|
|
Post by andydecker on Mar 5, 2022 11:54:49 GMT
Shaun Hutson - Stolen Angels (Little, Brown & Co, 1996, HC, 343 pages)  Mark Taylor
In 1996 the only Hutson book. It is not the topics which doesn't mix well here in my opinion - organized child abuse and satanism - it is the execution. In the first two thirds you have the usual miserable Hutson bunch running around, in the last third you suddenly have a coven with real occult powers which is killing a few people with magic, making them commit suicide. What could have been an effective paranoia thriller as the coven remains shadowy and everybody could be a member just fizzles out, despite the obligatory twist at the end, and the story of one of the main protagonists which takes a lot of pages just stops. It is not very well done and doesn't work as it could have.
|
|
|
|
Post by dem bones on Mar 6, 2022 14:53:10 GMT
I've not read any of his novels published later than this one; bought it due to personal interest in cases of graveyard desecration and figured Hutson may have read similar reports (as it is, he briefly references the outbreak of vandalism in a certain, then derelict N. London cemetery - 'Richard Allen' does it better in Boot Boys). That's all I can remember about Stolen Angels. Not sure I finished it. Like James Herbert, the more Hutson improved as an author, the less pleasure I derived from his novels until the interest dropped away altogether. |
|
|
|
Post by helrunar on Mar 6, 2022 17:36:54 GMT
Hutson is another of those I never heard of. The comments and reminiscences you all have been offering are interesting to read. Iron Maiden is a real blast from the past.
H.
|
|
|
|
Post by andydecker on Mar 6, 2022 19:10:42 GMT
Hutson is another of those I never heard of. The comments and reminiscences you all have been offering are interesting to read. Iron Maiden is a real blast from the past. H. Their newest album came out last year. Senjutsu climbed to the top of the charts around the world. Not bad for a band where most members are 65 years old. |
|
|
|
Post by cauldronbrewer on Mar 10, 2022 17:59:59 GMT
Hutson is another of those I never heard of. The comments and reminiscences you all have been offering are interesting to read. Iron Maiden is a real blast from the past. H. Their newest album came out last year. Senjutsu climbed to the top of the charts around the world. Not bad for a band where most members are 65 years old. I bought it, which I suppose makes me an aging metalhead. |
|
|
|
Post by andydecker on Mar 10, 2022 21:35:43 GMT
Their newest album came out last year. Senjutsu climbed to the top of the charts around the world. Not bad for a band where most members are 65 years old. I bought it, which I suppose makes me an aging metalhead. I bought it too. I am not into music, never was. I can't remember when I bought more than 2 albums a year, if any at all. But Iron Maiden and Alice Cooper I still faithfully and dutifully buy. |
|
|
|
Post by ripper on Mar 15, 2022 19:36:53 GMT
I read Stolen Angels around 1997 and have never felt the need to give it another go. I agree with Dem in that as Hutson developed as a writer, I got progressively less interested in his books. Stolen Angels may have been the one that made me realise how much less enjoyment I was getting from reading him. I've read more recent books, but have not enjoyed them anywhere near as much as his early ones.
|
|
|
|
Post by andydecker on Mar 16, 2022 9:44:39 GMT
I read Stolen Angels around 1997 and have never felt the need to give it another go. I agree with Dem in that as Hutson developed as a writer, I got progressively less interested in his books. Stolen Angels may have been the one that made me realise how much less enjoyment I was getting from reading him. I've read more recent books, but have not enjoyed them anywhere near as much as his early ones. It is kind of strange. I think very alike. It is like something has gone missing, especially in the plotting. |
|
|
|
Post by ripper on Mar 16, 2022 20:08:30 GMT
I read Stolen Angels around 1997 and have never felt the need to give it another go. I agree with Dem in that as Hutson developed as a writer, I got progressively less interested in his books. Stolen Angels may have been the one that made me realise how much less enjoyment I was getting from reading him. I've read more recent books, but have not enjoyed them anywhere near as much as his early ones. It is kind of strange. I think very alike. It is like something has gone missing, especially in the plotting. I can't remember that much about Stolen Angels other than my great disappointment. I think that the early books had a 'rawness' that was lost later on as Hutson honed his writing skills, and what attracted me to his work was gradually diluted. Same happened with James Herbert. I'm tempted to give Hutson's latest a go as it features the return of Sean Doyle, but it's nowhere near the top of my wants list. |
|
