Epitaph
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Product Description
Review
Interesting and challenging (IMPACT )
--This text refers to the
Paperback
edition.
Book Description
A gripping blend of thriller and horror from the Master of the Dark.
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
This book seems different from Hutson's earlier stories, even down to the lack of rambling dedication and "Let's Go!" which always came just before the story started.
It is far too drawn out and slow, and the ending seems pointless after having waded through the whole book.
It's not that the idea is poor, or even the characters, I just don't think there is enough of a story to make it worthwhile.
Incidentally, the treatment of the identity of the actual killer seems a major loose end, as if the writer forgot about it?
The writer may be trying to change style, or has a very different editor?
Not a success.
It is far too drawn out and slow, and the ending seems pointless after having waded through the whole book.
It's not that the idea is poor, or even the characters, I just don't think there is enough of a story to make it worthwhile.
Incidentally, the treatment of the identity of the actual killer seems a major loose end, as if the writer forgot about it?
The writer may be trying to change style, or has a very different editor?
Not a success.
5 of 6 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
The last time I read a book by Shaun Hutson I was eighteen years old. The book was called Victims, and I remember that at the time I loved it. It was gory and brutal, but thoroughly entertaining. Of course I was eighteen, and a lot of things we like in our teens, make us wince when revisited in later years. Would Hutson's morbid pessimism, and brutal no-nonsense style, still have anything to offer me? Honestly, I had my doubts that it would. To an extent these doubts have turned out to be valid, but not as completely as I suspected.
Epitaph is still very clearly the work of the same writer I remember from my days of feasting on Literary Horror's 1980's excesses. It's stark, grim and very fast paced. In fact this story of grief, despair and retribution is really easy to read. Not comfortable to read, or even necessarily entertaining, but the chapters are short, and the writing to the point. As I remembered, there's nothing verbose about Hutson's writing style, that's for sure.
The first character we are introduced to - in what we soon learn is a past narrative - is Laura Hackett, an 8 year old school girl, who we know is going to die, because of the jacket blurb. Then we meet a chap called Paul Crane, just as he's been informed he's lost his job in an advertising agency. Finally we are introduced to the parents of Laura Hackett, Frank and Gina, and we are quickly made aware that Gina is cheating on her hardworking, but poorly paid husband. These four characters, basically make up the whole cast. For part of the book, I was left wondering what connected the Hacketts to Paul. Then when Paul wakes up - after a night of drinking away his woes - trapped in a coffin, and we learn that Gina and Frank Hackett have placed him there, thinking he murdered their daughter, I began to get a sense of where it was going.
The story that unfolds is really depressing. It deals with a very unpleasant subject matter, namely, child abuse, and the desire for revenge from a family torn apart by devestating loss. Paul's story is also depressing. What depressed me more, however, is that it uses its themes in a way that I found almost voyeuristic. That is to say, there is a sense of entertainment being derived from the fact that the lives of each of the characters is truly screwed up. The book feeds off human misery, and revels in it. What it doesn't do is offer any insight or humanity in the face of darkness. It's just entertainment based on misery, despair and human failing. I'm not suggesting it should have some uplifting Disney ending, but some discernible meaning behind the narrative other than, life is really terrible and people do messed up things, might have made for a more substantive tale. Without giving anything away, the ending didn't really conclude in a way I found entirely satisfying either.
Despite these gripes, I read this really quickly, and I was hooked for part of it. So I cannot say it's a terrible book. It's rather like a Torture Porn Horror Film. As you watch it, you're gripped by the desire to see if anyone escapes. Knowing it unlikely, you wonder what horror the next victim will suffer. You know the story doesn't really have much substance. You know there are better films you could choose to watch. At the end you leave feeling a little bit grubbier for the experience, but when the next one comes around, there's a chance you'll go through it all again.
Epitaph is still very clearly the work of the same writer I remember from my days of feasting on Literary Horror's 1980's excesses. It's stark, grim and very fast paced. In fact this story of grief, despair and retribution is really easy to read. Not comfortable to read, or even necessarily entertaining, but the chapters are short, and the writing to the point. As I remembered, there's nothing verbose about Hutson's writing style, that's for sure.
The first character we are introduced to - in what we soon learn is a past narrative - is Laura Hackett, an 8 year old school girl, who we know is going to die, because of the jacket blurb. Then we meet a chap called Paul Crane, just as he's been informed he's lost his job in an advertising agency. Finally we are introduced to the parents of Laura Hackett, Frank and Gina, and we are quickly made aware that Gina is cheating on her hardworking, but poorly paid husband. These four characters, basically make up the whole cast. For part of the book, I was left wondering what connected the Hacketts to Paul. Then when Paul wakes up - after a night of drinking away his woes - trapped in a coffin, and we learn that Gina and Frank Hackett have placed him there, thinking he murdered their daughter, I began to get a sense of where it was going.
