Strike: The Ink Black Heart - airs 16 Dec

[KiIIingMeDeftly]

Seems like we've been waiting ages for this but it'll finally be shown on BBC One on the 16th.

I don't think the book was as good as Troubled Blood or The Running Grave but I'm still looking forward to it. I wonder what they did with the numerous online chats that appear in it?

My son is autistic and has LD and we listened to it in the car on longer journeys. He was totally gripped and at one point literally cheered out loud and stimmed really significantly (he does this when he’s excited). He LOVES Strike now 🤣

I genuinely thought he was sleeping through it or listening to stuff on his headphones. Had no idea he was engaged with it all.

I only recently reread/relistened to IBH and I think I could have done with a bit of distance before watching the show.

On first watch, i found Episodes 1&2 a bit clunky. But 3&4 were excellent and I was cheering at the end.

They did a great job on the adaptation - the books are so big & rich, but they found a great way to tell the story, keep all the vital bits and tell the story with a few changes.

I loved Robin's flat - much fancier than i visualised.
Pat tackling Strike was amazing.
The casting of Grant Ledwell I thought was pefection and the actor did a magnificent job portraying that odious grifter.

Funny enough I was on the DLR train with a whole lot of comic con characters back in August - it was just like Strike & Robin's DLR journey in IBH.

I haven't read the book so am confused already. Also nodded off in the middle and had to go back, but that may be because I tried watching it well after 11.

Yes I found her bit with Jago daft and unrealistic. I liked Midge as well. I like Barclay too. I too wish there could be at least 6 parts, I’d happily see more Midge/Barclay/Pat etc and more explanation of the suspects. I thought Gus looked like his skin had cleared up very quickly, I think they should have showed more scarring. As a long time acne sufferer it looked quite minimal!

Pat is very well cast

Im on the last episode. They’ve missed out so much! I get they couldn’t do it all but the chat room conversations were key, especially the relationship between Morehouse, Anomie and Paperwight. You get to see Anomie’s increasing paranoia. All feels very flat. But then it might be better if you haven’t read the book?

Really enjoying it here. I found the book quite hard-going to begin with but once I’d got into the swing of it, really liked it.

The Running Grave was fabulous and can’t wait for that to be televised!

Its obviously missing a lot as it's four hours versus about 32 hours for the audible book.

I think they handled the chat room stuff okay. It didn't capture the details of the book (which are really good once you get into them) but can't blame them for that as it's a difficult ask in TV format.

The bit I didn't think it captured was how persecuted Edie was. From just watching that you might think she did steal someone's ideas and did lead him on (as that wasn't explained).

Perhaps it doesn't matter or perhaps the BBC didn't want to make it too much 'creator taking massive abuse' for other reasons.

Like Career of Evil, I think this one would have benefited from another episode. You really feel for Mooerhouse in the book but he's so fleeting there's no great feeling towards his death.

I also missed Zoe/Worm28 but I guess there were enough people to get your head round in a short space of time and without the Pen of Justice that character also has less relevance.

I don't feel the Strike of the TV series comes across very well. He didn't go to her rescue with the move, remember the address, etc. They favour the more heroic, less damaged Robin and so the balance tips a bit in how the relationship is portrayed. It works because they play it well but I don't know I'd be rooting for Strike so much based on the TV series alone.

I loved the book and enjoyed the adaptation, having only seen the Cuckoos Calling in the TV series (I’ve read all the books at least once).

I thought it was interesting that they didn’t make any attempt to give us the behind the scenes of the game elements, probably a sensible choice but I think it lost a lot of the mystery at that point. It felt very rushed, and I think they could have showed more of the persecution of Edie - you really didn’t get the same feeling of how nasty Anomie was without the Twitter exchanges and mod chats. To some extent it all felt a bit too easy.

Yes, should have been Midge witnessing Jago, Charlotte’s utter callousness comes across perfectly, and Strike’s expression when the lift doors close was spot on. I really don’t like the Will they/won’t they Strike/Robin in the books, but I have to say the TV show sold it to me, which I really didn’t expect! I’m going to go back and watch the earlier series now.

I have watched it all now too and did enjoy it as others have said. Personally I didn't really miss the bits which were cut, and appreciate that they do need to change the pace for TV. To have too many interlinked storylines gets confusing, whereas I find that OK in a book. Perhaps it was a bit unclear what was going on with some of the characters - maybe someone will say if they haven't read the book how that came across.

I think I'll probably reread it now so I can read Running Grave again before the new book comes out.

Thought I'd accidentally wandered into reader's corner or whatever it's called!

I thought it was an ok watch but the Jago Ross stuff seemed silly!

