Assassins by Shaun Hutson
I have a couple of copies of this novel as it is always available in a charity shop. I think Hutson’s work was so popular at the time , they must have published a spectacular amount. He became massive stateside at one point , thanks to a feature in horror magazine Fangoria. Slugs was his big seller and put him on the horror book map, riding high on the “nature fight back “ horror theme that exploded with James Herbert's Rats novel. His style ramped up the visceral gore and violence, putting Herbert's novels in the shade. Thanks to this, he became known as the “Shakespeare of Gore”.
He has at least 30 novels to his name, also writing War, Crime and Westerns. He still writes on his website, answering fans questions and commenting on various things ( his most recent post about cinema is great read, he can get quite angry! ) It’s a fantastic sight full of history and anecdotes. I highly recommend.
Unfortunately, his output is not what it used to be. The horror genre has waned considerably over the past few years in favour of dark crime thrillers. Hutson's novels in this genre are good, but in no way as wonderful as his horror work. His back catalogue is a fantastic example of 80s/90’s horror stories at their best. All his novels are available through Caffeine Nights Books. The new covers are bloody awful, sorry to say. Photoshop collage does them absolutely no justice.
Assassins was published in 1988 by Star Books then republished by Warner Books until 2001.
Now, I like Shaun Hutson. I love the Slug books and I love Spawn. I still think they are some of the best 1908s horror novels out there.. His novelization of the Terminator movie is wonderful.
Assassins is a great book, don’t get me wrong, but apart from spectacular gang-orientated violence, there isn’t as much “ monster” horror as I was expecting.
This is a well-written, fast novel. Don’t get me wrong. It’s an excellent example of splatter punk writing at its best. He pulls out all the stops and fires all the bullets.
I’ve never known a book describes so many different ways a head can explode when blown apart by a shotgun. Honest, I think he must have had a thesaurus to see how many times you can describe grey matter differently.
It’s a book that ramps up the pace from the first couple of pages. The story starts with a wallop as our main guy, Carter, brother is murdered hail of bullets. He is a bodyguard for a gang boss, Frank Harrison, who is having various members of his team and establishments killed off by some unknown rival. What erupts is gang warfare, involving bent coppers, hired killers, car chases, and exploding buildings. The hired hitman, Mitchell, is a great character. I would have happily read a book all about him. There is also a side story about a bunch of cult-style lunatics who are going around killing rich people in various horrific ways because they “deserve it” This sort of ties two parts of the story together, as they go after Frank Harrison and his wife, which culminates in a finale shoot out, knife fight between them and the gang leaders hoods. There is also a tale of Carter, the main protagonist, having a secret affair with the gang boss Harrisons’ wife, Tina.
When the “supernatural “ horror elements briefly rear their ugly heads, they are gruesome and stomach-churning as only Hutson can do. Elements of Ed Gein flesh peeling are thrown in here! There is an example of Hutson at his nastiest best with the male prostitute and the zombie. Truly harrowing and revolting.
My only real problem with this book is the “ supernatural” horror element seems to be the least important. It feels like an add-on because he’s known for that. It’s more like Hutson wanted to write his version of The Long Good Friday but fill it full of Peckinpah Scorsese-styled violence and a mild coating Argento. He does this, really, well. It starts with a mad old priest being taken away from his church about to be demolished and a zombie hand thrusting through the rubble.
That’s it, by the end of the book, the supernatural element is never explored further. I was hoping for some kind of explanation ( spoiler) of why and, more importantly, how these characters had returned from the dead. Unless I missed something. I’ll admit I found myself speed-reading through some of the chapters as I was losing interest in the characters. Apart from the hired assassin David Mitchell . I would read a series of books about him!
So, it is a book about gangsters, lunatic cults, hitmen, and an almost cameo appearance of zombies. Certainly not one of Hutson’s finest efforts but still worth a read.
Grab a copy with the good cover!
Cheers
Dan
