'Assassin' – Shaun Hutson (Caffeine Nights Publishing)

So 'Cannibals' ended up being a book that I didn't finish but I was still in the mood for some grim n' gory pulp horror, just like they used to make it back in the eighties. What was a chap to do?

The answer was as simple as ever. All of that stuff lurks in my Kindle, where my kids can't get to it, so I had a quick glance over my library and remembered that I had 'Assassin', a book that I'd read before and knew would give me what I needed on that score. What about the rest of it though...?

London is gripped by the bloodiest outbreak of gang warfare ever seen. Shootings in the street, kidnappings, bombs and car chases have become commonplace. The gutters are running red with blood and the Police are powerless to stop it. Frank Harrison had ruled gangland unopposed for more than two years and yet someone is out to wipe him and his men from the face of the earth. Who and why? The answer, when it comes, will test not just Harrison's courage but his sanity too...

I'll tell you upfront, I've read a few of Shaun Hutson's books in my time and 'Assassin' is probably my favourite, just because of the way that Hutson dials everything up to 11, takes a step back and just lets the story go hell for leather until it's finished. At 288 pages, 'Assassin' is a short read but there is so much going on in it that it feels much longer than it actually is. I can't remember the kast time that I read a book so fast paced either (although it could be the last time I read 'Assassin' to be fair...) Gunfights, car chases, double crossings and encounters with whatever has come out of the old building site... There is a lot going on and all credit to Hutson as he keeps a tight rein on everything and makes sure that it all adds to the plot.

'Assassin' is also a book that doesn't shy away from what it is, a work of horror that not only looks at the horrors of the supernatural but also the horror that people can (and do, repeatedly in this book) visit on each other. If you've read 'Assassin' before then you'll know that the supernatural element of this is covered in visceral detail and does not care how your stomach might feel about that. I've got a strong(ish) stomach so that doesn't particularly bother me but if you haven't then, be warned... Spectacle is important in this book and Hutson leaves you in no doubt about what you are looking at on thepage.

What I wanted to talk about a little more though is the horror that people visit on each other, particularly what Harrison does to his girlfriend Tina. I didn't finish 'Cannibals' the other day but I did finish 'Assassin'. So what was the difference?

Well, the difference here is that Hutson wasn't writing to titilate, he was clearly writing these scenes to show his reader what an arsehole Harrison is and what it was driving Tina to consider (a female character with not a lot of agency then but some is a start). What I liked though was Hutson's commitment to showing us that unfortunately it is a nasty world and shit happens to good people but, at the same time, not sensationalising any of that here. There's an honesty around the detail here that shows respect for the subject matter (and the people that it affects). I could get behind that and that's why I finished this book.

'Assassin' is over far too quickly to be mistaken for a book that is thought provoking in any way. And the twist at the end, for me anyway, was signposted a little too heavily in the preceding chapter. 'Assassin' kept me awake on the trip to and from work though and was thoroughly entertaining at the same time. Sometimes that's all you want from a book, I was happy with it.