The Ink Black Heart by Robert Galbraith

Strike and Robin are back in an extremely convoluted tale that logs in at over 1000 pages. One wonders why JK's editor didn't suggest paring down this book significantly.

The Ink Black Heart is a cartoon that went viral and spawned an internet series then an online game. Edie and Josh created the original concept. They are found stabbed in a cemetery. Josh barely survived but has no idea who attacked them. And a malevolent character named Anomie has taken over the Black Heart website. Strike and Robin are hired to find out who Anomie really is. This leads to a very long and I'll say confusing journey through the players of the game, who are all hiding behind fake names. It's very hard to keep track of all the players since everyone has 2 names and they are mostly a bunch of lost souls whose stories are hard to keep straight. 

At the same time, and of more interest to me personally, we're seeing how the relationship between Robin and Strike is evolving. Both of them know they love each other but both realize the downside of getting romantically involved with your business partner. So Strike gets involved with a woman named Madeline and Robin tries dating a couple of other guys, though Strike and Robin are both drawn to each other. And of course, Strike's ex, Charlotte, keeps popping up to cause trouble at every turn.

I love the characters of Strike and Robin but this book required a real commitment. I'm a fast reader and it took me a solid week to slog through this one--and that included skimming past pages and pages of emails between all the Black Heart players.