” Fawkes to find. More properly, it is the collective pieces of several victims sewn together to form the body that was left in an apartment across the way from Wolf’s own shabby apartment.The killer is sending a message to Wolf, his partner Detective Emily Baxter and the rest of London’s homicide squad. They have to figure out who each of the murdered was, how they link together, and why the macabre rag doll was pointing at Wolf’s window.This is a fast paced novel of mystery and suspense with each new revelation bring yet another horror with it. And in so many places, despite the grisley nature of the crimes, there is an abundance of humor. This was a great find and I hope to read the follow up books soon, if my library ever reopens. This Covid-19 is putting a damper on my unrestricted reading habits.
    • 5/5
      Please don’t be fooled by the book description and think that the book is filled with gore…it isn’t … although the killers methods are a bit over the top…but interestingly different. What we have is a well balanced team who have been tasked with finding a very determined killer who is armed with a list, a grudge, and seeming endless methods of carrying out his self made task. These well drawn characters should be the focus of a series or at least, hopefully, a sequel.
    • 4/5
      With a gruesome stitched-together corpse, many readers will probably expect Daniel Cole's Ragdoll to be filled to overflowing with gore. Surprisingly, it isn't. What it does have is a breakneck pace, a wonderfully convoluted plot, and an intense cast of characters. For a character-driven reader like myself, Cole's cast is what made the book. No, I couldn't solve the mystery ahead of time-- which is always a plus-- but the characters are what wouldn't let me go.The trainee Edmunds is brilliant at wading through mountains of information and digging up the facts that they need to solve the crime. In addition, he may be new in position, but he has the intestinal fortitude to stand up to his superiors when he feels that he is in the right. The entire team may be saddled with a pencil-pushing, media-hungry, wardrobe nightmare of a boss, but the detectives' immediate supervisor, Simmons, is a good man who gets right in the thick of the investigation with them and buckles down to do some of the grunt work. How often does that happen?Emily Baxter has a terrible temper, is an even worse driver, and secretly pines for Fawkes, who knows her flaws and has been known to cover for her when necessary. Fawkes himself goes spectacularly off the rails, and this makes him very unpredictable. With these two main characters, readers are never quite sure what's going to happen.Although the ending of Ragdoll unraveled a bit, I really enjoyed the story and the characters, and I'm looking forward to reading the next book, Hangman, which will be out at the end of July.
    • 5/5
      Ragdoll is Daniel Cole's first novel - and what a heck of a lead off book!Our introduction to Detective William 'Wolf' Fawkes is through a shocking courtroom prologue. Well, with my interest definitely piqued, I quickly turned to the first chapter - and that was even more shocking. Wolf is called out to a murder - and here's the thing - it's not one body. It's six body parts - sewn together. And the killer seems to be sending a message to Wolf......Many times a book can be deemed character or plot driven. Ragdoll is definitely plot driven with lots and lots of action. But the characters were just as well developed and important. This is the first book in a series, so the groundwork is being laid. Honestly, I really enjoyed each character - from the rash, unpredictable, unstable Wolf to the supporting cast. That cast includes Emily - a detective with anger and hostility issues. Wolf's ex wife Andrea - a television news reporter who believes the story is everything and she'll do anything to get it. Finlay is the old man on the team with only two years left 'til retirement. But I have to say my favourite was Edmunds - the newbie on the team. He's overlooked, undervalued, but tenacious.Cole's plotting kept me completely off balance throughout the book. There was no way to imagine where the story was going to go. There were so many possibilities presented for whodunit.I cannot tell you how much I appreciate being surprised by an author. There may be a few instances that I thought things were a wee bit far-fetched. But in no way did this detract from my rapid turning of pages. You'll also find some great gallows humour sprinkled throughout the book.Fair warning to gentle readers - this book is probably not for you. Crime fans like myself - an excellent read! See for yourself - read an excerpt of Ragdoll.Entertaining, page turning and addictive? Check. Looking forward to the next in the Detective William Fawkes series? Absolutely. Ragdoll has been translated into over 30 languages and production rights have been snapped. Crime fans, put this on your must read list.
