- Paperback: 416 pages
- Publisher: Headline (4 Oct 2007)
- Language English
- ISBN-10: 0755335902
- ISBN-13: 978-0755335909
- Product Dimensions: 12.8 x 2.8 x 19.7 cm
- Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars See all reviews (15 customer reviews)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 606,213 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
Contract
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More About the Author
Product Description
Review
'a tour de force' (Times )
'Spurrier is very, very good' (SFX Magazine )
'Spurrier is very, very good' (SFX Magazine )
Product Description
Michael Point doesn't seem anything special. He dresses conservatively, is thoughtful, methodical and well spoken. He also happens to kill people for a living. It's not about getting back at the world; for Michael it's much simpler than that: It's All About The Money.
But things are starting to get strange: his hits are coming back to life and trying to kill him. Is he losing his mind? Or could it be that the things he sees aren't delusions at all, but hints of a divine conflict: a heavenly war, sucking him in...?
But things are starting to get strange: his hits are coming back to life and trying to kill him. Is he losing his mind? Or could it be that the things he sees aren't delusions at all, but hints of a divine conflict: a heavenly war, sucking him in...?
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
4 of 4 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
It seems this book falls into the love it or loath it category.
I'm afraid that I found the author's voice - which runs very heavily throughout - insufferably smug, way over convinced by its own cleverness and grindingly repetitive.
It also seems that the author feels the need to childishly CAPITALIZE swear words he's particularly pleased with, which makes for embarrassing reading if you're on a packed tube.
The whole affair reads like a six-former attempting to write a Michael Marshall Smith novel. I would suggest reading just about any of his instead.
Judging by the other customer reviews, which I now find baffling, I must be wrong - still I would suggest reading a couple of pages before purchasing to make sure it's for you.
Absolutely top cover design though.
Right, I'm off to clean my palette. Some Jane Austen maybe?
I'm afraid that I found the author's voice - which runs very heavily throughout - insufferably smug, way over convinced by its own cleverness and grindingly repetitive.
It also seems that the author feels the need to childishly CAPITALIZE swear words he's particularly pleased with, which makes for embarrassing reading if you're on a packed tube.
The whole affair reads like a six-former attempting to write a Michael Marshall Smith novel. I would suggest reading just about any of his instead.
Judging by the other customer reviews, which I now find baffling, I must be wrong - still I would suggest reading a couple of pages before purchasing to make sure it's for you.
Absolutely top cover design though.
Right, I'm off to clean my palette. Some Jane Austen maybe?
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
Actually its very hard to describe contract in one word. The main premise itself is nothing new; the life of a contract killer who has Issues(tm).
But that's about as typical as it gets, the rest of the premise is; a...girlfiend?... who may or may not be reporting his activities to the police, his new boss who may or may not be an angel (yeah literally) and his victims who may or may not be coming back to life.
I can see that the ambiguous nature of this book has really annoyed some other reviewers and, while there certainly are some plot threads left dangling and some questions left unanswered, i will say that the majority of of them are satisfyingly dealt with - IF you pay close attention. Especially to Sally's dairy.
The next big gripe seems to be Spurriers odd writing style. It was certainly the first time i had ever read anything like it and after a few seconds of confussion i decided i loved it. Its probably best to click on Look Inside and decide for yourself wether you like it or not.
However even if you do like the writing style then the constant repetition of certain phrases will almost definitely get annoying towards the end of the book. Especially as everything else in the book is starting to get more and more annoyingly surreal.
Yet the best thing about this book is the gritty realism. Spurrier refuses to sugar coat, or hold back, on anything. The swearing is frequent, obscene and stunningly creative. As are the descriptions of peoples brains being blown out of their skulls. As are the worryingly well researched descriptions for building your own silencer, laundering your dirty money, etc.
It would also be criminal of me to neglect mentioning the fact that this book is often side-splittingly hilarious - just so long as you don't mind some very dark black-humour.
But that's about as typical as it gets, the rest of the premise is; a...girlfiend?... who may or may not be reporting his activities to the police, his new boss who may or may not be an angel (yeah literally) and his victims who may or may not be coming back to life.
I can see that the ambiguous nature of this book has really annoyed some other reviewers and, while there certainly are some plot threads left dangling and some questions left unanswered, i will say that the majority of of them are satisfyingly dealt with - IF you pay close attention. Especially to Sally's dairy.
The next big gripe seems to be Spurriers odd writing style. It was certainly the first time i had ever read anything like it and after a few seconds of confussion i decided i loved it. Its probably best to click on Look Inside and decide for yourself wether you like it or not.
