Purity by Shaun Hutson

Shaun Hutson – Purity Review

So I finally got round to reading another Shaun Hutson book. I bought a handful of his books around a month or two ago, but due to studying and moving (and reading or not reading other books) I didn't pick this up and open it until a few days ago. 

As most people are aware, London's streets are well-known for its drug pushers, addicts and prostitutes, many of whom are suffering from various related diseases, and somebody doesn't like this. They believe that death is better than living with a body-destroying disease and so they begin a "classic" killing spree, except it's to make people better rather than worse.

I was a bit surprised with this book as, rather than Shaun Hutson's blood and guts gore like in Victims or The Skull, it's more of a mystery crime novel in the style of Simon Kernick or Peter James. The reader is constantly left guessing whodunnit or who this character really is and what they do, with some very surprising answers.

However, there are certain chapters which make one cringe as well as some dark humour, which is good if that’s your thing, bad if it’s not. It’s my thing though so I’ll consider that little addition quite good and fitting.

Without meaning to ruin the good too much, the ending is a genuine surprise, although it’s also somewhat guessable to such a novel, despite my previous claims. I’ll leave it to you to decide though.

Overall, I think Shaun has lightened his tone a bit in Purity but by doing so he’s knocked out a decent crime novel worth reading. Final rating: 3/5

Slugs by Shaun Hutson

Book two of the R.I.P. reading challenge is Shaun Hutson's debut novel "Slugs" - a gripping tale of what happens when eight-inch-long slugs begin attacking the London town of Merton.

It starts with the mysterious death of an unemployed man about to be kicked out of his home and continues with London citizens being killed in some very gruesome and unimaginable ways.

That's until 2 council workers and naturist figure out what's causing the deaths and how to get rid of it.

But there's an epilogue...

As a debut novel this book is extremely disturbing and a good cause of toe-curling and the realisation that there's always someone off worse than you. By using slugs, the fear or disgust is increased as they're nothing compared to snails or frogs. Long, fat, black lumps which slither along the ground, leaving a thick slime trail behind them in search for human flesh and blood.

I would have read this book a lot quicker than the 10 or 11 days it took but I've been so busy with moving and uni that I haven't had the chance to sit down properly. Like most of Shaun Hutson's novels this would usually be a very fast read at only 200 pages but, for the aforementioned reasons, it wasn't to be.

Now that I'm back at uni I won't have much time to do some casual reading so I may have to risk saying that this is the last book of the R.I.P. challenge unless I count I Am Legend, Children of Men, Frankenstein and Paradise Lost book 4 as horror and treat them as casual reading also. Reviews of all four will follow in the next few weeks.

Overall rating: 4/5

Location:Kempton Rd,Stratford,United Kingdom

Victims by Shaun Hutson

Another gruesome novel from the psychotic writer Shaun Hutson has been read and now reviewed for your pleasure.

Victims tells of an effects man who, after having an eye transplant, is able to see who is next on the killing list of a maniacal killer, copying the methods of previous, legendary killers. As more people are killed, the fx man is forced to work with the police and is dragged into obsession.

Fast-paced, gory and filled with mystery and suspense, Victims is the perfect horror novel and, so far, the best I've read (And I've read a lot). You can't go past 5 pages without curling your toes at the in-depth descriptions of gore which is the way I like my words to be.

The book was a fast read, finished in three sessions but the content makes up for the shortness. Hutson's chapter construction is interesting also with the book having chapters of only 4 pages max along with titled ones which tell the story of a child making a discovery.

Throughout the book you'll be thinking you've solved a question but you may just be wrong.

Victims is possibly my book of the year and deserves a 5 out of 5 mark. Nice work, Shaun.