Cover Image: The Smiling Man

The Smiling Man

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Member Reviews

I knew this was a highly rated book but for some reason, I kept pushing this read back and boy do I regret it!

I was hooked from the very first chapter! If you like dark books with lots of descriptive violence, this one is for you! It was so brutal sometimes I was cringing.

However, I realized this was a book series based on the main character Aidan Waits and I will read all the other books in that series. Unfortunately, there are only 3 books so far, the last one was released in 2019 so we are due for another one. I really fell in love with Aidan, he is very flawed but as the character develops you start to understand why he is that way and you just sort of root for him.

I’ll try something new for my review, instead of describing the book in full sentences I’ll just give a point form breakdown! Who has time to read reviews now anyways! Ha

 Atmospheric
 Eerie vibes
 Unforeseeable twists
 Excellent writing
 Intricate plot and side plots

Highly recommend!

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I've tried multiple times to read this - via the provided eArc, to a physical copy, to the audiobook - and I simply cannot get into it. There is something about the writing that almost provides too much detail where it feels slower paced, even though things happen pretty quickly to get the story started.

My apologies.

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A fast-paced and engrossing crime thriller with likeable and thoroughly crafted characters and plot. Unputdownable and totally captivating! Stellar storytelling, can't wait to read more from Joseph Knox!

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The Smiling Man by Joseph Knox was a suspenseful book that is a must-read for any thriller fan. Both The Smiling Man and Sirens are two really well-crafted thrillers by Joseph Knox. When I read Joseph’s first book, I was impressed by the strong sense of place, the writing style and the characters themselves. And once again Joseph Knox has written a real winner with The Smiling Man.

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Great realistic characters make all the difference between a book being a good book, or being a great book. THIS is a GREAT book for many reasons. Fantastic characters... amazing story... it all just works, and it works well. I loved it.

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"Disconnected from his history and careless of his future, Detective Aidan Waits has resigned himself to the night shift. An endless cycle of meaningless emergency calls and lonely dead ends. Until he and his partner, Detective Inspector Peter ‘Sutty’ Sutcliffe, are summoned to The Palace, a vast disused hotel in the centre of a restless, simmering city."

-Brilliant writing, brilliant characters, story telling was amazing! Story is brutal and not for the faint of heart. The smiling Man is a one session kind of book, you wont want to put it down!

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The second book in the An Aidan Waits Thriller Series is one of those books that you don't put down. I enjoyed the first book, but the second one definitely kicked it up a notch. It doesn't waste any time to pull you in and will keep you on the edge of your seat until the very end.

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I couldn't get into this book. I tried to read it, maybe I should have read the 1st book. Thank you for approving me and for the chance to read it..

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THE SMILING MAN is definitely creepy and well-written, but I just couldn't connect with it at all. At times it felt like too much of the story was added and didn't really belong.... But that could just be me unable to connect with the characters.

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Gripping, compelling, thrilling, and down right addictive. I could not put this book down because it was so CAPTIVATING!

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MY THOUGHTS:
Loved it! I loved this book! I'm going to go back and read book 1 (<i>Sirens</i>) for sure! The concept of the very damaged addict detective reminded me of Harry Hole (one of my all-time favorites!), but the writing was different and completely different circumstances. It just makes for such an interesting character for someone to have such deep flaws! But at the heart is still a good person just so - trapped. Addiction is rough, friends. It ruins some of our best people. It's great to see a character come back from that. So 5 stars for characters! The mystery was well done, too. I liked that I couldn't figure it out. It was a great story!

MY RATING:
Entertainment Value: 5
Characters 5
Voice: 5
Plot: 5
Overall: 5 stars!

See all my reviews @ www.mamaneedsabook.blogspot.com
<i>Thank you to NetGalley for this ARC in exchange for my honest review!</i>

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The Smiling Man is the second book in the Aidan Waits series by Joseph Knox. I, being the Aidan Waits novice that I am, was a little concerned when I first picked this book up, wondering if I needed to read the first one before jumping into this one. Luckily, I didn’t. While there are a few happenings mentioned that I assume happened in the first book, they are nothing vital to this story line. Anyone can pick up The Smiling Man and understand the entire story with no problems.

This police mystery takes place in England, so laws and jargon are a little different than those in the States, but the story itself if a complex one! There are so many people and different story lines involved that it was 1) hard to get bored and 2) easy to get lost. DC Waits would be working on one case one second and then all of a sudden he’d be working on another one that somehow or another would eventually tie back to the first case. Throw in his past showing up and you have a whole other story line to follow! While I know this is how real-life detective work (you can’t compartmentalize your cases and personal life into neat little chapters), I found the way Knox sowed the pieces of DC Waits’ life together was a bit rough, and needed some tailoring done.

The overall story was an enjoyable as a mystery can get. I was constantly trying to put the pieces together, always a step behind DC Waits due to his inside knowledge because of his badge. And I do have to say, the ending was one that I didn’t see coming together the way that it did! For one roughed up cop that probably needs to go to rehab and anger management, he really does have a great mind for puzzling out the mysteries of the policing world!



