The Ink Black Heart

By: Robert Galbraith

Narrated by: Robert Glenister

The latest installment in the highly acclaimed, internationally bestselling Strike series finds Cormoran and Robin ensnared in another winding, wicked case.

When frantic, disheveled 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 cocreator 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 Robert Galbraith (P)2022 Mulholland Books

LOVE IT‼️

I can’t believe all of the complaints about the chat room conversations!! Boo Hoo !! The continued story of Strike and Robin’s will they/won’t they relationship is great, the plot of the Ink Black Heart & Edie is so on point understanding what JKR is going through being tortured herself by social media trolls and always Robert Glenister is outstanding!!

Exquisite ~ BuffyPaws 4ever

A thrilling ride! The twists & turns always keep me guessing when I’m normally the first to spot the killer in other mysteries. So refreshing to finally see men described in an honest way- from a woman’s point of view. The humor is so so good! As a daughter of a disabled person (cane + wheelchair bound due to progressive MS), it’s very unusual to actually see disabled people portrayed as real/dynamic people- who yes-sometimes exaggerate their illnesses for their own benefit. I also appreciate how the shame or embarrassment and sometimes abusive nature shows through these characters and the family members who care for them. The social media interactions are spot on. Also, everything about those dumb books similar to "the Game" by Neil Strauss is so accurate. It turns shy young men/boys into psychos. Details like these would make the devil himself blush. Every subject mentioned in the book feels so thoroughly researched. Such a pleasure! I feel bad for every person who hasn’t read/listened to this book.
🖤
In sisterhood.

*When I first started listening to the social media chat messages- it was a little annoying/hard to follow along. After a while, I got used to it. I do want to read a physical copy regardless.

First Strike book I didn’t like!

I love this series but The In Black Heart was too hard to follow! Didn’t like the tedious text messages with too many character names to keep straight! I had to skip through chapters to bypass boring details. Finally a great ending! ❤️

The best Strike book so far!

Enthralling, true-to-character, and perfectly paced! let Although I am among the avid Rowling fans who remain concerned about her public comments about transgender women, I don’t agree with reviews in the media that claim she is using this book to portray herself as a victim of cancel culture.

disappointed

I've read everything she's written, this book was agony. made worst by Audio book.

"Alexa, restart the chapter..."

Hang in there folks as there is a lot of online chat talk, but I promise you, it's worth it. This must have been tough on the narrator (whom I love) as he is not allowed to give any inflections nor individual identity to any of the online personas - we are not allowed to know if they are male, female, young or old as it's part of the plot.

Be prepared to restart and re-listen to certain chapters and once you have completed the book, to have a delicious whole book re-listen.

This book reminded me of her second book (the one about Bonbix Morey.) Complex in parts, easy to listen to in others, I really enjoyed this ride with Robin and Strike.

(And no, I didn't guess correctly who Anime was, but I was darn close!)

Thank you, JKR.

I disagree with the 'buy a physical book' advice. Reading a book on paper, and listening to it are two different experiences, which are hard to compare. I loved listening to the story, and I always marvel at JKR ability to create a universe and create consistent characters, over many novels, different from each other in very identifiable ways, but with total inner consistency. It is really hard to do, most writers create one character or two and stay there, the rest are sketches. (She is a master on this count, check out "A Casual Vacancy"). The story, like the whole series, is kept together and managed well, there are not sudden, out of the blue discoveries; clues follow each other prompted by hard work and ingenuity, interactions and surveillance, to get to a result. All the life messiness, mistakes, wrong assumptions, cross-purposes, and pain play a role. A wonderful book, in a wonderful series by a great, great writer. As always, can't wait for the next one.

long

but worth all the twist and turns, side stories and dynamics. JK can tell a great story.

Too long but stick with it

I think this book should have been edited much better. It was way too long and the text and emails were hard to follow. Overall I think I zoned out alot and was still able to get the gist of the story. I look forward to seeing this book as part of the Strike, TV series.

The Best One Yet

Granted it’s long and takes a bit to really get into the meat of the plot (this is typical of all books in this series…more of a slow burn type of read), but the story is so well-crafted with absolutely unparalleled character development. Once again, you feel like these are real people and you begin to dread the book coming to a close and having to say “goodbye” to them…hopefully not forever though! Another book in this series shouldn’t even be negotiable. The plot demands it.
Anyway, I digress.
The narrator is awesome. He is the heart and soul of the story, bringing each character to life with all their unique quirks. His voice is incredibly easy to listen to, full of nuance and charm. He is the best of the best.
As for the plot, it is dense and intricate just like each book before it. Almost impossible to guess the ending. It’s a bit tiresome to listen to all the social media tags, but given this is a story that is centered entirely around a social media crime, it’s an unavoidable part of the story. So make sure you start this book with the mindset of accepting there will be hundreds of “@“ and “#” references, and then you’ll be all set for this highly enjoyable and very long ride.