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Harm Done
by Ruth Rendell, Christopher Ravenscroft
Product Group: Book
Publisher: Recorded Books (2001-03)
ISBN: 0788740334
EAN: 9780788740336
Dewy Decimal #: 813
Audio Cassette
Edition: Unabridged
SKU: BA08051120a
Condition: Used: Good
Comments: Ex Library audio book with usual stamps and stickers. Cassettes in excellent condition, inside original box. Box has wear.
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Editorial Reviews
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Product Description
Lizzie reappears after three days and people have already begun to search for her body. Then, another young woman disappears, just as a convicted paedophile is released back into the community. Residents of Muriel Campden estate are suddenly prepared to take the law into their own hands.
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Amazon.com Review
In Harm Done, Rendell has added a remarkable strand of acute social commentary to a book that still functions as an utterly compelling piece of detective fiction. In exploring the controversial subject of pedophilia, she takes the mainstay of her work--the problems of modern life--to a level of passion and commitment that gives the book a truly powerful underpinning. Back in the familiar Sussex town of Kingsmarkham, Rendell's dogged sleuth Wexford is investigating the strange abductions of two young girls: Rachel, a bright middle-class student, and Lizzie, a mentally disabled 16-year-old living with her unsympathetic parents on a grim council estate. When both girls return home, apparently unharmed, Wexford is faced with a curious mystery: what really happened to them? As Wexford begins to uncover the disturbing truth, the dark psychological world that Rendell is so adroit at exploring suddenly comes into focus. And her gift for sharp but concise characterization remains untouchable, as in the case of a reluctant witness: '''We don't talk about that sort of thing.' She very nearly but not quite tossed her head." --Barry Forshaw, Amazon.co.uk
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Customer Reviews
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No Harm Done reading this book
Rating  (3)
Date: 2008-08-28
But no great thrills either. I guess it was my bad luck to be reading by coincidence four thrillers involving young female abductions and/or killings. So while reading HARM DONE, I was quite sick of the theme. The spousal abuse was an interesting theme. The missing girls and who was taking them was a disappointing subplot. Cute little surprise twist at the end.
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full text or abridged?!
Rating  (2)
Date: 2008-08-09
I was unpleasantly surprised to discover that the audio CD of Harm Done I recently bought turned out to be an abridged version. I was wonderng why it seemed to include a lot less detail than I recalled from reading the book a few years ago. A clue to do with knives--which emphasized the book's themes--simply wasn't there, for example.
I don't see mention of abridged vs. entire story (unabridged) on the descriptions of this product that are currently online.
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Good Story
Rating  (4)
Date: 2007-07-07
The narrator of the CD production of Harm Done that I listened to was Portia Davinia. She did a great job with the voices and accents of the different characters. There are several mysteries (small and big) that Detective Wexford is involved with. Wexford is a clever and kindly man. This was an entertaining listening experience.
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No one does this like Ruth Rendell
Rating (4)
Date: 2007-05-25
No one can take on real and hot issues and deal with them like Ruth Rendell does. She is probably one of the premiere novelists out there. In this book she takes on the topic of "wife abuse", and builds a mystery around it. There are a number of things at play here. There is society dealing with the release of a convicted pedophile, there is a young girl who finds herself pregnant by an older man, and there are some girls disappearing for two or three days, and the stories they have when they get back make Wexford shake his head. But overriding of all of this is wife abuse, and the havoc it wreaks on families. Ms. Rendell can tell a story, and increase her readers' social consciences with it.
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Too Much Tackled
Rating (3)
Date: 2007-01-04
1 out of 1 customers found this reveiw helpful
I have read 1 other Ruth Rendell book, and one Barbara Vine (her pen name) book and can tell you that Ruth Rendell strikes me as a good writer. This book is well written, but somewhat hard to follow. To me, the problem was that the book tackled too many story lines. She started with an abduction story, moved to a pedophile story, and ended with a spousal abuse story. Yes, the three stories all tied together, but not well enough (as far as I can see) to justify the book. I would have loved to see the abduction story developed into a full novel instead of being used as a filler in this book.
I will admit I was disappointed in the book, but not because it was a bad book, rather because I expected more from the author. I will definately read another Ruth Rendell book as I believe this book just falls into the "not one of her best" category.
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