Yeah agree the Jago bit felt shoehorned in and very convenient! I can't remember how it played out in the book. I did laugh at Robin's ninja moves though - in the book it was explained at some point that she goes on a self-defence course whereas in the show it just seemed to come out of nowhere and be very random.

I expect they left it in basically to do with developments in the later book(s), but they didn't seem to have time to weave it more into the storyline of this season which was in part that the agency was overwhelmed and overworked and Strike is doing too much which is what gives him issues with his leg.

in the book it was explained at some point that she goes on a self-defence course

I think that might have been mentioned in the series as she has been attacked a few times!

Tbh I think I might have found them "digging for dirt" on Jago more interesting than the whole online community Psycho teen who hates women thing.

I guess the ninja moves didn't surprise me because I assumed any private detective will have some basic knowledge of self-defence!

TV Robin is established to have good reflexes and self defence skills - in career of evil? when being chased she did the stop and duck thing to give her a better chance of running away, and in TB she nutted Saul with the back of her head when he grabbed her from behind (and who didn’t cheer when she told him to fuck off out of her office and Pat told her she could have stabbed him?).

I think it’s relatively well done - not unrealistic Buffy levels of fighting but enough to get herself out of a sticky situation and a chance to escape. Same as Strike pretending to be a cop calling for back up in Ep 1. He can throw a punch as expected for an ex-boxer but he can’t run away from a situation so needs to use his head.

I really enjoyed the female office trilogy of Robin, Pat & Midge in the TV show - there was a really lovely feel between the 3 of them, and the agency and whole PI game develops & becomes more female with every series. Its a lovely foil to the often brute mascalinity of Strike & Barclay.

Only going by this TV series, but Barclay, with his commuter bike, hardly embodies 'brute masculinity' to me! He seemed more like an amped-up Sandy from Shetland.

I haven't read any of the books. I have watched all of the series thus far though. This one was disappointing - far too many characters, I kept losing track.

I was, however, happy to perv over Tom Burke 😜

I've read the book, but even I'm finding it hard to follow! Don't get why Morehouse was murdered...don't know who he was? Frustrating as I was really looking forward to this.

SPOLIER not sure if we are allowed to discuss the plot so dont read any further if you dont want to know **

Morehouse was the co-creator of the Drek game with Anomie. He was a disabled astrophysicist who developed the game as a hobby/sideline.
He developed a "relationship" with Paperwhite in the game.
Paperwhite was really into Morehouse and pressured him to meet up/share pics etc knowing all too well Morehouse wouldn't do this. Paperwhite sent Morehouse (and other male mods) saucy pics to reel him in. This was against the rules of the game.
But Paperwhite was Anomie - it was all a set up/catfish invented by Anomie when he started getting heavily into abusing Edie & Morehouse started to distance himself from Anomie. Amonie used Paperwhite to keep an eye on and manipulate Morehouse as Morehouse was the only one who knew who Anomie really was. Morehouse was a massive threat to a serial killer.

Strike & Robin traced "Paperwhite" via the photos - they were stolen from a classmate of Anomies who invited Anomie to a house party and Anomie stole the pics somehow via wifi server. The pics were of the classsmates girlfriend. Anomie then used the stolen pics to catfish Morehouse.
"Paperwhite" and Morehouse had agreed to go to Strike's office in London to expose Anomie. So Anomie knew he was about to be revealed and killed Morehouse. You can see Morehouse type in the game to Paperwhite "hang on there's someone at the door ...." and opening the door to Paperwhite/Anomie was the last thing he did.

He's an ex squaddie

I guess I expressed that badly.
The agency was very male heavy - Strike & then all the contractors were always male apart from Robin. Now we have the trio of Pat/Midge/Robin it's a big change. This change was amplified with Edie coming to the agency specifically for Robin - usually its Stike who attracts attention or who clients seek out. Robin was the one filmed after the DLR incident. Its all about her rising status as a partner & investigator. Both their names were on the bomb. And this story line cumminates in the door being replaced and they become truly/visually equal.

Much about the Robin/Cormoran plot in IBH is about the equalising of their status and the cementing of their true partnership from one of mentor/student, detective/trainee, to fully equal partners both with status in the agency & the world. I think this is foreshadowing the development of their personal relationship - which will happen eventually. It must!!

So funny to miss one. I couldnt bear it. Don't you read them in order? <faints>

I pre-ordered TB in support after JKR's Twitter post on 19/12/19. But then I had to read all the earlier books first so I hunted them down in charity shops & devoured them all. Ever book from TB onwards I have on pre-order and devour on arrival.

For me CoE is by far the most difficult book - subject matter/criminal wise.
But we get to know so much about both Strike & Robin in CoE that it is worth it.

I read them in order and have bought them as Kindle Daily deals but perhaps they just didn't offer this one as a deal and I didn't realise for a while. I've reserved it from the library now.