Shaun Hutson, Compulsion

Shaun Hutson, Compulsion Review: Take a crowded council estate, add the usual ingredients, of boredom, unemployment, attitude and poverty but more importantly take a trio of teenagers who are full of hate, attitude and see stealing, wanton vandalism, mindless graffiti, torturing innocent animals and threatening behaviour as part of day to day life. knowing that the law cannot touch them because they are under age, thus giving them carte blanche to wreck havoc in the community with total impunity.

the three centrepoint characters of this novel are; Carl Thompson, the leader and the eldest of the group who is fuelled by hatred and disrespect, his girlfriend Donna Freeman a frequent druggie, and willing participant Graham Brown who is only to happy to tag along and help break into houses on the estate and take what they want to be sold on for cash.

The police are utterly powerless to do anything and when the local rest home is vandalised, they, as well as the youths know nothing can be done. They are too young to be prosecuted. so the youths continue to target the home.

shelby house is a small home with just nine residents, run by Ronni (Veronica) Porter who is in a stale relationship with hubby Andy. Together, her, Alison and Gordon help run the centre. But when they are subjected to hate mail, things start to become nasty.

The three are determined to make the inhabitants of Shelby House suffer, and all because of Donald Tanner who happened to stop Carl Tompson in stealing a woman's handbag on the bus, he is followed and Tompson decides to get even for being thwarted.

Frst, it's graffiti and wanton vandalism, then sick letters telling the residents to die of cancer. Over thirty-eight letters are sent each with sickening evil statements directed at the people in the home.

Yet the police cannot do a thing. Ronni is devastated when her elderly father who lives alone is viciously attacked in his home and is comatosed and it later transpires that it's the three youths who have been terrorising Shelby House that are the culprits. Later on, Ronni has to wrestle with her conscience, knowing that the law won't do anything, but she is given a chance to take justice into her own hands.

The home has a party to celebrate the Holland's 46th anniversary and the memories of the party held for Janice is shattered when she finds a shocking, and sick discovery.

The reign of terror intensifies and the pensioners find themselves prisoners in their home, again the police will not do anything to help them. Suddenly things come to a breaking point, and Jack Fuller who was a prisoner of war decides to rally the other inhabitants round and fight back.

When Carl, Donna and Graham break in they get far more than they bargained for and suddenly the tables are turned with horrific consequences as each one are taught that justice has to be paid, and if the police won't do it, then they will.

Ronni has to decide what side she is on and she can only watch as each culprit is dealt with in a horrifying way. She is an accessory but she cannot stand back and watch, watch the sickening, horrific revenge that was being carried out right in front of her eyes.

But Jack has a few more surprises for the three miscreants as well as Ronni herself and she knows that there's no going back now for any of them. She is just as involved as Jack and the others in the grisly events that 'their' justice has dealt out.

It's vigilantism gone too far? But when you are hounded, terrorised and threatened, and the police can't or will not do anything, how would you react? At what lengths would you be prepared to go to, to deal with a gang of teenagers who know that they are too young to be prosecuted, no one can touch them, leaving them do as they pleased.

I thoroughly enjoyed the book, and at the beginning I felt nothing but anger and feelings of real life when the three were flaunting the law and innocent bystanders and people were being punished and hurt and nothing could be done. I'm sure it happens on a day to day basis around the country, in all too familiar run down council estates, where boredom, poverty and attitude when mixed together create a poisonous affect to the community which shatters lives of both young and old.

However when the tables are turned, the story unfurls the dangers and consequences of what happens when people take law into their own hands. And how far things can go. In this story, whilst what happened to the three was very far fetched? It does touch on the possibility that when you are forced into a corner just what can happen.

The punishments dealt out were far too drastic and horrific and certainly, I hope wouldn't happen in todays society. But picture this. Your elderly mum or dad, who are housebound, living on there own are viciously and brutally attacked by mindless thugs who get away with their meagre savings or pension and are hospitalised. The police can't catch them and if they do they get away with it or they cannot be prosecuted because of their age. How would you feel? Would you take the law into your own hands if you caught up with whoever did this?

Interesting question, but its one message the book sends out. Would you, or could you take the law into your own hands?

There's a saying when you set out for revenge, dig two graves and that is so true?..

Shaun Hutson proves once again that he can well and truly sock it to the readers an this book, I'll guarantee you won't be able to put down. If you haven't read any of his books yet then I strongly recommend you try one of his novels.

Certainly not recommended for the younger reader! Or the squeamish!