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The Ink Black Heart

Cormoran Strike, Book 6

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The Ink Black Heart

By: Robert Galbraith
Narrated by: Robert Glenister
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About this listen

 ***NOW A MAJOR TV SERIES***

THE NUMBER ONE SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLER, JULY 2023

'A superlative piece of crime fiction' SUNDAY TIMES
'There can be no denying [Galbraith's] considerable talents as a crime writer' GUARDIAN
'Fans will be as entranced as ever' DAILY MAIL

When frantic, dishevelled Edie Ledwell appears in the office begging to speak to her, private detective Robin Ellacott doesn't know quite what to make of the situation. The co-creator of a popular cartoon, The Ink Black Heart, Edie is being persecuted by a mysterious online figure who goes by the pseudonym of Anomie. Edie is desperate to uncover Anomie's true identity.

Robin decides that the agency can't help with this - and thinks nothing more of it until a few days later, when she reads the shocking news that Edie has been tasered and then murdered in Highgate Cemetery, the location of The Ink Black Heart.

Robin and her business partner Cormoran Strike become drawn into the quest to uncover Anomie's true identity. But with a complex web of online aliases, business interests and family conflicts to navigate, Strike and Robin find themselves embroiled in a case that stretches their powers of deduction to the limits - and which threatens them in new and horrifying ways . . .

A gripping, fiendishly clever mystery, The Ink Black Heart is a true tour-de-force.©2022 J.K. Rowling (P)2022 Hachette Audio UK Action & Adventure Crime Thrillers Detective Fiction Mystery Mystery, Thriller & Suspense Private Investigators Thriller & Suspense Women Sleuths Women's Fiction Thriller Crime Suspense Business
All stars
Most relevant
Some will struggle, but I loved it.

Another labyrinthine JK Rowling story to get lost in, another fantastically nuanced performance from Robert Glenister. As other reviewers have mentioned, a good amount of the plot unfolds in Twitter threads and private chats. Younger listeners may have an easier time here, but this is a special challenge for audio, especially the unusual names and lengthy reply threads. Stick with it if you can. Yes, it's cut down and crude, but as you get your ear in, the personalities and insecurities of these characters emerge and become critical threads in the story.

The Strike/Ellacott Books have never been cozy mysteries, but this might be the most unsettling of the series. Leaving aside the toxic misogyny, we have far right terror groups, online grooming, cancel culture and a demonstration of the way that 'truth' is routinely 'created' and manipulated, online and in the press. (It's inevitable, yet disheartening to see this happening around the release of this book.)

So why listen? Because it's a fantastic. Rowling has always been a formidable storyteller, and The Ink Black Heart is no different. At over 1,000 pages, she's writing for the love of it, populating her world with vivid characters and subtle clues. Like Strike and Robin we are constantly, guessing, sifting ... and trying to work it out. (My own guess was very wrong.)

Then there's Strike and Robin, who remain the warm, beating heart of these stories. Their misunderstandings and personal issues are familiar, but their evolving relationship is a real joy.

Thanks Joanne. Thanks Robert. Great work.

Didn't want it to end

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Robert Galbraith has done it again. Absolutely brilliant and so clever.

As usual, with all JK Rowling and Robert Galbraith books, there are so many twists and turns, The Ink Black Heart keeps you on the edge of your seat and not want to put it down.

I can’t praise it highly enough for its ingenious plot and story, and for the amazing voice of the audible book which Robert Glenister reads so very well - especially as there is so much social media context to read.

Thank you for such a brilliant book in every way

Brilliant as usual

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First of all narrator Robert Glenister deserves an Oscar and all other awards available for this fabulous performance which perhaps could not have been pulled off by anyone else as Mr Glenister managed to pump intrigue, interest and momentum into the endless dratted Twitter posts and game channels. Whatever they paid him, it was definitely not enough!

Secondly, this is one of the best books I have listened to for years and maybe my favourite of the Strike series.
I could not put it down and was increasingly unproductive as the story ramped up and all I wanted to do was listen, preferably not while I was doing anything else.

A lot of the reviews are complaining about these seemingly endless online conversations and the hugely verbose identification that surrounds them and while I imagine this would be easier on the eye in the book format - as would the lengthy and often de trop chapter quotations - it is a small price to pay for this fabulous narration and I just stuck with it and loved most, if not every moment.

I did however hate the Grey's anatomy quotes which announced each of the parts of the books as I listen to relax and hearing about the workings of the heart is rather triggering for those who suffer from anxiety and listen in order to reduce their blood pressure and slow their heartbeat.

One of my bugbears is Strike and his stump. I really feel that the author revels in it and now after being on board (and loving) each and every Strike novel, it is beginning to become formulaic the way that as the pace gathers, so does Strike's problems with his stump and the need for ice packs and rubbing lotion onto the stump.

One reviewer on a past Strike book, who seemed very knowledgeable, also complained saying that all of Strike's problems with his prosthetic leg was rather outdated and today amputees would not face such incredible challenges.

I really hope this is true.

I suppose, while I really feel wholeheartedly for amputees, I feel the way Strike struggles with his stump at the same way the action builds just is unnecessary and a bit contrived, it has been seven years that Strike has been given to manage his condition and yet he goes from coping well to not being able to use his prothesis and being forced to use crutches every time a case hots up.

Personally, as Strike is a fictional character and this is a very long book, I would love a whole lot less about massaging stumps, snapping hamstrings and collapsing when the stump becomes incompatible with the prothesis. I feel it really adds nothing to the book or the plot and it seems like Strike copes just fine until it is time to ramp up the tension which I think is a little disrespectful to use a disability - every single book - as a device, especially as, according to a few reviewers, it seems like it is not a thing in real life.

Also I just get a queasy feeling when there is so much, almost fetichistic deliberation about the icepacks and the chaffing and the lotioning of the inflamed and over-pressured stump. It feels like finding yourself at a party you really feel you should not have been invited to.

I think the writing was absolutely superb ... but the US grammar, angry/mad AT someone instead of the usual angry WITH someone rankled with me.

Lastly and this is a postscript to my previous review ... on reading another review and after never seeing the book in print form it seems like the catchphrase "Bwoah" which I thought was something unique to the Ink Heart game seems to have just been "Boi" ..... however loving the narration so much as I did. I really think "Bwoah" may catch on as a sort of combo of Boi and Brah with a touch mwah thrown in! I plan to start using it today to give it a head start and hoping it will become a thing soon,

OK, this seems like a lot of criticism for one of my favourite books, but I suppose it is the tiny bit of grit in the oyster that makes the pearl as I really did enjoy this book down to the last drop and it is in a class of its own.

Recommend 1,000%

Wow - what a fabulous adventure - a million stars!

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Fantastic premise, engaging story, well written detailed characters. Seen alot of review bombing by people who didn't read it. The book tackles topics of cyber terrorism and bullying. It also tackles racism, misogyny and the dangers of the rise of the incel

Ink Black Heart

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not as easy to get into but once you're in and guessing who it could be you're hooked. I loved it and at 32 hours long it's a biggy but not once did I want it to end.

It isn't an easy start

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