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3 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
The Hitman And Her. And her...oh, and her..., 4 Dec 2003
Working in a bookshop, I see more books than I could ever possibly read. A lot lot of them just go from hand to shelf without much fuss. Now and then though, a book will jump from the box screaming at me to be read. Such was the case with "The Hitman Diaries". I found it just as I was going to lunch, read the blurb and snuck it upstairs to quickly read the first chapter. I don't think I have ever laughed so much at the opening of any other book. It was just perfect and I was instantly hooked. Now I should point out here, anyone from the overly sensitive PC brigade is not going to care for this book. Some might say it's a morally dubious, slightly sick tale. I say, fine, as long as it's funny I really don't care. And this IS funny, very, very funny. That's all you really need to know but here's a quick overview of the plot. The story follows the diary of eastender Ian whose profession is, you've guessed it, a hit man.
Ian is very good at his job, sometimes a little too good in fact. His proclivity for death dealing is such that he sometimes bumps people off without quite meaning to. Naturally, this is playing havoc with his chances of finding Miss Right, which is Ian's number one quest in life. Only once he's found true love can he finally be happy and complete; but it's hard when, everytime you get close to someone, you end up murdering them (not always by choice either). This is Ian's dilemma and we follow him through various hits, reluctantly taking on a protegee, dealing with the odd bit of gangland warfare, fighting with the ghost of his dead mother and, of course, a number of very short lived relationships. The world through Ian's eyes is told in an amusingly blunt fashion (although, Ian is a reasonably erudite fellow compared to the characters in King's earlier work "The Burglar Diaries") and nothing is watered down or shielded from the viewer. From his deeply personal worries about the correct dating etiquette, right through to the best way to dispose of a body at sea, Ian's world is laid bare for us to examine and laugh at. If you like crime books, want a good laugh and you're not easily offended then this could well be the perfect book for you. It's violent, slick, not too long and extremely funny. It's kind of like a pyschotic Adrian Mole, with extra swearing. I urge you to give it a go. Did I mention that it made me laugh a lot?
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