The Pike

I started angling around the time The Pike was originally released. The news that it was to ‘soon be a major film’ captured the imagination of anglers and press alike (although the film was never made). I wanted to read The Pike then but never managed to find a copy. When I saw it in Kindle form on Amazon recently, I bought it to see what all the fuss was about from so long ago.The story is set in Lakeland, a beautiful area that I am familiar with, and it was nice to read about places and hotels I’ve visited. The giant pike itself gives tension to the book as it is rarely seen but deadly when encountered.Despite the above, I cannot recommend The Pike as there are many problems with the book, especially this version.The writing is a mixed bag. The descriptions of the lake and the surrounding area are evocative and enjoyable but the characters are wooden and unimaginatively written: the jaded hack; the ‘expert’; the strong, silent countryman, all are part of the characters but do not appear ‘real’ to me. There’s nothing to invest me in the characters so when one is killed, it evokes no emotion.The pike itself does not behave how a pike would. It appears that not enough research had been performed. Pike are ambush predators not active hunters and they don’t rip their food apart, they catch it sideways then swallow it whole. A giant pike could change its behaviour but its teeth are not designed for ripping off legs (as happens in the book).The proofreading is extremely poor. Repeated spelling and punctuation mistakes appear on almost every page, jarring the reader and preventing ‘getting into’ the story. I don’t think I’ve ever bought a book that contains so many mistakes; this is unforgiveable.The final problem is the price. If this had been £1, I would still have been disappointed due to the proofreading. The Kindle edition was, however, £9.99! At this price, the book represents dreadful value for money and I cannot recommend that anyone pays this to read this book.

It’s a decent read(I had read it before many years ago ). A killer pike in one of my favourite places(Lake District) ,what’s not to like.? Could have done with better proofreading though.....too easy to spot some of the errors.

The amount of spelling mistakes, inappropriate capitals, lack of paragraphs..........Someone needs to go back to school and proof read

The book started out well, with a good setup and scary monster. The grammar was not that great at times, but my real problem was with the abrupt ending. There was no resolution, it just... Ends.

Word of warning to collectors: I should have looked closer, so it's my own damn fault. I love nature-gone-amuck books, and this looked to be right up my alley. I thought I was ordering the original Hamlyn Paperback. This, however, is a reprint from an on-demand publisher. It's not a big deal for me, as I'm happy to read the novel, but I doubt it'll interest you Paperbacks From Hell collectors.