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Post by andydecker on Jan 23, 2024 10:11:50 GMT
Shaun Hutson – Twisted Souls (Time Warner, 2005, hc, this edition Time Warner Paperback, 2006, 320 pages)  Cover: Larry Rostant
Shaun Hutson's 2005 novel, as punctual as ever, leaves the shoot-em-ups of the last years behind and again goes for the more or less occult horror novel with more or less satisfactory results. The novel takes some time to get going, the reader is introduced to a lot of characters mostly doing icky or downright revolting things. The protagonists is the usual miserable Hutson bunch. In this he sure saw the sign of the times, from the beautiful yuppies with money to burn to nightmares and 'how will we keep the house'. At times there is quite some intense writing. But the story takes a bit long to get going, while the last third becomes something out of a Hammer movie and some Folk Horror which clashes with the characterisations up to that point. The parts just don't come together convincingly at the end. This is a bit of a shame, because the novel is undeniable suspenseful. It is tightly written, has some truly disturbing set pieces and scenes, from self-mutilation to infanticide, Hutson in top form. But at the end there seems to be something missing to make this a wholly successful story. |
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