Dani's Score out of 5: 📚📚📚📚 (4/5)


*** This review will post to my blog on Tuesday, April 9, 2019. However, the review has already been posted to Goodreads, Amazon and other retailers. ***

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Too political for my taste. The writing seemed off. It felt almost as if a thought wasn’t fully realized in one sentence and was tried again in the next. It had me feeling like I had read the same sentence over again many times. I don’t need “alt-right” put in something that should be a break from reality. I appreciate the copy. Just not for me

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The Smiling Man by Joseph Knox is the second mystery in the Detective Aidan Waits series. The detective has been assigned to nightshift duty due to previous problems with drug abuse and temper control. His senior partner is Sutty Sutcliffe, who is putting up with him until he either quits or gets fired. Nothing good is expected from Aidan Waits. The pair are called to answer a break-in alarm at an empty hotel in Manchester. Upon investigation, the detectives find an unconscious security guard and a dead body in one of the rooms. The body was dressed in clothing without labels, his fingerprints and teeth had been removed and the corpse was smiling. The identity of this man seems impossible to establish. Aidan Waits, who is expected to self-destruct anyways, takes on the case with great interest and drive. There are numerous characters in this book but the story is fascinating to follow. You will never be able to predict what is on the next page. I also look forward to reading Sirens, the first in the series by Joseph Knox. Pick up a copy of The Smiling Man and settle in for a great read. Thank you to Crown Publishing and NetGalley for the e-ARC in exchange for an honest review.

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The Smiling Man is a murder mystery story. The story is intriguing and well written, but I found it somewhat disturbing. The characters are intelligent and intuitive. Something about it just bothered me. I skimmed through parts of this story. Thanks to NetGalley for an arc in exchange for an honest review.

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The Smiling Man is a dark and compelling police procedural set during the night shift in a poor Manchester area.

Detective Aidan Waits has been stuck on the night shift by his superiors and partnered with Detective Inspector Sutty, who is not the most motivated of men. When a body is found in an abandoned hotel, with its teeth replaced, fingertips missing, and a smile on its face, only a patch helps determines who the victim is. Things just spiral further into disarray from there until the surprising conclusion.

Within the Smiling Man, the characters are so well written that they seem like real people. The gritty setting is perfect for a dark noir. There is graphic violence here but also dark humor to balance it out. Highly recommended to noir readers, this uses an innovative setting to tell a gripping tale. 4 stars!

Thanks to Crown Publishing and NetGalley for a copy in exchange for an honest review.

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I really liked this 2nd installment in this series, a British police procedural/thriller. I think this book is much better than the 1st (that I also liked.) This one gives quite a bit more background into the main character's dark past. I did think the murder that they were investigating got kind of muddied with a bunch of odd participants, & then came to kind of a quickly tied up conclusion .......but none of that was enough to make me lessen my rating! A good compelling fast read, very hard to put down... I definitely look forward to the 3rd book in this series!
I received this e-book from Crown Publishing via NetGalley, in exchange for reading it & offering my own fair & honest review

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Have you ever been so excited for a book only to get it and have it just not click with you? Well, this was the case for me and The Smiling Man. No matter how much I tried, I just could not get into this book. Sometimes it can take about half a book for me to get into the story so I pushed on, thinking that it might get better for me but…nope. I just couldn’t connect.

Now, it isn’t that The Smiling Man was a bad book because it really wasn’t. Knox created a chilling and unpredictable mystery. I read it as a standalone and didn’t seem to be missing out on anything having not read the first book. I do think that there would have been some useful background information on Aidan, his past and his relationships in the previous book but I didn’t need it. The flashbacks were enough to give me the shivers and no matter how hard I tried, I could NOT figure out who The Smiling Man was. Really well done.
This book literally has everything I love in a thriller; conflict, twisted turns of events, drama and deep dark secrets but it just didn’t suck me in the way I had expected it to. Though the story was good, the pacing really dragged for me and I found that I could only read a chapter or two a night. There might have been a little too much going on with the sub-plots that, try as I might, could not hold my concentration.

I believe that The Smiling Man is worth giving a read, especially if you’ve enjoyed the previous book, but I don’t think Aidan Waits is for me and probably won’t continue the series.

Thank you to NetGalley and Crown Publishing for providing me with a copy of this book to read and provide my honest opinions.

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I really liked this book and really wish that I had read the first one of the series before this. I just feel like I missed some important history regarding how Aiden got put on nights. This book gives you what you need to know but I feel like there is underlying baggage that I would have loved to be privy too.

Aiden Waits is actually a very good detective, unfortunately he also had a checkered past that lead him to drugs and that was his downfall. In this book Aiden and his hand sanitizing lazy superior officer are called to an alarm at an closed hotel when they find a dead man with a smile on his face. Trying to track down what happened to this man Aiden is also constantly blindsided by the Superintendent who loves to throw Aidens past in his face and give him ultimatums, and his phone keeps ringing with only breathing on the other end. As Aiden's world starts spiraling out of control we also see the underlying good cop and kind soul that lies underneath his hard exterior.

Great police procedural with a broken cop who seems to catch hell from all sides all while trying to break free of his past and become a better man. I question how long Aiden will be able to remain a cop and what will happen to him if he isn't but I'm keeping my fingers crossed and enjoying the ride. Definitely putting this author and this series on my list to keep watching.

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I really enjoyed the grittiness of this book. Right off the bat I was hooked. I have not read the previous book, Sirens, but I'm not quite sure it was necessary. I really enjoy Joseph's character writing. Now I have his previous book, Sirens, on my TBR.

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