Hybrid - Shaun Hutson

...their opinion were better and Hybrid was one of those so I took the plunge.

When I got the book I was a bit worried about the cover as if I had seen this on a bookshelf I would have assumed it was a horror story and left it well alone however the reviewer and the blurb on the back suggested something different so I switched all the lights on in the house (just incase) and started to read. It was only after I finished the book that ...
...however it that is the case I would say it is at the mild end of the horror spectrum.

The Plot

The plot evolves around one single character, a once famous writer Christopher Ward whose career is very much in decline. He leads a solitary life in a rather large house struggling with periods of writers block as he struggles to write his latest novel. Increasingly he seeks to find comfort in alcohol and the occasional sexual ... more

This is the first book that I have read by Shaun Hutson and I do wonder sometimes if that fact was one of the things that helped with my enjoyment of this book.

I came across the author by reading a review on Dooyoo and while the book reviewed sounded very good the reviewer also recommended some other books by the same author which in their opinion were better and Hybrid was one of those so I took the plunge.

When I got the book I was a bit worried about the cover as if I had seen this on a bookshelf I would have assumed it was a horror story and left it well alone however the reviewer and the blurb on the back suggested something different so I switched all the lights on in the house (just incase) and started to read. It was only after I finished the book that I noticed it does class itself as a Horror book however it that is the case I would say it is at the mild end of the horror spectrum.

The Plot

The plot evolves around one single character, a once famous writer Christopher Ward whose career is very much in decline. He leads a solitary life in a rather large house struggling with periods of writers block as he struggles to write his latest novel. Increasingly he seeks to find comfort in alcohol and the occasional sexual encounter with a prostitute other than that his only outside contact is with his agent who has told him that his publisher is no longer interested in his work.

Unable to break his work ethic Ward continues to try and write his book managing to make a start however suddenly he finds that his period of writers block has come to an end and he begins to produce thirty pages of work at a time. Unfortunately he has no memory of ever having written anything despite the style being very much his own. Each time he awakes from his alcoholic slumber he finds a fresh new chapter issuing from the printer he distinctly remembers switching off. Added to this he is aware of seeing strange shapes in his garden at night. Is he losing his mental faculties or is something more sinister going on?

My Opinion

What you actually get is two story lines woven into one book as the story switches between the events that are happening to Ward and also the new novel that he is writing which is set in Northern Ireland in the weeks following the Good Friday Agreement and features Sean Doyle a counter terrorist operative hunting down some members of the Real IRA who are seeking to de-stabalise the agreement.

Initially I must admit I was more interested in the storyline surrounding Doyle than I was with the story about Christopher Ward. This was probably for two reasons. Firstly the subject matter surrounding the IRA and counter terrorism was more in the style of work that I would normally enjoy with the character of Doyle far more interesting and complex that the character of Ward first appeared and secondly for the simple reason that there were more pages devoted to the story featuring Doyle.

Once the story featuring Doyle started you would get large chunks of this book interspersed with a couple of pages charting the turmoil in Wards life however often I found myself rushing through these to get to the next segment on Doyle.

This style of writing was quite clever in that it kept me turning the pages at quite a fast rate and even though at the end I found the story featuring Doyle had a hugely disappointing and weak ending by then I was totally hooked on the main story concerning Ward which made the last sixty pages that solely focused on Ward totally gripping and with an excellent twist at the end which I never saw coming.

Having never read any of Shaun Hutson work before I did wonder whether this twist at the end would not have been quite so surprising if I had read some of his other work. One thing is for sure I will be buying more of his work as this was a great book which really sucks the reader in after a slow start it builds to a really tense finish.

Hutson has a simple style of writing and uses a short chapter structure each one no longer than four pages long in a similar style to James Patterson. This style of writing keeps the pace of the book moving along and also means that you are tempted to just read one more chapter at a time hence I completed the book in two sittings such was the way it got me wanting to learn more.

For those of a nervous disposition there is one scene of a sexual nature and some sections contain quite graphic violence and torture which might make you cringe a bit but nothing scary that made me sleep with the light on.

I did feel that the book was very successful at getting inside the head of a man who is slowly falling apart physically and mentally and his sense of isolation and loneliness is captured well within the text. Although not a very nice character from the description of himself you do feel a certain concern for Ward as someone who has achieved his dreams of fame and success only to see that world collapse around him.

This is definitely worth a read and I will be buying more of Hutson work in the future.

Published by Time Warner the ISBN 0-7515-330-4 with a rrp of £6.99 however it is available on Amazon for £5.59 or from a penny in the new and used section.

Thanks for reading and rating my review.
 

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