Shaun Hutson, Dying Words

Synopsis:

"Is it true that creative people who have been given great gifts by God have to pay a terrible price for them? Giacomo Cassano, a thirteenth century writer and philosopher, thought so. He held other beliefs too. Beliefs that the Catholic Church found so abhorrent they had Cassano blinded and his tongue cut out to silence him forever.

However, Cassano's teachings have now reached across the centuries. Bestselling biographer Megan Hunter's new book about Cassano looks set to be as successful as her other books about Caravaggio and Cassano's contemporary and pupil, Dante. But as she embarks on a publicity tour, Megan finds her book attracting attention for the wrong reasons when her editor is found horrifically murdered.

For Detective Inspector David Birch, the murder is puzzling. There is no evidence of forced entry. No fingerprints. Nothing to link another human being with the death. The crime scene divulges only a destroyed copy of Megan's book about Cassano. Pieces of her book are everywhere, along with the pulverized pages of the latest blockbuster by horror writer John Paxton.

Logic dictates that the police establish whether there are any links between the two writers, but DI Birch begins to suspect there is more evidence elsewhere. Somewhere not normally connected with murder investigations. As he sifts through the meagre evidence and struggles with the mounting death toll, he begins to find links he could never have imagined. Secrets he would never have dreamed of and answers beyond not just belief but sanity itself."

With a plot synopsis that sounds like Hutson is trying to cash in on the whole 'Da Vinci Code' and 'The Holy Blood And The Holy Grail' success, I must admit that I was very apprehensive when I first picked up his latest novel. As I soon found out, 'Dying Words' is actually far from this genre of novel.

The tale follows the main character Detective Inspector David Birch who comes across as a reincarnation of the ever-popular Sean Doyle. As the murders begin to mount up within the novel, the reader is kept guessing as to who the murderer is and how the victims are being killed in such horrific ways without the killer being caught.

With the tale approaching the end, all becomes clear as a corny grand finale is played out to provide the novel with its dramatic ending.

The novel as a whole lacks the passion for action-packed violence and the usual splatterpunk blood and guts gore that we expect from a Hutson novel. Instead 'Dying Words' seems to be a watered down supernatural thriller that has been rushed out from a very weak story idea. Not since reading Hutson's 1992 novel 'Heathen' have I been so disappointed with one of his novels.

The novel's twist ending is predictable from very early on and the final conclusion is weak and disappointing. The storyline is fast-paced and reasonably gripping for the first 200 pages, but from there on it seems to lose its momentum. All in all I would say that this is one of Hutson's poorest novels to date.

The book lasts for 357 pages and was published through Orbit.