    • 4/5
      Ragdoll – An Interesting DebutThere has been a lot of chatter about Ragdoll amongst book bloggers. who tend to talk to each other, and not to the book buying public, trying to create a head of steam online during late 2016. Unfortunately, the so-called buzz passed me by, part of me wishes the book continued past me, another part enjoyed reading Ragdoll, once I had suspended common sense and what I know about the criminal justice system and the police. If you cannot do that, you will ask the question, how, even after the person Detective Fawkes has seriously assaulted he would be locked up for quite a few years, and dismissed from the job. Whereas the person he assaulted is eventually found in the act of murdering a child, and Wolf is released and reinstated, in a real life and most crime thrillers he would never be reinstated even if an Act of God is involved.Once you have suspended belief and common sense then a reasonably interesting debut ensues, with one mistake in the Preface, there is no such thing as a child prostitute, as no child can be a prostitute, they are an abused and usually trafficked child. If you are going to mention it at least get the facts right even with artistic licence.Detective William ‘Wolf’ Fawkes has been reinstated, although at a lower rank, in to the Metropolitan Police in the Homicide Unit, his life is falling to pieces and he has just moved in to a flat, which he never actually unpacks. Wolf is woken up by his Detective Chief Inspector to attend a scene of crime and when he looks out of his window he can see the crime scene is in a neighbouring block of flats. The body that has been found, which the newspapers dub the ‘ragdoll’, has been stitched together from six victims rather like a puppet and is pointing at Wolf’s new flat. Wolf’s former wife is then sent pictures of the ‘ragdoll’ along with a list of the next set of victims, and at the same time the killer is taunting the police. Wolf and the team realise that they are racing against time to solve the murders, stop the forthcoming murders all in the face of intense glare of the press.Can Wolf save the potential victims? Can Wolf manage to hold everything together, especially as the world is watching him closely. He is under pressure from the police, the press, and more importantly himself, and all the time the killer seems to be one step ahead of him. There is plenty of gore and at a fast pace, while at the same time inventive, with a really twisted murderer matched by a really defective detective. One of the saving graces of this book is there is a dark humour throughout, which helps to drive the reader through this interesting debut
    • 5/5
      I’ve read a boatload of police procedural/thrillers & I can’t remember the last time I was so impressed by a debut novel. Gobsmacking. This is a lean, fast paced story that serves up an intricate plot full of great characters with a generous side of black humour. The book opens on the last day of the “Cremation Killer” trial at the Old Bailey. Det. William “Wolf” Layton-Fawkes has a lot riding on the verdict & when the dust settles, he’s lost it all.Four years later we find Wolf demoted, divorced & living in a crappy flat. He’s tried to put his notoriety behind him but the past is about to rear its ugly head……literally. He & colleague DS Emily Baxter are called out when a body is found in his neighbourhood. What they discover boggles the mind (and stomach) of everyone at the scene. Suspended from the ceiling is a body comprised of parts taken from 6 victims. Hmmm….probably not going to be solved by tea time. Wolf & the rest of the homicide unit get to work trying to find the owner of each piece. Meanwhile, ambitious crime reporter Andrea Fawkes is trying to make sense of a list of names she received in the mail. When news breaks of the body, its meaning becomes clear & more than a little worrying. The final entry on the list is William Layton-Fawkes, her ex-husband.Buckle up, people. You’re in for a wild & frequently hilarious ride. The cops have their work cut out for them as they try to contact those on the list & figure out their connection while keeping the media at bay. For Wolf, the names trigger a vague memory & as the story progresses we gradually learn what happened in the aftermath of the CK trial.Nuff said about the plot. Believe me, it heads off in directions you’ll never see coming. Somehow the author has managed to incorporate the mundane scut work necessary to solve a case without ever slowing the pace. Dialogue is sharp & each of these well defined characters has a distinct voice. It’s riddled with humour of the dark, often inappropriate variety that effectively breaks up the eeww-ier moments. At the centre of it all is Wolf, a weary & embattled man who tends to colour outside the lines. He & Emily have a complicated relationship & he depends on her to keep him in check. Her character is smart & funny, a strong woman who doesn’t care whose feathers she ruffles as long as it gets results. There is so much more to the story but seriously, you need to stop reading this & get your mitts on a copy. It’s the kind of read you’ll resent having to put down. Highly recommended, especially for fans of Stuart MacBride & Jay Stringer.