The Cut by Richard Armitage
An early book review of The Cut by Richard Armitage. The actor releases his second thriller novel in August 2025. Read on to discover what it's like.
With a celebrity author, it's hard to read the story without thinking about them.
I remember first watching Richard Armitage play Lucas North in Spooks on the BBC. Then I saw him in The Hobbit films. More recently, he's starred in a number of Harlan Coben adaptations, including Fool Me Once.
The characters I've seen him play are dark, intense and brooding. It's fitting that this book is in the suspenseful thriller category. You can easily imagine the author playing a leading role in the story.
In a nutshell, if you enjoy gripping and dark thrillers, this is one for you.
A murderer who killed one of Ben Knott's school friends is about to be released. Ben's life takes a dark turn when his son is cast in a film that brings back memories of Ben's own childhood.
The story is told through two timelines, which work well to slowly reveal what happened 30 years ago as well as what's happening now. Each chapter is clear about the date it takes place. The characters are also clearly drawn and mostly believable. You become invested in what happens to them and how the story will pan out.
To add authenticity to the story, there are many cultural references. The only problem is that some of these are in the wrong era.
In the mid-1990s, a teenage girl is shown as a fan of Duran Duran, but this group was mainly popular in the early 1980s. It's unlikely they'd be the go-to group for a 90s teenager. Also, in the same timeline, a teenage boy is said to have modelled his running style after Steve Ovett, a well-known athlete of the early 1980s. Again, it's hard to believe he was an idol to many 90s teenagers.
What's more, in the current day timeline (2024), a teenager refers to an Atari games console, a ZX Spectrum and Betamax videos. While the character is disparaging about these old technologies, it's hard to believe that today's teenagers would have even heard of them.
I'd read more from Richard Armitage because The Cut was well-paced, with an original story and engaging characters. But the outdated cultural references have pushed down my review score to four stars.
Thanks to Faber and Faber and NetGalley for providing me with an ARC of the book. All opinions are my own.