The story that unfolds is really depressing. It deals with a very unpleasant subject matter, namely, child abuse, and the desire for revenge from a family torn apart by devestating loss. Paul's story is also depressing. What depressed me more, however, is that it uses its themes in a way that I found almost voyeuristic. That is to say, there is a sense of entertainment being derived from the fact that the lives of each of the characters is truly screwed up. The book feeds off human misery, and revels in it. What it doesn't do is offer any insight or humanity in the face of darkness. It's just entertainment based on misery, despair and human failing. I'm not suggesting it should have some uplifting Disney ending, but some discernible meaning behind the narrative other than, life is really terrible and people do messed up things, might have made for a more substantive tale. Without giving anything away, the ending didn't really conclude in a way I found entirely satisfying either.
Despite these gripes, I read this really quickly, and I was hooked for part of it. So I cannot say it's a terrible book. It's rather like a Torture Porn Horror Film. As you watch it, you're gripped by the desire to see if anyone escapes. Knowing it unlikely, you wonder what horror the next victim will suffer. You know the story doesn't really have much substance. You know there are better films you could choose to watch. At the end you leave feeling a little bit grubbier for the experience, but when the next one comes around, there's a chance you'll go through it all again.
3 of 4 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
I started reading, and enjoying Shaun Hutson's books right from the unforgettable "Slugs", through the superb "Sean Doyle" novels, and upto five or six years ago, could really recommend his books - especially if your enjoyed readable, horror-thrillers !
Every year (until 2010) I would eagerly anticipate the August/September release of his one and only new book every year. In 2010, for the first year ever, I didn't buy on the release date. I chose to buy from Apple's BookStore in e-format, so I could read it on my iPad.
Sadly, my fears were confirmed - disappointing to say the least, very strung-out story, as another reviewer said, "should have been a short story, not a full novel".
I have to say, for the first time ever, the only SH novel that I could quite easily put down before reaching the end.
Don't know how much he got paid for it, but wish my 10.99 had stayed in my pocket.
Let's hope 2011's effort will be back to his old winning style....
Every year (until 2010) I would eagerly anticipate the August/September release of his one and only new book every year. In 2010, for the first year ever, I didn't buy on the release date. I chose to buy from Apple's BookStore in e-format, so I could read it on my iPad.
Sadly, my fears were confirmed - disappointing to say the least, very strung-out story, as another reviewer said, "should have been a short story, not a full novel".
I have to say, for the first time ever, the only SH novel that I could quite easily put down before reaching the end.
Don't know how much he got paid for it, but wish my 10.99 had stayed in my pocket.
Let's hope 2011's effort will be back to his old winning style....
Most Recent Customer Reviews
Very good read
Speaking for myself, I enjoyed this book immensely and couldn't put it down.
I like Hutson's style of keeping you hooked with short chapters and this did serve to speed... Read more
I like Hutson's style of keeping you hooked with short chapters and this did serve to speed... Read more
Published 4 months ago by Papillon
epitaph by shaun hutson
Although the table of contents shows you there are eighty chapters to this book,they are very short and overall this is quite a short story, i read it in one and two hour stints... Read more
Published 10 months ago by ruth1044
Claustrophobic
I have to say, I must disagree with those reviews that thought little of Epitaph. I enjoyed the book if only for Hutson's candid study in the human psyche. Read more
Published 12 months ago by K. Wills
Best novel yet!
I love Shaun Hutson novels,every one is gripping and makes you feel as if you are there,in every story. Read more
Published 12 months ago by kitty15
good twist
I'm a big fan of Shaun Hutson and I enjoyed his new novel. Read it in a few days. It is such a page turner, especially when you get near the end. Great twist as well !
Published 19 months ago by D. Mackman
Rubbish
Absolute rubbish.
The last couple of Shaun Hutson's books have been poor, so much so that I said that I wouldn't buy another. Read more
The last couple of Shaun Hutson's books have been poor, so much so that I said that I wouldn't buy another. Read more
Published 19 months ago by Fishman
Acceptable but predictable
Shaun borrows heavily from films such as Last House on the Left as the parents of a murdered child seek vengeance upon the perpetrator. Read more
Published 20 months ago by Gareth Wilson - Falcata Times Blog
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