Neil Hopcroft

A digital misfit

Book review: Purity by Shaun Hutson

I have something of a soft spot for Shaun Hutson, his writing style is utterly disposable, theres no depth to any of his characters or stories, but somehow I still find it all rather compelling. Its a long time since I read any of his books.

This sees him more in a crime thriller genre than the trash horror I remember of his earlier books, it follows the attempts of a radio talkshow host to find a murderer who appears to be preying on various lowlife people of the city.

I’m not sure theres a lot I can usefully say about the book without giving away too much information…if you like Hutsons earlier work this is a little more mainstream, but its probably worth a read, if you don’t know him there are probably better authors out there for this sort of thing.


3 comments

  1. I like some of Hutson’s thrillers. I agree he could do with a little more dimension to his characters sometimes but the books are usually well-researched and I have to give him credit for having mastered a genuinely compelling technique of writing. His skill with short chapters and cliffhangers is almost too contrived to work at times but somehow does.

    I heartily recommend “Renegades”, if you’ve not read that. It’s a perfect mix between his old horror stuff and his more modern thrillers.

    • I’ve read most of his books, but they got to the point where they all blended into one and I’ve no idea which I’ve read and which I haven’t, and having accidentally bought several copies of a number of them I can’t even tell from the state they’re in.

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