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I love Alaina, truly. She is a wonderful podcaster, human, advocate, etc. I cannot imagine the time and energy that went into this book. Alaina Urquhart is the science-loving co-host of the chart-topping show Morbid: A True Crime Podcast. As an autopsy technician by trade, she offers a unique perspective from deep inside the morgue. Alaina hails from Boston, where she lives with her wonderful husband, John, their three amazing daughters, and a ghost puggle named Bailey. She is about 75 percent coffee, and truly believes she and Agent Clarice Starling could be friends.
As a kid, he took out books at the library on lobotomies. He became entranced with medical procedures of Dr. Freeman. We hear about his earlier time in a lab and his lab partners.Wrens are truly magnificent little creatures. They signify rebirth and protection, immortality, and strength. Because of the wren's small stature, most larger birds and predators underestimate its incredible ingenuity and intelligence. But while technically fragile, the wren outwits its underprepared predator to come out on top when threatened." Dignity is key in both my work as a true crime podcaster and as an autopsy technician. For example, I always try to part the victim’s hair in a way that allows me to make the necessary cuts without damaging their hair. Just like the person on my autopsy table is a human being who has people who love them, the people we discuss on Morbid are mothers, fathers, daughters, sons, and friends. Gallows humor has a place in the death industry, to allow workers to cope with the sometimes suffocating sadness that comes with the job, but it can never be in relation to the victim. While on the podcast, I maintain a more fact-based/clinical tone to avoid having the stories of real victims feel like exploitative entertainment, in my fiction, I allow myself a bit more creativity in my narrative style. I absolutely loved the short chapters which helped to keep the pace up. I also really enjoyed the twist which I did not see coming. It took me a while to wrap my head around it because it completely blindsided me! However, after the twist I felt things slipping a little. The ending felt really abrupt and came out of nowhere. It is clear it was setting up for a sequel but I was left feeling a little unsatisfied. That being said, I loved the sprinkling of true crime facts throughout and will definitely be reading the sequel if there is one! I think this was an impressive debut that shows a lot of promise! Lobotomies were mentioned so many times as Jeremy's interest but the potential to build up on this was lost. IMO if his whole MO was attempting a successful lobotomy, this whole book would make much more sense. That would be why he was going to medical school, why he tried to paralyze Emily and other victim and why there was a body with a botched lobotomy in his freezer. Try and tell me that isn't a stronger plot?!
Urquhart paints a tense and dangerous world for us right from the start and delivers it all with a skilled and evocative hand.” - Aaron Mahnke, creator of the Lore podcast and author of The World of Lore series Alaina Urquhart's debut novel is incredibly accomplished. Set deep in Louisiana, you can almost feel the heat and humidity. A grisly serial killer, a tenacious medical examiner, and a few amazing twists make this a searing, unputdownable book Samantha Downing, Sunday Times Bestselling Author Set in the Louisiana bayou, it is centered around forensic pathologist Dr. Wren Muller. Matt Bettinelli-Olpin, Chad Villella, Tyler Gillett Getty ImagesA serial killer novel like none you have ever read, The Butcher and the Wren takes a cat-and-mouse chase between two instantly memorable antagonists and turns all the conventions of the genre upside down. Dark, twisty, full of authentic detail, it'll have you listening to the night in an entirely different way Neil Nyren, Booktrib On top of that, for a book set in New Orleans, written by someone 'supposedly' obsessed with New Orleans - it's painfully apparent she's never been and didn't even bother to research the basics. It's so full of stereotypes and clichés i.e Bourbon Street, French Quarter, jazz, Mardis Gras, tarot readers, spooky cemeteries etc. to the point it reads like parody. I'm sorry, but this was very, very poor writing. A true, good publisher would never have let this happen without numerous edits. People look for patterns that aren’t there because they are scared shitless. They can’t handle that they are just as likely to be scooped up by a totally normal-looking psychopath as the victims were, so they make this crap up instead.” MO: So, I’m a big fan of Bones, but I know that entertainment can get things wrong. What’s your biggest pet peeve when it comes to fictional autopsies?
This was a book I didn't know about until I stumbled across it at Walmart (of all places!), but the synopsis immediately caught my attention. Add the fact that the cover is absolutely beautiful, and I was ready to start reading this one ASAP. I'm happy to say that I really enjoyed this one, and might actually have found my very first book series (which I normally hate) I'm prepared to invest some time into!Alright, let's pause here. It's obvious that this book was perhaps lightly massaged rather than properly edited. The sad irony of publishing a book that already has an eager and willing audience is that editing isn't necessarily a priority: the publisher knows that it will make money regardless of -- ahem -- talent or technique. I think they actually did Urquhart a disservice by agreeing to publish this mess; she has the writing skills of a ninth grader who just discovered true crime, and with her first book selling so well, it's unlikely that she'll make the effort to improve. Impressively detailed in its analysis, as you might expect from someone who spends their life conducting autopsies, it leaves little to the imagination, but is captivating, with lacings of the occult amid the deaths. There may be moments when the reader might want to shut their eyes, but the joust between the killer and the pathologist makes that impossible.” - Daily Mail This reads like a tv episode rather than a novel - short and superficial - and it breaks my heart to write this because I know from the podcast that Alaina poured everything into this. She is a wonderful person and I think could benefit from a stronger editor who could push her to develop her thoughts more fully. The concept and plot of the book would have been five stars if more time and attention was spent with the characters to develop the plot.
The ending is incredibly abrupt but still manages to set things up for more books with The Butcher and The Wren. I can only hope that the publishers don’t allow more of this juvenile writing to be published. The only thing that defines Wren is that she’s a medical examiner and a workaholic. I wasn’t particularly rooting for her. CAPTIVATING. T he reader might want to shut their eyes, but the joust between the killer and the pathologist makes that impossible' DAILY MAIL
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The author also insists on mentioning other, famous serial killers throughout the book – everyone seems to be a true crime fan in this story – which is offputting. I was half expecting a plug for the author’s podcast to appear, but thankfully she stopped short of this. I never said it was his sole intention. I just don’t like my abilities being tested by some gutless asshole who thinks he’s Hannibal Lecter or something.” While Wren usually has a genial relationship with Police Detective John Leroux, she is a bit annoyed when he laughs off this observation. Frustrated, she tells him:
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