I love this series, but I did not love this book. I guess the subject matter bothered me. I did like the stories surrounding the main character. Has a bit of a surprise ending. ( )

Wow, and I thought the last volume was dark ... yikes. Still a great read, but sheesh for some of these characters! ( )

Whatever happened to Ivo Serrailler, triplet of Simon and Cat, who has been referred to in all the previous seven novels of this series, as a doctor in Australia, but never shown? In this novel, no mention of him - even as being notified of his brother's possibly-imminent demise? ( )

This is No. 8 in the Simon Serrailller series. As I realized what Hill was getting our man Simon into this time, I had some serious doubts that she knew what she was doing---that either she or Simon could pull it off. I hoped she wasn't going to disappoint me by setting up a scenario that I couldn't buy; I really should have known better. Serrailler is recruited to go undercover in a maximum security rehabilitation facility, known as a "therapeutic community", where inmates convicted of sexual crimes are offered an opportunity to address their impulses and possibly learn to overcome or control them, in a more respectful and trusting environment than they are accustomed to in regular prisons. Admission is only upon request, and only after a strenuous vetting process. Simon's job is to get close to one of those inmates, a man who has steadfastly refused to provide any information whatsoever about other members of a large ring of child pornographers and abusers. Aside from the team of detectives assigned to this particular undertaking, only the governor of the facility was to be aware of Simon's true identity and purpose. How in the world could he pull this off...convincing not only the perpetrators of such hideous crimes, but the group therapists involved in their rehabilitation, that he was guilty of similar horrors. I should have trusted Hill to handle this without forcing a total suspension of disbelief on the part of the reader. Nevertheless, the ending of this one---one of her darkest and most difficult---still has me hoping she knows what she's doing.
Review written October 2015 ( )

I picked this up in an airport bookshop, not realizing it was the eighth instalment. I think I might have read the first three or four years ago.

Anyway... Simon goes undercover in a progressive prison for paedophiles to try to and out more about a particular internet ring/interest group. His father rapes a woman and his sister agonizes about her future (especially enjoyed re private GP services: the rich deserve good medical care too - just like they deserve good schools).

I found the switching between the various strands a relief because sometimes Simon's in particular would get a bit dark. A few things puzzled me: [ Would Will really have trusted Johnno so readily? What exactly did Simon do, which led to so many arrests? Was it just giving Morson's name? If Will had protected his associates so well, why had Morson not done so? (hide spoiler)]

Now I am going to go back and read the sixth and seventh instalments! ( )