Book Review - Robert Galbraith's The Running Grave
The Running Grave by Robert Galbraith
Published by: Mulholland Books
Publication Date: September 26th, 2023
Format: Hardcover, 960 Pages
Rating: ★★
To Buy
Sir Colin Edensor's son Will is trapped in a cult. To the public the "church" has a very charitable face, but to those few who have escaped, the Universal Humanitarian Church is pure evil and they live in fear of the day The Drowned Prophet will come to them. Starvation, indoctrination, sexual abuse, child abuse, and forced labor, are just some of the tortures inflicted on the congregation. Or at least those sequestered to their farm in Norfolk, Chapman Farm, which is nothing more nor less than a prison. And Sir Colin doesn't know how to get his son out. The last family who attempted this resulted in a well publicized suicide. Sir Colin doesn't even know if they are passing on the letters he's written to Will. Does Will even know his mother has died? He hired another detective agency who botched it up royally. He also had the help of an apostate on the outside, one Kevin Pirbright, who has since tragically been killed. Sir Colin will do anything to find out his son's well-being and, if possible, aid in his escape. This is the challenge he brings to Cormoran Strike and Robin Ellacott. Both want to take on the case. Strike once he learns that Chapman Farm is the remnants of Forgeman Farm which became famous as the Aylmerton Community, known for drugs and sexual abuse. A commune that Strike's mom Leda dragged him and Lucy to for some of the worst months of his childhood. And where he only recently finds out his sister was sexually assaulted. Robin views it as a chance to go deep undercover and save a lost soul. But Robin's desire to always risk her safety and sanity might have finally met its match with the charismatic Jonathan Wace, AKA Papa J, who runs the church with his wife Mazu Wace, and is built around their dead daughter, Daiyu, who is The Drowned Prophet. Seeing as one of the other prophet's of the church is the man who molested Lucy, you can tell the kind of people who are in power. Once inside the community, Robin is quickly malnourished and exhausted, trying to fed off unwanted sexual advances, and trying to find some way to communicate with Will. But the church thrives on total control. You can't speak freely. You are silenced and broken. Robin can analytically see this, but how soon until she's too far gone to help Will let alone herself? And can Strike save her? The UHC wants to hold onto their secrets and they will take them to the grave if they have to.
I want to state at the beginning of this review that I unequivocally do not stand for anything that the author does. I am not like many who read this series and bury their head in the sand with regard to her. You will not hear me declaiming that it's another stellar mystery in this series. Because I just can't. She needs to be called out for the despicable human being that she is. She's a TERF. She fully took off her mask with Troubled Blood, which besides showing what a horrible human being she is was just a badly written book. I let her words and her work speak for her and I have found her wanting. In many regards. But there's a part of me that's just in too deep. It's like, I can't not read the newest adventure of Cormoran Strike and Robin Ellacott. And it's not just for the characters, it's also because I feel a need to know. And what I need to know is what is she ranting on about now and is she able to actually fashion a book out of her prejudices. I mean, I don't think I would have believed that she wrote over a thousand pages that was nothing more than her showing her deep-seated persecution complex unless I had read The Ink Black Heart. As for The Running Grave? I heard it was about religion, and I was like, oh, let's see just how batshit this can get. The answer is very. But there was also a big helping of glee. You see, she's no longer just being homophobic and ableist and using her position of power to punch down, which she is still doing if you were wondering. Oh no. She's now going after bigger fish as well. She's taking on Scientology and MAGA and Doctor Oz and I am here for it! Because these people are the audience she has left and she just shits all over them. It was glorious, it was cathartic, and I just can't wait for the fallout. Because with Scientology for sure, there shall be fallout. She thinks she's above it all. She thinks she can silence all those who hate her for her hate by suing them, well, let's see what happens when she's no longer shitting on minorities. Let's see how she handles those who play in her tainted pool. As for the mystery? It's actually her strongest since Lethal White, though with a strong helping of trauma and cultural appropriation running rife in the cult. And as for the liberal use of the I Ching, there's only one writer allowed to go there, and that's Philip K. Dick, thank you very much.
The Ink Black Heart by Robert Galbraith