However even if you do like the writing style then the constant repetition of certain phrases will almost definitely get annoying towards the end of the book. Especially as everything else in the book is starting to get more and more annoyingly surreal.
Yet the best thing about this book is the gritty realism. Spurrier refuses to sugar coat, or hold back, on anything. The swearing is frequent, obscene and stunningly creative. As are the descriptions of peoples brains being blown out of their skulls. As are the worryingly well researched descriptions for building your own silencer, laundering your dirty money, etc.
It would also be criminal of me to neglect mentioning the fact that this book is often side-splittingly hilarious - just so long as you don't mind some very dark black-humour.
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
...Spurrier writes noirish fiction the way it should be written: simultaneously terse but full of gritty detail. His protaganist Michael Point is (ingeniously) characterised as a post-modern/Generation Y hitman. He is not former SAS, MI5 or Black Ops, he is an indifferent 28 year old whose previous occupations include -mundane- odd jobs in warehouses and call centres.Throw in the mix, his main hobbies are surfing the net -for random general knowledge and porn-, and you have something unique a "slacker assasin". The plot is a genre cocktail: 1 part noir and 1 part horror. Not as innovative a mix as you might think but Spurrier weaves through the plot premise with style.
My main problem with "Contract" is that its reasonably good narrative builds up to a totally unsatisfying conclusion. At the end Spurrier throws logic and coherence right out of the window. His descriptions become increasingly hyperbolic for no particular reason and furthermore numerous plot strands are left unresolved.I am guessing his aim was to leave the reader with an air of suspense, however all that's left is plain confusion. To quote the Hagakure "the end is important in all things"...if Spurrier applies these words his next book could be very good.
My main problem with "Contract" is that its reasonably good narrative builds up to a totally unsatisfying conclusion. At the end Spurrier throws logic and coherence right out of the window. His descriptions become increasingly hyperbolic for no particular reason and furthermore numerous plot strands are left unresolved.I am guessing his aim was to leave the reader with an air of suspense, however all that's left is plain confusion. To quote the Hagakure "the end is important in all things"...if Spurrier applies these words his next book could be very good.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
It's. All. About. The. Money.
The story follows a character called Michael Point, who is a bit of a loser, who thinks he's cooler than he is. Possibly because he is a contract killer. Read more
Published 12 months ago by Owen Hughes
Ugly child - Well loved.
For me, the pleasure of this book lies in the ending. The author doesn't give you a nice tidy package. Read more
Published 17 months ago by Gregori Fairchild
what a book
Spurriers style of writing is very specific, sort of hate it or love it - either you begin to like the repetitive quotes he makes so often, or they start to annoy you. Read more
Published 21 months ago by Rafal Dawid
Mockney Marlowe
An unusual gritty and grimy little book. Our 'hero' a hitman doesn't dress in a black cat suit, scale the outside of tall buildings, take out the heavy weight guards to burst in on... Read more
Published on 19 Dec 2008 by Mr. A. I. Harrison
Confusing horror detective noir
I have to say that I have read and loved the simping detective and lobster random - comic book format stories by this author. Read more
Published on 26 Aug 2008 by Duncan Howorth
Interesting. Hmm. Ok. Huh? What the heck...?
I picked up this novel for two reasons 1) i was familiar with the author's previous work in comics, and 2) the story sounded interesting. And to begin with it was. Read more
Published on 14 April 2008 by D. J. Simons
Baffling...But Brilliant
This is one of the strangest yet most absorbing books I've read in a very long time-and as a former employee of a book store, this is rare praise indeed. Read more
Published on 10 Feb 2008 by Mr Bond
In your face writing
This is not a novel for the faint-hearted.
The subject matter - an assassin whose victims start coming back to life - and the style - a vivid stream of consciousness... Read more
The subject matter - an assassin whose victims start coming back to life - and the style - a vivid stream of consciousness... Read more
Published on 28 Nov 2007 by lmhh
A brave and brilliant novel
It might sound silly but this book made me do something I'd NEVER done before... miss my train stop (which I take every day) by two stations. There is good reason for this. Read more
Published on 5 Oct 2007 by Michael Cook
Borrowed Wisdom maybe... but a Whole New Way of Writing
This book is unlike anything I've ever read. The narrative is amazing and so gripping I had several zombie like days at work after reading way into the early hours. Read more
Published on 6 Sep 2007 by HP
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